Phorensically Speaking

The board of directors, in concert with the CEO and others, set the tone and conduct for corporate behavior throughout the organization, and is the most important element for promoting honesty in a company. In this episode, we’re talking about tone and conduct from the top.  Trends  Corporate greed at the executive level has destroyed hundreds of companies. Many CEOs over the years have been sued over white collar crimes, and this sends a clear — though perhaps unintentional — message to their employees that committing fraud is acceptable, so long as it makes the company seem acceptable.  That’s simply not the case, and is a prime example of setting the wrong tone and conduct from the top. At the same time, there are no regulatory rules or accounting standards that define exactly what the tone and conduct at the top should be.  So we need to be mindful. When our companies are doing really well, we might slip into “Perfect Place Syndrome," and all the hard work and effort you put into building a company cultur