Changing Attitudes Towards Corporate Governance - These All Tie Back To The Corporate Culture!!

This is a good article which I adapted from SC Magazine.

Patrick Jolly did a very good research report about the Corporate Governance & the 3 S's namely, Scandal, Security & Strategy. The boardroom has become a much more accountable place; transparency and meritocracy are the order of the day.His conclusions is that the Corporate Governance Require of Changing Atitude & it must be in build with the Strategy of the Business as the whole.

Now let me Sum-up on the Corporate Culture with 4 main Criterions:-

1. Corporate Governance - Management Style & Control; Audits & Refinements

2. Leadership Quality & Renewal

3. People includes their Ethics; Conducts; Mindset-Attitude

4. Re-Action to Change Timely



There are 2 type of people elements here. That is the Management Leadership & the floor level people. Looking into the issue of IBM turn arround Lou Gestner take almost 3 years to get IBM to clean up & implement his so call New Strategies.

Now looking at Michael Dell, in view of the Internet age & the PC Technology shift, if Dell have not realised that he need to change the Strategies & Tactics in Business , Dell could have suffer the same faith like any other PC corporation. Michael Dell have tap the expertist of external executive to turn the business arround. The Just in Time manufacturing which they learn a lesson from the Japanese Toyota. Looking at any PC company today, they no longer be the Original Product Manufacturer.

In fact, today; they are all system integrator. Be it Dell, Sony, HP...etc. Even at the software business, IBM is still the larges Software corporation in the world interm of revenue. IBM no longer produce every single code within their corporation. like those year's. IBM have utilized the services of their ex-employee's as well as 3rd parties.

On the subject of Leadership Quality. At the present time, it more a Celebrity & Money Position, it is totally a wrong concept after all, the excutive search firm's shall shoulder some of the failure responsibily in recommending the canditdate to be on the position of Top Executive Post such as Chairman, President & CEO. The quality of a leader cannot be overlook at all time, In the dynamic change & rapid chnage environment, How could a leadship to be identified & be a situation leader take lead of the change??

As mentioned in my earlier article, a corporation is just like a living human entity.. it have the 4 Noble Truth of existence that is

Birth

Growth

Decay

Death


Therefore, be it the level of leadership or the floor employee, none can escape the truth of the above. So the only way out is the self renewal & self improvement. As the Gotama Buddha ( Means the Perfect One; The Enlighten One) & Confucius said the same thing:

Everyday I Recollect Myself 5 Times.

All in All talking about

Strategies, Tacties,

Risks & Opportunities

Ethics, Conducts

Mindset- Attitude

All these are just a technical term, without the "People", the Rank's & File's all these are just an illusions.

As the Old saying the citizen are the Heaven of the Ruling Emperor. His fellow citizen then have Food as their Heaven. With the current high Bait system, there is no fairness in the reward & compensation. That is the main cause of dis-array. Looking at Kingston Memory as an example, Kingston Senior management have maintence a reasonable acceptance gap between the top mangement & the their employees, the performance bonus award the return to employees in the more fair level to all in term of their compensation.

As Sun Tze said, "An Emperor Make The Mistake, He Shall Receive the Same Punishment With His Fellow People"!! Which Carly Florina have made the mistake by firing her 2 field Generals, before the board moving in to evade her. As a commander in Chief, if she would have adopt the Sun Tze philosophy, even though she may not be in cordial relationship with her board, I am sure she would leave a very good memory behind for her people after all.

In my paper on Creating An Excellence Philips Corporate Culture in 1989-1990, Although I have gone after Philips disbanded my operations. However, my paper the details of the spirits & soul are still living. These can be realized from its recent renewal of their New Corporate Culture Sologan.

Finally is the Reaction to Change & Change Timely for the Longevity of the Corporation.

Changing attitudes towards corporate Governance
by Patrick Jolly

Scandal, security and strategy. These 3 S's are reshaping the corporate governance landscape today.

One only has to mention the name Enron to describe the first. The seriousness of the issue is indicated by the extent to which government has acted to prevent such scandals occurring in the future. Apart from the reform of existing company laws, the UK, for example, initiated the Higgs review of the role of non-executive directors. And the US has gone further than most, no doubt since the Enron scandal took place on its doorstep: Sarbanes-Oxley is the toughest regulatory intervention since the 1930s.

The boardroom has become a much more accountable place; transparency and meritocracy are the order of the day. Newly introduced principles and guidelines are encouraging directors to take direct responsibility for corporate data. Auditors are being empowered and their independence reinforced.

When it comes to Information Security, a series of increasingly alarming online threats have moved the issue from being the preserve of the IT department alone right up to the level of the board. Viruses, spam, spyware, phishing and hacks constitute a massive group of 'inbound' concerns, all of which have the potential to impact negatively on the bottom line.

Remote internet access and the proliferation of wireless devices are changing the way we look at Information Security. Allied to this is the question of outbound threats. Research from different sources shows that around 80 percent of outbound breaches, or confidential data loss, originates within the organization and are carried out by an employee. They may be malign but are more commonly a result of human error – hitting the 'send' button on an email by mistake, for example. A recent survey ranked confidential information leakage as the major content issue facing corporations, after spam.

All in all, the Department of Trade and Industry's 2004 Information Security Breaches Survey puts the price of these threats at several billion pounds: the average cost of an incident is £120,000, though the risk is also that a single event might have calamitous consequences. Hence the reason that security is a concern that the board must address. It is a question of governance because maintaining control of security has a direct bearing upon shareholder confidence, brand value and the bottom line.

Many companies have adopted a head-in-the-sand approach, treating network traffic as a 'no go' area for fear of what might be revealed, but this is no longer a viable option and is likely to offer no defence in a court of law. In fact making a conscious decision to 'do nothing' to protect company resources, including employees, is a very dangerous strategy in the current climate.

Security needs to be thought of as an operational risk. The first step towards successful security management is identifying the risk and then controlling and mitigating it. Technology plays a key part in this process but senior management must be in charge of the process; governance is required to provide and implement the business-wide view.

And hence, thirdly, governance is a matter of business strategy. The threats are not trivial. Governance must be built into the overall strategic framework of the business since an error of governance might even lead to the failure of the business. Moreover, the regulatory responses to Enron and the like are aimed at nothing less than a change of culture.

A prime example of the links between strategy and security is the attitude that businesses display towards mobile working. The practice has become increasingly popular over recent years because of the greater degree of flexibility that it offers to the extent that many organizations now advocate mobile working to a significant proportion of their workforce. However, businesses that encourage the practice are not doing enough to protect themselves against the additional threats that mobile working can present.

Worryingly, my company's own research recently found that 60 percent of UK businesses have no plans to implement content filtering for mobile workers. Of greater concern still is the fact that only 20 percent consider the risk sufficiently important to warrant the immediate implementation of content filtering when introducing the practice to the organization. However, security is the backbone of governance and, as such, evolving operational issues like the adoption of mobile working must be incorporated into strategies in a timely manner.

Even where organizations have made the link between security and governance, in many cases it is through a feeling of pressure. In order to adopt and run an effective approach, businesses can adopt an ongoing, three-tiered approach to security based around the principles of policies, education and technology.

Policy - Clearly outline what the company resources can and cannot be used for. Update the existing Acceptable Usage Policy (AUP) to ensure that operational changes, such as mobile working, are covered as they become relevant to the business.

Education - train employees to understand the potential threats posed to both themselves and the wider organization. Clarify the appropriate behaviour that can be used to avoid such instances from occurring and how to deal with them when they do.

Technology - ensure that the appropriate technology is used to enforce the terms and conditions of the AUP and act as a safety net against policy breaches.

In isolation, none of the above measures alone are enough to solve the problem but by integrating them together any organization will ensure that risk is mitigated to the greatest possible extent.

Corporate governance is no longer to be thought of as an extra – a hurdle to leap at the end of the financial year (or when the inspector calls). Good corporate governance needs to become an ingrained process, supported by both policies and Information Security. In order not to just pay lip service, it's advised to consider governance and compliance issues in line with the refinement of frameworks and in terms of the implementation of best practice, of which policy development, educational programmes and technology implementation are all key components. In short, governance requires a change of attitude and must be built into the strategy of the business as a whole.

SurfControl are exhibiting at Infosecurity Europe 2005 which is Europe's number one information Security Event. Now in its 10th anniversary year, Infosecurity Europe continues to provide an unrivalled education programme, new products & services, over 250 exhibitors and 10,000 visitors from every segment of the industry. Held on the 26th – 28th April 2005 in the Grand Hall, Olympia, this is a must attend event for all IT professionals involved in Information Security. www.infosec.co.uk

The author is President EMEA & APAC, SurfControl

SC Magazine

Wal-Mart Director Is Ousted After Probe - To Re-Look It Culture!!

The integrity of Leadership shall be maintence at all times.

It the Code of Ethic & Conducts & Corporate Culture cannot be exhibit & keep up by it's leader's. Then certainly, you don't expect the employees in the corporation to follow.

The recent Walmart incidents of unfair treatments to its employee & the recent case of fake Invoices & Expenses case, Walmart would need to look at the corporation more closely.

As the corporation grow big & aging. If the Leadership quality, Ethics, Business Conducts cannot be up keep, then there is a need for Walmart to relook at its Corporate Culture & re-examine the Ethics & Conducts of Leader's & the management. Then follow by getting the employees to understand & re implement the Walmart Way in Corporationwide. Otherwise, Death is certain.

Wal-Mart Director Is Ousted After Probe
The Sam's Club ex-chief is asked to quit the board after a company inquiry reported evidence of fake invoices and expense accounts.
By Roger Vincent and Kathy M. Kristof
Times Staff Writers

March 26, 2005

Reflecting stricter ethics in corporate America, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. booted its former vice chairman from its board Friday after an internal probe allegedly revealed padded expense reports, fake invoices and unauthorized use of gift cards.

Thomas M. Coughlin, who retired as an executive of the world's largest retailer in January, was asked to resign his post as a director. Three other Wal-Mart employees, including a company executive, were fired. The company said in a regulatory filing that the amounts in question could total $500,000.

It was unclear Friday whether Coughlin, the former chief of Wal-Mart's Sam's Club warehouse stores, was alleged to have personally been involved in the transactions or whether they simply had occurred on his watch.

The Bentonville, Ark.-based company said it reported the results of its investigation to federal officials. A Wal-Mart representative declined to provide further details. Coughlin could not be reached Friday. An assistant to Robert Balfe, U.S. attorney for the Western District of Arkansas, declined to comment.

Wal-Mart's move is consistent with federal guidelines that were revised in November in response to the Sarbanes-Oxley law, said attorney Keith Bishop, a former California corporations commissioner and a partner at Buchalter, Nemer, Fields & Younger in Irvine. The new guidelines impose stricter standards on corporate ethics.

"The days of 'hear no evil, speak no evil' are over," Bishop said. "You cannot really stick your head in the sand when you hear that there is misconduct by people in your organization."

Nell Minow, editor of the corporate governance website Corporate Library, said it was important for the board to send a signal to employees, suppliers and customers about potential misconduct. Wal-Mart has long had strict codes of conduct and boasts a bare-bones corporate culture in which executives stay in budget motels and employees are forbidden to accept even token gifts from vendors.

"In case there was any doubt, this makes it clear that we are living in an era of zero tolerance of ethical violations," she said.

Coughlin said in his resignation letter: "I leave with warm feelings for the company and all the people who have made it great. I have appreciated the opportunity to serve."

The 55-year-old Coughlin, who spent decades with Wal-Mart, was once considered a candidate to head the company. He started in 1978 in the security division and eventually oversaw the U.S. Wal-Mart stores, Sam's Club warehouse stores and Walmart.com.

He joined the board in April 2003 and had been a member of the board's executive, strategic planning and finance and stock option committees. He had been expected to step down in June.

Coughlin also serves as lead director on the board of ChoicePoint Inc., the Atlanta-based information broker under fire for security breaches that exposed as many as 145,000 personal data files to identity theft rings.

Los Angeles Times: Wal-Mart Director Is Ousted After Probe

Feedster Claims

No Need to Click Here - I'm just claiming my feed at Feedster

LG Group Re-Engineers Management Approach -- It Have to Be On a Close Loop Servo Monitoring!!

LG Group certainly have the wisdom for becomming the Top Global Corporation. By lunching it Re-Engineering of Management.

As Mentioned, LG Group yesterday declared the adoption of a
new management road map that stresses fair play, innovation and thorough brand management.


I would rather not to call it the Re-Engineering Approach.


When I join IBM, I am given a Green Book "The IBM Way", That have iven me the 1st cultural inguence of Multi-National & the No 1 Computer Giant then. However, after years IBm have gone into trouble themself of not getting the corporation into one act. That nearly got them under in 1994.

In 1989, my paper on "Creating Excellence Philips Corporate Culture", I have based on the situations & my observations on the Philips as the whole. Which I spell out that the Philips Excellence Corporate Culture Must be built on the below:

Unity

Respecting of Individual

Regardless of Race, Country of Origin

Harmony

Justise

Equality

Excellence In Everything

Then on the Operating & Daily priority of:-

Creativity & Innovations


The strong emphasis of "Human Factors" couple with the Close loop Servo Control & Management system. Only everyone put the act in synchronization, capitalized on strenght of Synergy of all, then together; the Excellence Corporate Culture can be achieved.

However, while the paper is adopted & a 3rd party consultant company is appointed to implement the so call "Operation Centurion", But I am removed.

These taught me a serious lesson about so call the Corporation politics. It also change my career life for the last 16 years.

A big Corporation is just like a single human body, if the cacer cell is not heal as soon, then there is no way that the deadly disease is not going to spread & bring the corporation life to an end. hence, the monittoring & control of corporate culture is not just by lunching the initiative. Without a constant refinement then the process of

Birth

Growth

Decay

Death


Is Certain!! The Law of Birth & Death is always co-exist in any life form.

LG Group re-engineers management approach

LG Group yesterday declared the adoption of a new management road map that stresses fair play, innovation and thorough brand management.

The major conglomerate said it expects the "LG Way" to advance the realization of its goal to become a global top brand.

LG has a long-term vision of cultivating the LG name as one of the top three global brands in the group's core sectors of electronics, information technology and chemicals. Yesterday marked the 10th anniversary of the LG brand. The business group had originally sold products under the GoldStar label.

The conglomerate also hopes that the "LG Way" will establish a strong corporate culture unifying its employees.

LG Group Chairman Koo Bon-moo yesterday declares the "LG Way," a new group-wide management principle. [The Korea Herald]
LG recently completed the separation of its operations between the two founding families to end a 57-year-old alliance. The group is now set to rebuild itself as a global electronics and chemicals leader.

With just nine affiliates under its wing, the newly separated GS Group will focus on energy and retail.

Group chairman Koo Bon-moo yesterday called for thorough brand management amid its growing importance in raising corporate value.

"Brand management should be a core management activity as it has emerged as an important element upon which (a company's) competitiveness depends," Koo said during an address to 400 executives gathered at company headquarters in Yeouido, southwestern Seoul.

"We must only use the LG brand on businesses and products that can be number one. There should be no incident of misuse or abuse of the brand through thorough management," he said.

The chairman also called for employee efforts to make products and services that move people while making LG a company sought after by talented jobseekers.

Microsoft Corp. CEO Bill Gates sent a videotaped message praising LG for providing innovative technology and solutions.

(mhkim@heraldm.com) By Kim Min-hee

The Korea Herald : The Nation's No.1 English Newspaper

Big Blue Propels Alumni to Power

My 1st job after the Military services, IBM is the 1st corporation that I joint.

I strongly believe that IBM or any of the corporation's do influence a person career path & the Characters in life.

I would write more on this topic. in my later posting.


Big Blue Propels Alumni to Power
March 20, 2005 By Dennis Fisher and Dennis Callaghan

When Sam Palmisano became CEO of IBM in 2002, he was, in many respects, a predictable choice to run a major company. His pedigree included stints running a number of IBM's key divisions, including the Enterprise Systems Group and IBM Global Services.

It's a background Palmisano shares with a number of technology's heaviest hitters, including CEOs John W. Thompson of Symantec Corp., Michael Lawrie of Siebel Systems Inc. and John Swainson of Computer Associates International Inc. While Palmisano rose through the ranks to the ultimate IBM post, the others chose to take their talents and experience on the road. All, however, are evidence of a growing industry phenomenon: the Big Blue boss.

The steady stream in recent years of top IBM executives—many of them veterans of 25 years or more with the company—leaving for the corner office at other major technology companies is not the result of coincidence. Industry observers and former IBM employees say it's the direct result of a corporate culture that emphasizes experience; loyalty; initiative; and, above all, focus on customer needs.

Many companies, both in the IT industry and other markets, profess similar values. But beginning with IBM founder Thomas Watson and continuing for the nearly 100-year history of the company, it has consistently pushed these tenets on its hires, resulting in a cohesive employee base around the world. In recent years, that system has developed into what amounts to a Triple-A system for aspiring CEOs, analysts say.

The result is an industrywide distribution not only of IBM's corporate culture but also of its business thought processes. For good or ill, the IBM penchant for partnership, appetite for acquisition and intolerance for sluggish performance are all becoming the norm in executive suites well beyond Armonk, N.Y.

Swainson, IBM's former vice president of Worldwide Software Sales, took the helm of scandal-ridden CA last month with the goal of restoring credibility to the embattled Islandia, N.Y., company. Early on, Swainson said, he became aware of the stark contrast between IBM's well-defined culture and the lack thereof at CA.

"It's a function of being built by acquisition over the course of a relatively short period," Swainson said of his new employer. "IBM had a chance over 100 years to build a strong culture.

"I'm not consciously trying to bring any parts of IBM culture to CA. Unconsciously, I can't avoid it, I suppose. I certainly was heavily indoctrinated with it," said Swainson, who ran a unit in IBM with more employees and higher annual revenues than CA's.

"IBM does a lot of good things around process and focus on customers and making sure the customers are satisfied," Swainson said. "Those are clearly messages I would bring to CA. They are not unique to IBM. Every successful company has a view of what it takes to satisfy customers."

As successful as IBM alumni such as Swainson, Thompson and others have been, there was a time, not so long ago, when other companies wanted little to do with hiring an IBM executive as CEO. The problem, observers say, was IBM's rigid hierarchical culture that prevented all but the top tier of executives from gaining any meaningful management experience.

"Things have changed now, but the culture was extremely rigid under [former CEO John Akers]. They literally had people carrying the bags of senior executives," said Frank Dzubeck, president of Communications Networks Architects Inc., in Washington, and a longtime IBM observer. "The result was that the lower-level guys couldn't manage their way out of a paper bag. That changed under [Louis] Gerstner [Palmisano's predecessor]. Executives have become more involved and hands-on."

IBM as a training ground.

Part of that cultural shift involved moving senior executives among the various business units within IBM as a way to give them experience with all the company's assets. Palmisano, as well as Swainson, Thompson, Lawrie and other prominent IBM alumni, have traveled this route. Thompson, for example, worked in sales, marketing and software development and, at the end of his IBM career, was running IBM Americas.

"Everybody has passed through various parts of the business, and all of these guys understand development and sales," Dzubeck said. "If you can be successful at a certain level at IBM, the feeling is you can be successful anywhere."

Lawrie said he took the job at Siebel because he wanted to test that theory for himself. "The reason I left IBM was I wanted the challenge of taking what I learned and [applying] that to a company that was in need of a turnaround," he said in an interview at Siebel's San Mateo, Calif., headquarters.

"Siebel was a turnaround situation. I felt before I hung up the cleats, I wanted a chance to take that knowledge and go test it myself in a challenging, vigorous environment, which is certainly what Siebel and the marketplace that Siebel competes in could be characterized as.

"I found IBM to be a great training program and training for everything. Not only leadership skills [but also] technology skills, how to deal with customers. I think in the IT industry you couldn't hope for a better place to learn about the industry from every dimension than working for a company like IBM. I was global, I lived in Asia Pacific, I ran our EMEA [Europe, Middle East, Asia] operation and then I ran our worldwide operation. So from every dimension—global, financial, technology—I think IBM was a tremendous training ground."

Lawrie has modeled himself after Gerstner, under whose tutelage he worked for eight years during Gerstner's own successful turnaround effort at IBM in the 1990s. Lawrie spent more than 26 years at IBM in management positions, most recently as the company's top sales executive. He has also headed IBM's Personal Software and Network Computing Software groups and managed various overseas operations.

"I learned a lot of important lessons and insights from Lou," said Lawrie. "When you work with someone that is turning around a company, I paid very close attention to what he did. How you approach strategy, how we build a new financial model, how we thought about acquisitions, how we thought about divestitures within our portfolio. So how we repositioned the portfolio of IBM."

Perhaps the most high-profile opening in the industry currently is the CEO spot at Hewlett-Packard Co., and many observers have speculated it could be filled by an IBM executive.

Swainson's former boss, Steve Mills, senior vice president and group executive of IBM Software, declined to comment on offers that he's received, especially recent rumblings that he was on a shortlist of candidates to replace the ousted Carly Fiorina at HP.

Is Carly Fiorina going to run the World Bank? Click here to read more.

"No comment," Mills said with a laugh when asked if he'd consider the HP job. "That will be a unique challenge for somebody."

The division that Mills runs is larger than most software companies in the world. Many of IBM's businesses, including Global Services, are the largest of their kind. The opportunity to run businesses of that size is one of the main reasons many observers believe it is difficult to attract Mills or most other current IBM senior managers. There just aren't many other jobs left at IBM that would be a step up.

But Mills said he did note that the biggest job openings in the tech industry frequently turn into opportunities for IBM executives.

"We have a responsible, mature management team," Mills said. "In the information technology area, if you asked where do people get a good education and a solid grounding in business operations, you'd put IBM high on the list. You get great training early in your career and a customer-centric attitude."

IBM alums' upward mobility.

Even well-placed IBM executives with no designs on a corner office elsewhere see the upward mobility of IBM alumni as an endorsement. "It shows the strength of IBM as a company that develops people," said Janet Perna, general manager of IBM's information management business. "It shows the talent of IBMers and the experience and level of maturity of the people. It's a tribute to IBM.

"There's a certain set of values that IBMers share," Perna said. "A lot has been written about IBM values. About our commitment to our clients, our respect for each other and for people we do business with. About our culture of innovation that matters to the world. Longtime IBMers can't be here very long and not espouse these values."

Perna wouldn't comment on the calls she's received trying to woo her from her job in Armonk. "I love being here," she said. "Everyone is motivated by different things. I couldn't think of a better place to be doing what I'm doing. I'm here, and I stay because my personal values map to IBM's values."

But does the strong IBM culture follow those who leave the fold?

"One person does not a culture make," Perna said. "I don't know the effect. Culture comes from within the body of the company, so it's not clear how much influence any one person can have."

Still, it is impossible not to see the influence IBM's culture and business model have had on some of the company's more famous and successful alumni. A prime example is CEO John W. Thompson of Symantec, which recently merged with storage and backup leader Veritas Software Corp.

Click here to read more about the Symantec-Veritas merger.

Since his arrival at Symantec in 1999, Thompson has been reshaping the Cupertino, Calif., vendor into a pure-play, vertically integrated security company. When Thompson took the reins, Symantec was known as a consumer-focused company with a widely scattered product portfolio that included anti-virus offerings, utilities, scanners and sundry other products, none of which was considered a leader.

By selling or killing underperforming or noncore assets and adding other pieces he saw as key to building an enterprise security leader—including managed services and consulting—Thompson has turned Symantec into not just the leader in the security market but also one of the top five software companies in the world.

Symantec's resemblance to IBM is no mistake. In fact, Thompson has imported so many aspects of the IBM way—efficient, no-nonsense leadership; broad product lines with leading offerings in a number of categories; and a trained army of consultants to help customers use it all—that many industry observers call Symantec "Big Yellow."

Even so, Thompson said he is not necessarily interested in following the IBM game plan to the letter. "There are plenty of businesses they're in that we're not. Even with the similarities in managed services, I'm not interested in the disaster recovery and backup business like IBM Global Services," Thompson said. "That's not a business we want to be in."

Check out eWEEK.com's IT Management Center for the latest news, reviews and analysis on IT management.

Big Blue Propels Alumni to Power

Ebbers: What It Means And What It Doesn't -- Only Thy Know!!

Ebbers was once commendating as an Entrepreneur Icon of the Telecom world. Who raise from a Musician to a Multi-Billions dollar man of the world. Just on one vision & idea!!

But now.. for the past months , he have been going through ordeals in life. For all the Frauds & sins that may be found in Court. As the Guru Bai Ji Yi said:

One person Does or Done, Only Thy Know Him/Her good self!!!!!

Also, As Gotama Buddha said:

It is Greed & Ignorance That cause these bad Karma to Arise!!!!!

Ebbers: What It Means And What It Doesn't
Dan Ackman, 03.16.05, 10:06 AM ET

Whenever a big criminal trial ends, the search for meaning begins, and trends are divined from a sample of one. After the conviction yesterday of former WorldCom Chief Executive Bernard Ebbers on securities fraud and conspiracy charges, the search started anew. It was said that juries will not believe the "CEO doofus" defense and that other CEOs should be worried by Ebbers' fate, which, by the way, could mean 85 years in prison.

The 85 years, however, is just the first fiction. It's the number you get by taking the maximum sentence on each of the nine counts and adding them up. While U.S. federal sentencing rules are in flux due to a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling, the sentence will certainly be much less. George Newhouse, a criminal defense lawyer with Thelen Reid & Priest in Los Angeles, predicts five to ten years. Douglas Berman, a professor at the Ohio State University law school and an expert on federal sentencing, says so much remains in dispute that the likely sentence is now "unknowable."

In fact, the Ebbers case is a freak by any measure. Start with the simple fact that he went to trial. Of the 82,910 defendants accused in federal courts in 2004, just 3,393, or 4%, stood trial at all, according to the U.S. Office of Court Administration. Securities fraud cases are also extremely rare: In 2004, there were just 116 defendants whose cases were disposed of in the entire U.S., a remarkably small number considering the number of financial restatements, corporate blowups and dream-state analyst reports in recent years. If you are a CEO among the 116, that's cold comfort, but it's not something you really need to worry about.

Worries should dissipate further if your books are clean or if you are truly remote from the crime. "It's not as if he was convicted of something he had nothing to do with," notes G. Jack Chin, a law professor at the University of Arizona. Ebbers was accused of at least knowing and in some ways directing the fraud masterminded by his chief financial officer, Scott Sullivan. While the evidence against him came almost exclusively from Sullivan, the jury was convinced.

Another key fact in the Ebbers case was that he was no longer CEO. The board fired him in 2002, before the fraud was revealed. By the time the company entered bankruptcy, which occurred soon after, the company's board was eager to distance itself from Ebbers and to shift the blame in his direction (and away from the board). Current CEOs don't have this problem.

Some observers say Ebbers lost it by taking the witness stand. Now that he has been convicted on all counts, it is fair to say that the outcome could not have been worse had he stood silent. But his lawyer Reid Weingarten yesterday defended the decision to have the defendant testify, and he is probably right. The "doofus" defense, by the way, was not offered. Ebbers did not claim he knew nothing. He did say he did not know that the WorldCom accounting was fraudulent, and, he noted, many of the company's accountants didn't know that either.

As it was, the case came down to Sullivan's word against that of Ebbers. Without Ebbers testifying, it would have been Sullivan's word against nothing. As it stood, the case was close enough that the jury was out for eight days.

While the jury did not believe him, it's quite possible Ebbers believed himself. Yesterday in an interview, Michael Missal, chief counsel to the examiner in WorldCom's bankruptcy case, said the questionable accounting at WorldCom started well before 2000, when Ebbers' crimes began. The company, which has since emerged from bankruptcy as MCI (nasdaq: MCIP - news - people ), had a practice of overstating reserves set aside after its many mergers. When it needed to show extra income, it would "bleed reserves into income," Missal says.

Other companies do this too, along with other forms of "earnings management." As accepted practices bleed into fraud, it's possible that Ebbers--even if he knew what was happening--thought he was doing nothing illegal.

The Ebbers case does indicate, though, that the Justice Department can win a jury trial on accounting arcana, even against a defendant with all but unlimited resources. This result is not too surprising. Of the eight securities fraud trials nationwide in 2004, the government won six. That's not quite as good a winning percentage as the Justice Department has in other cases, but it's still pretty high. And prosecutors in the Southern District of New York, where Ebbers was tried, have a better record still.

The case also may show that juries are willing to hold CEOs responsible for fraud on their watch--and in the case of WorldCom, the fraud itself was conceded. They proved willing to do this even when the one witness implicating the boss was an admitted criminal. Based on this verdict, Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling of Enron, and others like them, may indeed grow worried. But the few CEOs in their shoes should have been worried already.

Forbes.com - Magazine Article

Haloscan commenting and trackback have been added to this blog.

Joint Socal Business Startups 

Sony Breaks With Tradition -- Recognition of Leadership

When I was with NEC back in early 80's perhaps I am the 1st foreigner to have a desk in front of Chief International Marketing. Then I was working on the papers on the Business Strategies for the total NEC offering.. & the Converge of Computers & Communications. Then in 1983, I am back again to convince the Board to have the PC for MSDOS version, later know as APC (Advanced Personal Computer).

It is a hardwork & relationship affairs for a foreigner to convince those Directors' & Board members, as then I can only converse limited Japanese language. The Hierachical Structure of the Corporate Management system is totally Homogenous as its Nation.

Then, the same saga I have been experienced during my career with ICL now is ICL/Fujitsu!!

Again, in my career with Philips N.V., I have been going thru the same experiences again. In My paper "Creating Excellence Philips Corporate Culture" I have single out the inmportant of having:

Multi-Races Management & Corporate Culture

Continue Process To Identify Leader's for the Longevity of The Corporation

Recognitions of Leadership Regardless of the Races or Country of Origin


BeforeSony; the other corporation have install foreigner to the high office is Nissan.

Installing a Head of Corporation is one thing. Most Important thing is that the Trust & the Freedom for the Leader to perform to it's best. Rather than having the his/her time in fighting for the internal politics within the corporation.Due to the Races & Cultural differences for the Longevity of the Corporation.

Sony breaks with tradition
By David Lieberman, USA TODAY

NEW YORK — After years of losing ground to rivals including Apple (AAPL) and Nintendo, the Sony (SNE) board voted today to make Howard Stringer the first non-Japanese CEO of the Tokyo-based consumer electronics and entertainment colossus.

Sony's board met in an emergency session where Nobuyuki Idei agreed to step down as CEO and turn the company over to Stringer, 63, who has overseen its U.S.-based movie and music operations. (Audio: Sony needs to change, Stringer says)

The change would take place following a shareholder vote June 22. Stringer was also nominated for a seat on the board of directors.

"Sony has an unparalleled legacy of boldness, innovation and leadership around the world," Stringer said in a statement. (Related: Japanese carmakers keep grip on control)

"Together we look forward to joining our twin pillars of engineering and technology with our commanding presence in entertainment and content creation to deliver the most advanced devices and forms of entertainment to the consumer."

The ascension of Stringer, one of the media industry's most erudite executives, would have been unthinkable years ago. Japanese companies rarely give such power to foreigners and often protect each other in cartels known as keiretsu.

But years of restructurings failed to lift Sony's consumer electronics business out of its funk.

Chinese manufacturers have pushed prices down. And Sony has failed to keep up in key markets.

It stuck by its MiniDisc portable music players while consumers flocked to Apple's iPods. And Nintendo has control of the portable video game market.

But the entertainment unit that Stringer oversees has lifted Sony's fortunes.

With help from its blockbuster Spider-Man 2, Sony's movie operation was No. 1 in U.S. theatrical market share last year, with 14.3% of ticket sales. That plus robust holiday sales of DVDs of TV hit Seinfeld sent Sony Pictures Entertainment's operating profit up 232%, to $181 million, on revenue of $1.97 billion, up 12%.

Stringer's been an active dealmaker: He led last year's merger of Sony Music with BMG, and recently led a consortium that agreed to buy MGM. That deal is awaiting approval from European antitrust officials.

That's quite a change from the career originally planned by Stringer, who was born in Wales, became a U.S. citizen in 1985, and was knighted by Queen Elizabeth in 1999.

He's an award-winning journalist who rose up the ranks at CBS News before 1988 when he was named the network's president.

His life as a corporate executive almost ran aground after 1995 when three regional Bell phone companies hired him to run Tele-TV, a firm designed to help them compete with cable. The operation fell apart when the companies shifted their focus to long-distance.

Sony hired Stringer in 1997 to run its entertainment units, including Columbia Pictures and the then Sony Music. Stringer current position will not be filled. The entertainment units will continue reporting to him.

Stringer quickly adapted to the Japanese style of management, which eschews fads and focuses on long-term performance. For example, he avoided major investments in Internet companies, leaving Sony relatively unscathed when the bubble burst.

Idei said the time was ripe to hand over leadership to a new team to ensure Sony continues to grow as a global company.

"I am proud to have been a part of the changes at Sony for a decade, including shifting from the analog to digital era," Idei said in a statement.

Contributing: The Associated Press
USATODAY.com - Sony breaks with tradition

Leadership Quality

I am on a trip for conference.. I shall be back by Sunday.

Then I would write the article on above.

Thanks for Visiting.

The Key To Turning Around A Troubled Company -- Is People!!

I my research into The Success of Turning Around A Business or A Nation. I always follow:

Lao Tze said
"When you have the Peoples Heart, then you have the World!!"

People is the Power of Everything.

Computers & Communications, Internet .......are just the tools

In the Contacts of a Corporation, People encompass Employees, Clients/ Customers; Suppliers.

Without the 3 Harmony Namely

Timing

People

Strategic Position

Corporation or Nation would not be achieving success!!!

Hong Kong Native Strives For Career Success in the U.S.
By Kevin Voigt From The Wall Street Journal Online

Being passed over for a management job was, in retrospect, one of the best things that ever happened to John Chen. At the time, the Hong Kong native was a young electrical engineer at a California plant of Unisys Corp. The reason for the rejection? Poor speaking skills. Mr. Chen was told that he wasn't "very presentable." Later, Mr. Chen realized "it was not meant to be a degrading comment -- it literally meant that we don't know how to present the story (to non-engineers)." Rather than give up, Mr. Chen took presentation and speaking classes. Not only was he later promoted, but he eventually became manager of the plant where he was first passed over. Mr. Chen went on to work at Pyramid Technology Corp. for six years, becoming CEO in 1995. In 1997 he moved to software maker Sybase Inc., and as chairman, president and CEO he's led the once-ailing tech firm back into the black. Last year he was named to the board of directors of the Walt Disney Company. A popular speaker, Mr. Chen was recently named vice chairman of the Committee of 100, a Chinese-American group that advocates improving Sino-American relations.

John Chen - lives in San Francisco with his wife, Sherry, and has three daughters -- Jackie, 20, Stephanie, 15, Victoria, 11 -- and 7-year-old son, Justin.

What do you feel is the future of American-Chinese relations?

I'm a strong believer in the relationship between (these) superpowers -- one the most powerful and richest nation, the other the most populous and quickly developing. The historical differences lend themselves to a lot of ups and downs and conflict. I believe (we) should focus more on the people...Americans' understanding of China, not just a mystical East that treats people poorly. In the case of the East, they have to view people and understand the American ideologies.

What's the key to turning around a troubled company?

You have to build the confidence. Most people jump in and talk about strategy, talk about products -- those are important aspects. (But) the most important people whose confidence you need to rebuild is the employees. The second is the customers, then the shareholders. It has to be in that order: If you don't have (confident) employees, the customers will not be well treated, which means they will abandon you, and that will make the shareholders unhappy.

What do you wish you'd known 20 years ago?

Not to be overly cocky. Just because you had good grades and a good education, you sometimes feel you know everything. There is so much to learn from others...no one has a monopoly on all the knowledge and know-how. And the other thing, there is never really a right or wrong way of doing business, other than to have integrity. You read a lot of books about how to set up a business, how to organize, how to set marketing strategy, how to do this or that, but I really don't believe there is a cookbook for it. Twenty years ago I wish I would have listened more.

What mistake have you learned the most from?

On the business side I could think of a number of times where I didn't listen to my gut, especially in dealing with people. I'm a big proponent, almost to a fault, of loyalty. Some of these people have been working for me at three or four companies in the past 20 years.

I'm a terrible person in dealing with the Peter Principle (it states that employees are promoted to a level where they are incompetent, and then they stay there) ... I understand the principle behind it...(but) it's hard for me to pull the trigger.

What is missing in your life?

I think I'm pretty stereotypical, with a background in engineering and business...I'm a byproduct of a typical Hong Kong (mentality), told to study math, science, go to grad school. I've been surrounded by books, mathematics, computers and businesses, which has served me great. I'm blessed with a great family.I wish I had developed more outside interests...I play golf but that's about it. I'd like to learn more about art, learn to cook, just something that is different. Read More....

CareerJournal | Corporate Ladder - How to Get Promoted - Get a Job Promotion">

Wal-Mart loses $7.5 million discrimination suit -- Who Shall Be Responsible??

It is unbelievable that from a Pharmacy Associate become a trash picking man. & the man is transfer at his will??

I have experience & withness many discriminations in my Corporate careers. & for a gaint corporation like Walmart with over 1Millions employees worldwide. That certainly is causig a big concern. I also witness that all those "An Equal Opportunity Corporation".. all these seem to be the joke of Corporate America.

As Sun Tze said managing a small Arm Force is exactly the same as running the big Arm Force.

Also, Sun Tze said, if the soldiers have been ill treated, then the General in comand shall be resposible.

So the General in command shall be responsible for what have been happening.

You see the cse of HP Ex-CEO Carly Fiorina incident of firing 3 VP's for the failing result is another solid example of the so call "Point Down" finger management.

All the Guru of Management Excellent do they have MBA & Doctoriate??

Look at Confusuis!!

look at Lao Tze??

Look at Sun Tze

Even look at Christ...

Abraham...

Gandi.. ..

Mao

...they are all long dead!!!

The days of Best Business School produce the Best & Brightest Executives are over!!

Where is the Integrity, Virtue, Moral Values of Leadership in Management??

Executives Headhunter's should re-asses the methodologies in their selections & recommendation to their client's for the candidate for the best fit!!

Wal-Mart loses $7.5 million discrimination suit
NEW YORK (Reuters) — A New York jury awarded a former Wal-Mart Stores (WMT) employee who suffers from cerebral palsy $7.5 million in a discrimination lawsuit, the worker's lawyer said Thursday.

The former worker, Patrick Brady, claimed that Wal-Mart transferred him from his job as pharmacy associate to a position picking up garbage and collecting trash in the parking lot after only one day of work, said lawyer Douglas H. Widgor. The case was heard in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.

Wal-Mart said that the store did not discriminate against Brady and that he was transferred at his request.

"Although the jury has reached a decision, we do not expect the court to enter a final judgment until we have the opportunity to establish how the jury was wrong," the company said in a statement. "We are optimistic that the award will be substantially reduced or eliminated altogether."

Bentonville, Ark.-based Wal-Mart is in the midst of a national advertising campaign to burnish an image tarnished by claims of worker discrimination. The company is facing complaints throughout the world as it seeks to expand.

Public resistance to Wal-Mart's expansion has been particularly strong in California, where the retailer's campaign to improve its image began in 2004. The company's push for its first store in New York City was reported to have hit a snag this week after a real estate developer scrapped plans to include a Wal-Mart store in a Queens shopping center.

USATODAY.com - Wal-Mart loses $7.5 million discrimination suit

Making HP "Old Reliable" Again -- The HP Way

In my earlier comments about money is Innocent!!

I have quoted the great Guru's of Chinese history.

A great leader is not motivated by money, he or she cannot be swifted by the financial baits.

In the case of Job's, he is different in the sense that Apple is his Baby, & it always is his baby.

In the HP contacts, the Founders are dead. It would take Leader who share the same spirits of the founder's & willing to committed his/her time & resource, energy to lead.

The said leader shall not only have the quality to lead, he should be able to sacrifice one self for the success of the corporations.

Gives the Extreme Useful Values to the corporation, employees, their shares holders, their customers, their business partners...etc.

Be able to React to Change & Change Timely!!

Looking at what is happening today..where to find such individual like you-son?? That is my late mom parting words before she die!!

Making HP "Old Reliable" Again
If the next CEO can capitalize on the best parts of the "HP Way," he or she could reinvigorate profits, innovation, integrity, and credibility
When Hewlett-Packard held a special shareholder meeting to consider the Compaq merger back in 2002, HP engineer Dan Dove decided to attend to see whether the controversial megadeal would go though. He hadn't planned to speak -- until he heard Chief Executive Carly Fiorina argue that contrary to public opinion, employee morale at HP (HPQ ) was in fine shape.

Suddenly, the 22-year veteran found himself standing at a microphone, where he challenged his famous CEO with a directness that brought the room to a standstill. Dove told a story of how the company that had paid for him to get his engineering degree and where he had remained for years despite many lucrative offers from rivals, had just cut the jobs of two people he considered to be among his most effective co-workers. The layoffs and other changes brought in by Fiorina, he said, shattered his and many other employees' faith in HP management.

Now, with the Feb. 10 ouster of Fiorina, HP has a chance to regain the faith of longtime employees and tap into a deep reservoir of devotion to the often-misunderstood "HP Way." This time around, many of those employees are hoping management will see the HP Way as a unique asset to be polished, rather than a problem to be eliminated. "Our corporate culture could have been the best tool Fiorina had to accomplish her goals," says Dove (see BW Online, 2/22/05, "Three Simple Rules Carly Ignored").

"THE ONLY WAY OUT." HP's board should take note. While the HP Way is often derided as an outdated philosophy of interest only to nostalgic HP veterans, that misses the point. In 1939, Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard set out to create a company where talented techies would want to work -- not just for the perks, but because they were given the respect and authority to run their own businesses.

The result was a company that became famous not only for its profits and innovation, but for its integrity and credibility. From taking care of customers to providing secure employment, HP became known as high-tech's Old Reliable. True, its inability to capitalize on fast-changing markets during the Internet boom, when Fiorina was brought in, made it seem hopelessly stodgy. But in today's less overheated market, HP's old traits are back in fashion.

"The core values that made HP great are still there," says Steve Maiwurm, a long-time employee who works in Minneapolis. "Maybe they've been in hiding, but it's time for them to come back to the forefront. It's the only way out of this mess: to go back to what made HP great in the first place."

REPAIRING CONNECTIONS. Of course, HP's management has a lot of making up to do, particularly with investors who had tired of HP blowing past Wall Street earnings expectations in one quarter and then falling short in the next. In that regard, interim CEO Robert Wayman made a great start during the Feb. 16 earnings call with a blunt explanation of rising margin pressures in the printer business.

Many employees believe boring needs to be cool again at HP, at least for a little while. "Let's go back to cold, dead fish," says one staffer, a reference to the old joke that if HP had invented sushi, it would have called it "cold, dead fish."

What should a new boss -- whoever it turns out to be -- do? Along with dealing with investors, repairing those frayed connections with the rank-and-file has to be a top priority. Employees want proof that management is interested in their input.

One idea: Take an extended tour of HP's main campuses. Rather than making speeches, the new boss should arrive with little fanfare, walk the halls, and eat in cafeterias -- in other words, practice some "management by wandering around," a phrase coined by HP's founders. This could provide valuable, unvarnished input from staffers -- and convince HPers that the new CEO didn't arrive with a preconceived formula to fix their broken company.

RETURN TO PROFIT SHARING. The new boss should also roll back some of Fiorina's centralization efforts and push more authority back to HP's many business units. While Fiorina was right to centralize functions such as marketing and procurement, HPers complain that under the current structure accountability is often unclear. Generations of HP managers were trained to manage their own businesses, from R&D to distribution. HP should take advantage of this inbred competitiveness, before it's too late.

Then there's compensation. Back in the options-obsessed 1990s, HP's 50-year-old profit-sharing plan was deemed out of touch. While all employees got a single-digit percentage bonus twice a year, that didn't seem enough incentive to keep HP on a par with Internet highfliers. So Fiorina killed the program and replaced it with a far more complex "corporate performance bonus" (CPB) that was tied to stock appreciation, market share, and other factors.

Since tech's boom days are as defunct as a cold, dead fish, HP should go back to something akin to that old profit-sharing plan. It would create an all-for-one ethos that's badly needed, and it would attract workers who want a collaborative place to work, where financial gains come over time rather than in dramatic stock market swings. "That doesn't mean we're fat and lazy," says Dove. "It just means we value not having to change jobs every two years."

APPLE'S MODEL. And the new CEO should insist that he or she get a true pay-for-performance package. When Fiorina was hired in 1999, she was guaranteed about $65 million to join HP, and she got an additional $21 million in severance to leave -- not to mention a seven-figure bonus for her work in 2004 (see BW Online, 2/22/05, "Dear Carly: Cook Up a Comeback"). Who knows, maybe a symbolic $1-a-year salary is in order, as Apple Computer's (AAPL ) Steve Jobs takes. Granted, he gets plenty of stock options as well. But at least his wealth is tied directly to the interests of shareholders.

None of this is to say HP should return completely to its past. Clearly, this company had seen better days when Fiorina arrived. Still, the board needs to show the rank and file that her ouster wasn't just a boardroom power play. No, directors need to show a broader appreciation for the unique corporate culture that continues to mean so much to HP employees. Sure, it needs to be adapted to the times. But as good tech execs know, smart and motivated employees are the best asset they'll ever have.

Making HP "Old Reliable" Again

"Prosecuting Corporate Crimes" -- Money Is Innocent!!

In my opinion, I totally agreed with Mensius said:

"If there Are No Law Makers' of Making All The Complex Rules, Then There Are No Law Breakers'!!"

"A Nation Without The External Enemy, Then The People Would Not Be United!!"

"A Leader Must Known; One Task Is To Shoulder The Concerns of Their Nation, Only Death Is The Peace To One Soul!!"

My observations is that it is a total failure of the Education, Personal Conducts & Ethics.

The Current era, corporate leadership selection, reward & recognition system is too much Nail ON Money!!

Money Is Innocent!! Money Cannot Defend Itself

"Money Is The Bait!! Celebrity Is The Bait!!"

"Greed Is The Nutrition For Power & Wealth"

The present Global Leadership generation & Selection system is that; once one is out of the Elite Business Schools' or Elite Corporations', The Elite Head Hunters' would re-profile one to be Best Fit for the Leadership!! Then one Power & Wealth Is Assure!!

Board Room Politics, Corporate Politics, That is War War War everywhere.

Where is the Culture Value of Life??

Where is the Righteous Spirits of A Leadership??

Where is The Ethics & Virtue of Life??

The Guru of Leadership

i.e.

Yao & Shun

Lao Tze

Jiang Thai Kong

Confusius & Mensius

Chun Tze & Soon Tze

Kwei Ku Tze

Sun Tze & Sun Ping

Liu Zher

Chu Ker Conming

Kuan Yi

Li Yeun

Pao Zheng

Su Dong Poi

Gengiskhan

Liu Poi Wen

Zheng He

Kang Si

Yong Zheng

Chien Long

Sun Yat Sun

Mao Zhe Dong

Zhou Urn Lai

..................etc.

are long gong, left those self-proclaimed "Guru's" on the Globe!!


Prosecuting Corporate Crimes

The U.S. Department of Justice is moving decisively to address corporate criminal behavior, using the tools provided by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 to crack down on corporate officials and other professionals who abuse their positions to enrich themselves at the expense of all other stakeholders.

Strategies and policies for combating corporate crime are set by the Corporate Fraud Task Force, created by President Bush in 2002 following a wave of corporate scandals in the United States. The task force comprises both a Justice Department group that focuses on enhancing the criminal enforcement activities within the department, and an interagency group that works to maximize cooperation and enforcement throughout the federal law enforcement community. Recent prosecutions illustrate the department's new and aggressive approaches to fighting business-related crime.

Corporate crimes injure investors, employees, and the capital markets that fund the needs of existing firms and promote new businesses. Recent revelations of corporate fraud and other crimes have increased the need to investigate and prosecute criminal activity conducted by corporate officials—and associated professionals—who have abused their positions to enrich themselves while breaching the trust of investors, employees, financial institutions, and the capital marketplace.

The prosecutions for corporate fraud and related misconduct have demonstrated that criminal activity has permeated the highest levels of several major publicly held corporations, brokerage firms, accounting and auditing firms, and others. A few dishonest individuals have damaged the reputations of many honest companies and executives. These wrongdoers injured workers who dedicated their lives to building the companies that hired them. They hurt investors and retirees who had entrusted their financial futures when they placed their faith in the promises of the companies' growth and integrity.

These revelations of a corporate culture of corruption and deception in a number of very prominent corporations have threatened to undermine the public's confidence in corporations, the financial markets, and the economy. They also have magnified the need for a renewed emphasis on effective corporate governance.

ENFORCEMENT ACTIVITIES

To address these and other abuses revealed by recent corporate fraud scandals, such as those related to Enron, WorldCom, HealthSouth, and Adelphia, President George Bush created the Corporate Fraud Task Force in July 2002. The task force, chaired by the deputy attorney general of the Department of Justice, comprises members of the department assigned to enhance criminal enforcement activities within the department, and an interagency group of investigative and regulatory agencies that concentrates on maximizing cooperation and joint regulatory, investigative, and enforcement activities throughout the federal law enforcement community in matters of federal corporate fraud.

The current wave of corporate fraud prosecutions focuses on a variety of criminal conduct, including falsification of corporate books and records, distribution of fraudulent financial statements to the public and to regulatory authorities, creation of "off-the-books" accounts and relationships to conceal fraudulent activity, abuse of high corporate positions for personal benefit at the expense of the corporation, and insider trading. Often, related charges are brought for obstructing and compromising audits and investigations related to fraudulent misconduct, destruction or alteration of corporate records, perjury before grand juries and investigative authorities, and related criminal activity.

On the legislative front, the U.S. Congress passed the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in July 2002. The act constitutes the most comprehensive reform of U.S. business practices in 60 years. It gives prosecutors and regulators new means to strengthen corporate governance, to improve corporate responsibility and disclosure, and to protect corporate employees and shareholders.

The act requires, upon pain of imprisonment, that the most senior officers of a corporation certify that the firm's financial statements truly and accurately reflect its financial condition and result of operations; that auditors exercise their responsibilities to provide an independent examination and certification of the accuracy and reliability of a corporation's financial statements; that employees are protected from retaliation for disclosing improprieties of corporate officials; and that the corporate information available to investors is true and accurate, and free from deception.

INNOVATIVE TOOLS

Recent investigations and prosecutions of corporate fraud cases have been expedited by the use of some of the new tools provided to prosecutors by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and by strategies and policies developed by the Corporate Fraud Task Force. These innovations include the following:

* Bringing the collective resources and expertise of federal agencies to bear earlier in an investigation in order to complete the investigation and initiate prosecution more expeditiously. This frequently means using the resources of regulatory agencies, such as the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), to conduct a joint investigation of corporate misconduct from the inception of an investigation, instead of awaiting completion of the SEC proceedings before commencing a criminal investigation.

* Segmenting complex investigations into smaller, more manageable portions that can be investigated and prosecuted promptly and are more understandable to investigators, prosecutors, and juries. A more narrowly defined criminal investigation often encourages corporate officers and others who are involved in fraudulent conduct to enter plea agreements. A plea agreement is a formal agreement for the disposition of criminal charges between the prosecutor and the defendant pursuant to which the defendant agrees to plead guilty to one or more charges of an indictment or information and the prosecutor agrees to do certain things, such as not to bring or move to dismiss other charges or recommend to the court that a particular sentencing disposition is appropriate under the circumstances. Consequently, instead of spending years investigating a complex scheme of corporate fraud—as would have been the case only a few years ago—cases are now more often investigated and prosecuted in months.

* Using aggressive and innovative means to obtain corporate cooperation before criminal charges are instituted. Usually, the issue of corporate cooperation is intertwined with the criminal liability of the corporation itself. Increasingly, corporations are held accountable through full prosecutions or negotiated resolutions. A corporation or other organization may be fined, placed on probation and ordered to make restitution, and ordered to notify the public and their victims about their criminal wrongdoing. A condition of probation may require the corporation to take actions to remedy the harm caused by the offense and to eliminate or reduce the risk that the harm will occur in the future.

The Department of Justice is also increasingly using deferred prosecution agreements, a less punitive option with reduced collateral harm. These agreements typically provide for the filing of criminal charges with an agreement that those charges will be dismissed after a period of time if the company lives up to its obligations. The agreements usually provide for the company to accept responsibility by acknowledging the acts of its employees, make restitution and surrender ill-gotten financial gains, install effective compliance programs, employ an independent monitor to review future activities, and commit to fully cooperating with the government in its investigation of culpable individuals. A court may add to the fine any gain to the corporation from the offense that has not and will not be paid as restitution or by way of other remedial measures. Any breach of the agreement by the company would subject it to a full prosecution.

On other occasions, the Department of Justice has entered into cooperation agreements with companies. These agreements can encompass most of the attributes of a deferred prosecution, but they do not involve an actual legal action in court. The cooperation agreements allow the company to avoid any potential collateral consequences associated with the mere fact that the company has been charged with a crime, but they still require acceptance of responsibility, restitution and surrender of ill-gotten gains, full cooperation, and implementation of remedial measures.

* Prosecuting those who facilitate fraud and obstruct investigations, either in separate criminal proceedings or in the underlying corporate fraud prosecution.

* Aggressively pursuing civil and regulatory enforcement action, often in proceedings parallel to criminal prosecutions and investigations. This ensures that enforcement actions will be promptly initiated and actively pursued to protect investors and consumers from corporate fraud.

RESTORING PUBLIC CONFIDENCE

Much has been accomplished in the Department of Justice's ongoing campaign against corporate fraud; however, much remains to be done. In order to restore full public confidence in the financial markets, continued strong enforcement will be necessary to increase the level of transparency of corporate conduct and of financial reporting and to strengthen the accountability of corporate officials.

Promoting Growth Through Corporate Governance

Christopher Wray was confirmed on September 11, 2003, as the assistant attorney general of the Criminal Division of the U.S. Department of Justice. He has been with the department since 2001, handling a variety of federal cases and investigations, including for securities fraud, public corruption, racketeering, counterfeiting, and immigration.

Christopher Wray, "Prosecuting Corporate Crimes" , eJournal USA: Economic Perspectives, February 2005

Hewlett-Packard Ousts CEO Carly Fiorina - The Tao of CEO

In the Wisdom of Lao Tze He said....

A Soothing, Soft Nature Person/ Things Will Last!!

A Strong, Stubborn, tough Person/ Things Would Not Last!!

Now Let us look at what Sun Tze Said about Leadership movement:-

A Hero Know When To Advance & When To Retreat!!

A Saint or Virtue Person Know How to Size-Up The Situation!!


As Pei Ghe Yi said:

" The True or False In One Life, Is Not for Any Individual To Say about.
It is Only Oneself Knowing Oneself Better!!"



Hewlett-Packard Ousts CEO Carly Fiorina
Wed Feb 9, 2005 09:27 AM ET By Eric Auchard

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Carly Fiorina, one of the most powerful women in American business, was ousted as chairman and chief executive of Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ.N: Quote, Profile, Research) on Wednesday after disagreements over strategy at the computer and printer maker.

Analysts said Fiorina's departure would be good for HP, and the company's shares jumped more than 11 percent in pre-market trading.

"This is a good move for the company. I would say there will be a boost to employee moral because internally people had become frustrated, certainly within the printing division," said Shannon Cross, a Wall Street analyst with Cross Research who tracks the printing industry.

Peter Sorrentino, chief investment officer of Bartlett & Co. in Cincinnati, also expressed relief at the management change.

"This was a move that we had long hoped they would take. We thought the stock, just from the imaging business, is worth $24 a share, and you were being impaired as a shareholder because of the other businesses," he said.

Fiorina, 50, who joined HP as CEO in 1999, became the lightning rod of criticism among investors and some in the Silicon Valley establishment for pushing through a merger with rival PC maker Compaq Computer in 2002.

"While I regret the board and I have differences about how to execute HP's strategy, I respect their decision," Fiorina said a statement. "HP is a great company and I wish all the people of HP much success in the future."

Shares of HP, a component of the Dow Jones industrial average, rose $2.30 to $22.44 in pre-market trade on the Inet electronic brokerage system.

Robert Wayman, HP's chief financial officer, was named CEO on an interim basis and appointed to the board of directors of HP. Wayman rose through the ranks at HP after joining the company in 1969.

HP said a search for a new CEO was underway.

Patricia Dunn, vice chairman of Barclays Global Investors and a member of HP's board since 1998, was named non-executive chairman of the board.

MERGER HEADACHES

Critics of the merger with Compaq, including family members of HP founders William Hewlett and David Packard, decried the merger, argued that it diluted the value of HP's crown jewel, its profitable printer and imaging business.

"The fact that everything is back on the drawing board, with respect to (spinning off) the printer business, makes the stock more attractive," SG Cowen analyst Richard Chu said.

Sorrentino said, "HP has never had a cost-effective model in terms of the PC business, they've frittered away their lead in imaging, and their move to services never really panned out even with the addition of Compaq," he said.

Cross said the Compaq deal failed to provide the results promised at the time of the merger and HP's stock has languished since then.

HP also suffered from failed execution, which meant that quarterly results were inconsistent, leading to several sharp sell-offs in the shares in recent years. (Additional reporting by Franklin Paul and Martha Graybow in New York)


Top Technology News Sponsored by Audi | Reuters.com

LEADERSHIP IN MANUFACTURING -- Restoring Credibility

The Restoring of Credibility to the Shareholders, Board of Directors, Employees & most important partners in Business or Cusotmers is not an easy task for a New leader.

In my point view Ed Breen of Tyco have done well within the period, since he come onboard. I congratulate him for his success.

From my personal Experience & views is that, the Leadership is certainly a critical factor in leading the Change & establish the New Corporate culture.

These "Changes" involve the setting of Vision, Mission, Achievable Goal, Short Term & Long Term Strategic Planning, the next is organize the Team/ Team's, translate these keys into the Human Resources, Financial, Auditing, Operating, Manufacturing, Marketing, Sales, Logistics, Customer Services..etc.

Technology..Tools.. Software...Hardware obviously important. But the single most significant people overlooked is "People".

Very often when come to restructuring is concern. New leader tend to eliminate the layer once seem un-neccessary, it may be ignorance to creating a new structure which is more roots cutting then branches trimming. In the case of the audit committee, it shall be reporting to the Board management committe.

After having the Audit report once it is accepted, there must be a Culture Implementation team to Lead the Change & implementation.

Yes training & education on corporation wide is important, it shall be enlarge to extending the training/awareness to the close partners such as suppliers & customers.

Then, the must be a close root control & monitoring system to measure the efficiencies & effectiveness of each implementation & it's success.

Well, in my experience on the initializing "New Corporate Culture", One need the Skillful Learship, it also need the most significant "People" element & their committed "Mindset" for "Change"; the "Positive Change".


Restoring Credibility
Ed Breen, Tyco International's chairman and CEO, works to gain the trust of investors, customers, government regulators and employees.
By John S. McClenahen

Two years ago, when television portrayed Tyco International Ltd., a Bermuda-incorporated conglomerate, the focus usually was on the alleged misdeeds of previous management. Today, Tyco still is seen on television but in commercials that positively portray the $40 billion company's core products and services. This change is a product of the leadership of Edward Breen Jr., a former president and COO of Motorola Inc. who's been Tyco chairman and CEO since July 2002.

IW: You have said that the biggest challenge you've had since your arrival has been the process of restoring trust in Tyco's leadership. Where are you now in that process?

Breen: When I arrived [just over] two-and-a-half years ago, it was clear to me that the board of directors of Tyco needed to be changed, and we did that with every single person. And the senior corporate management needed significant change, and [now] the whole corporate team is basically new. To me,
No. 1 was [getting] the right leaders in place. On that task we're where we want to be.

The other area we spent a lot of time focusing on was the corporate governance side, and we certainly instituted a lot of structural change. For instance, we now have an ombudsman who reports to the audit committee.

We have doubled the size of our audit team, and the head of audit reports to the audit committee. And we have a head of corporate governance who looks at all our processes, procedures, [and] delegation of authority [and] who reports to the nomination and governance committee of the board. And
then what we have been doing for the last two-and-a-half years is an intense amount of training about what we want our culture to be and our governance to be like. But the fact of the matter is [in] that [area] you are never done.

IW: Why, as a part of restructuring, have you closed 227 facilities, shed 8,100 people, and sold 27 businesses for $2.1 billion?

Breen: When we really analyzed how we were going [to make the company more efficient and save money], we decided that we wanted to do a pretty large restructuring in fiscal '04 [which ended Sept. 30, 2004]. That's [when] we closed those facilities and reduced the head count. Restructuring and efficiency actions will continue in this company, and, quite frankly, will contribute a lot to our profitability over the next few years. [As to] the businesses that we sold . . . we very simply did an analysis of our portfolio and wanted to make the decision on what was core and strategic to the portfolio going forward and what potentially wasn't. When I [say] strategic [I mean] did it fit in one of the four core segments we wanted to grow long term. [Our] core [segments] are fire and security; health care; electronics; and what I would call engineered products or infrastructure services. They are great industries to be in; they have great growth dynamics; and we have a leading global position in these markets.

IW: What roles are Six Sigma and strategic sourcing playing in your building Tyco into an "operating" company?

Breen: When we say we're working to become world-class in operating, what we're doing are two things internally.
We are very focused on organic revenue growth -- where can we drive additional growth in our core businesses without doing acquisitions.

The second area is what I would call the operating excellence or operating intensity area. And under that falls Six Sigma, strategic sourcing, the rationalization of our real estate footprint and our focus on improving working capital. [Operating excellence] is really a catalyst, and what I would say is a culture of how we want to run this company for continuous improvement.

INDUSTRYWEEK: LEADERSHIP IN MANUFACTURING -- Restoring Credibility

Steve Ballmer - Microsoft CEO helps Microsoft enter its 30s gracefully

I am fortunate to be able to learn about Marketing & Sales, Import & Export, Wholesales & Retails business begining at the age of 7th.

During my childhood days, I have witness many social unrest, arsonal activities, killing between difference ethnic group's. There is also a strong movement of National independance between late 50's & early 70's in South East Asia. Thus it available the opportunities for the situation or circumstances (Political) Leader's to be born.

When I look into the word "Risk" in English term is just "Risk", However, in the Chinese Word, it is spell as 2 character "Wei Chi" translate to english mean "Danger Opportunity"!!!!

So these is the bases for a Nation to Renew Itself for Longevity that need what?? Leader....Leadership....

Stop the violence & barbaric action's...killing...Arsonal's..Murder....that called for redefinethe continuity culture to unite the people underone...

Now, recall back what the Chinese philosopher - Meng Tze said If the Nation is not at the risk of enemy, then there is no ground for a great leader to be born. If the family is not facing any crisis, then there is no opportunity for the Brother's & Sister's to united underone roof.

These theory his actually passed on by "Lao Tze" to "Confusius" then "Meng Tze" then "Kwei Ku Tze" the teacher of "Sun Tze".

As everyone know, Sun Tze is a great Military Strategist. Today his strategies not only applied in military battle front, it also have been used as the guild for political leader's to govern the nation.

In my paper works Creating Excellence Philips Corporate Culture(1989-1990); for Philips B.V.. I have made many reference into Prince Sidhata, Lao Tze, Jiang Tze Ya, Confusius, Meng Tze, Sun Tze, Chun Tze & Kong Ming...idealogy & philosophies, integrate with my exposure with US, Europe, Japan & Local as well as my family culture plus my own divine on Corporate Culture; Leadership & its relationship to Longevity of a corporation.

I believe Steve Ballmer bring along his foundation from P&G, a consumer products corporation. As the evolutions of PC & convergent of Computers & Communications. The timing is just right for him to brand it to the best interest of Microsoft for the present time.

As the Buddha said:

Because of The Past
There is A Present
Because of The Present
There is A Future
&
Nothing is Impermanent

Hence, be it a Nation, Society, Corporation & Family no entity would be excluded on the said phenomenal above.

I will write more on Corporate-Culture-Leadership of this Blog.


CEO helps Microsoft enter its 30s gracefully
By Kevin Maney, USA TODAY

REDMOND, Wash. — The clock says 8 a.m. CEO Steve Ballmer has been up since 4:45, has worked out and been in the office for a while. Tall coffee in hand, he's already his famous self: revved up, voluble, funny, charming and launching into a root-root-root for the home team.

Microsoft does 'amazing things on a regular basis,' CEO Steve Ballmer says.
By Ed Wray, AP

In an interview, Ballmer talks a lot about how, five years after Chairman Bill Gates made him CEO, he is redefining Microsoft for its next phase, making it more disciplined and decentralized. Though Microsoft (MSFT) has a reputation as a bully in the technology industry, Ballmer is trying to make it a better corporate citizen. (Related: Ballmer shares strategy on moving forward)

As the company enters its 30th year, Ballmer, 48, is nudging Microsoft to make a transition to an enduring corporation — a General Electric or an IBM — that can long outlive its founders. To get there, Ballmer has driven structural and cultural change through the software giant.

While it's clear that Microsoft is changing, old behaviors die hard. When Ballmer gets talking about how Microsoft must be first with technology innovations — which, so far in Microsoft's history, has not often happened — the exchange is more like vintage pugilistic Microsoft.

Ballmer: "You've got to be not just first in an area; you've got to be first with important innovations even in areas that you've pioneered."

USA TODAY reporter: "Well, you guys have proved over and over again being first is not necessarily ..."

Ballmer: "We love to be first."

Reporter: "You love to be first but ..."

Ballmer: "We love to be first."

Reporter: "You certainly weren't the first — you know, I mean, here looking at your ..."

Ballmer: "We love to be first. Well, our big success is Windows. We were first. Windows, we were first — and then everybody faded out because there was a period during which the concept was — I mean, Apple stuck around with their concept of that, but everybody else faded out, basically."

Tech people must be scratching their heads. Windows wasn't the first graphical user interface — that was invented by Xerox and was first made popular by Apple Computer. Microsoft didn't have the first browser or video player or cell phone operating system. Time and again, the company has come in late and, in many cases, won the day with tenacity. It is a strength Microsoft could boast about but doesn't.

The yin and yang — past and future — in Ballmer's remarks echo around Microsoft. In interviews with nearly a dozen Microsoft executives, the company sometimes seems to be grappling with which parts of itself to leave behind and which parts it can't live without. Change is happening. But it apparently isn't easy, and it's not yet evident what kind of company Microsoft is becoming.

"The problem isn't that Microsoft can't change," says Jeffrey Tarter, editor of influential newsletter Softletter. "The real problem is it's not at all clear how the company should change."

Four keys to its strategy

For one thing, Microsoft has a mission problem.

Until recently, its underlying strategy was fairly simple: Drive computer sales. Microsoft made most of its money when new computers were sold loaded with Microsoft's operating system and applications such as Word and Excel. Its well-known mission mantra was, "A computer on every desktop and in every home."

But by the late-1990s, computers had landed on most desktops and in most homes, and Microsoft had moved into other markets such as video games and handheld computers. Ballmer has come up with a new mission and strategy, but it's no longer so clear to employees or the outside world. For instance, asked to describe the company's strategy, the head of Microsoft Research, Rick Rashid, chuckles and says: "I'm not sure the company has an overall strategy. It has lots of different strategies."

Microsoft's new mission: "Enabling people and businesses around the world to realize their full potential."

"So you could say, 'OK, that sounds kind of soft and fluffy,' " Ballmer says. "But I would say it is galvanizing and allows us to think appropriately broadly. We know our core competence is software, and we can think broadly about where software can have this sort of big and broad and important impact."

Underneath that mission, Ballmer sees four keys to Microsoft's emerging strategy.

"First and foremost, we are a platform company," he says.

Microsoft makes software that others can build on. Windows is a platform. So are Word and Excel. Third parties build specialized applications on top of those Microsoft products. Microsoft's Xbox, cell phone operating systems and the Media PC are also platforms.

PC sales don't provide enough growth anymore, so Microsoft has to have its software in other devices that have growing sales. That's why it keeps expanding from PCs.

Next, all Microsoft platforms must embrace three capabilities: security (from viruses, identity theft, etc.), communications (helping devices connect to networks) and search and information management (which applies to everything from searching the Web to finding what you want to watch out of 500 TV channels). Microsoft has struggled with security and is behind competitors in search.

Finally, Microsoft products have to integrate with each other. In Microsoft's eyes, that's a benefit to users. The integration makes it easy to move among software programs and devices. In the eyes of many competitors and some government agencies, that can be a way for Microsoft to shut out competition.

A new culture begins to evolve

Ballmer, in a checked shirt, open collar and gray pants, leans way back in his chair and puts his feet on the edge of the conference room table. One-on-one, he's much different from Gates — more relaxed and garrulous. His personality is affecting the corporate culture more than ever.

He seems to want to do something about Microsoft's reputation as a brass-knuckled competitor and as an arrogant or uncaring supplier and partner. Part of the problem, Ballmer says, has been Microsoft's self-perception. It didn't understand how powerful it had become. Taking cues from Gates, Microsoft still thought like an underdog start-up.

"For many years, we did what we saw as our jobs," Ballmer says. "Then we went through a process where we kind of learned that people had expectations for us that were broader than that."

In the past year, Ballmer forged a rapprochement with former archenemy Sun Microsystems and improved a bitter relationship with the European Union. His message to employees is to play hard but be considerate.

"This is a very goal-oriented company," says Alison Watson, a vice president. "It used to be that the goal was to get X number of wins. Now there's more about winning with grace." Time will tell whether competitors feel they've been beaten graciously.

Ballmer seems to be showing Microsoft how to listen rather than dictate. "Since Steve has taken over, they've added a customer-facing DNA like they've never had before," says Mark Templeton, CEO of Citrix Systems, now a Microsoft partner but a company that Microsoft previously tried to crush. "They are listening and acting. It's more of a business point of view, where they used to want to get into a technical shootout."

On the campus, Microsoft's Darwinian culture of competition is easing a bit. One sign: Gates, famous for withering attacks on unprepared employees in meetings, has altered his approach a bit. "Bill still yells at people," research chief Rashid says. "But he's more thoughtful about what he says and how he will affect what will happen."

Going deeper than personalities

Ballmer gets talking about the two broad purposes of his job. First, he says, he's there to run the 60,000-employee company day to day. To describe the other half, he brings up a text that's probably not on most MBAs' reading lists: 19th century sociologist Max Weber's theories on "the routinization of charisma." It's about "how the transitions work from these sort of strong, powerful, charismatic leaders" to a next generation, when the leader is gone or in a different role, Ballmer says.

"That's what we're trying to do," he continues. "We have to be a place that can, with great energy and passion that's baked into the place, do amazing things on a regular basis. We have to be able to predictably do the amazing."

Ballmer recognizes that "predictably do the amazing" can sound oxymoronic. The challenge is to set up a structure and process that allow that to happen, without getting too bureaucratic or losing the passion of the founder, says Yale University's Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, who studies CEOs.

So what is Ballmer's tack?

One key is reducing the Bill and Steve factor inside Microsoft. Gates and Ballmer stay involved in business decisions and technology developments at a deeper level than top officers at many companies. But as Microsoft gets broader and bigger, Gates and Ballmer are trying to be less involved in details.

"I'm steering," Ballmer says. "I'm giving a nudge in directions that I think are important. But at the end of the day, it's not like it was five years ago, where I would have said I have my hands on the levers."

Ballmer in 2002 divided Microsoft into seven business units: business solutions, servers and tools, mobile and embedded devices, home and entertainment, MSN, client, and information worker. Each is responsible for its own profits and losses and even has its own CFO. The structure has helped push decisions out from Ballmer and Gates because managers run their units like somewhat independent businesses — to an extent.

"You don't run Microsoft the way you run General Electric," says Senior Vice President Will Poole. GE is an agglomeration of very different businesses, from jet engines to home appliances. "We have to drive integration across products so they work together and are greater than the sum of the parts," Poole says.

Still, executives say the reorganization is the most profound change Ballmer has brought. Microsoft has long been a product-focused company: Teams worked on Word, Windows, etc. Under the new structure, "People think about their business instead of their products," says Suzan DelBene, a marketing vice president.

"While Gates and Ballmer are still in the middle of the transition, I think they'll be successful in the same way they are with products," says J.P. Auffret, director of technology management studies at George Mason University. "They'll continue to make adjustments" until the company gets it right, he says.

Which, again, is how Microsoft works.

More immediate concerns

"I don't know if (Microsoft is in) phase one or phase two," Ballmer says about Microsoft's transition. "Maybe it's actually phase about three to phase about four, but at least as a bigger company, we're graduating from somehow a phase one to a phase two."

With that, Ballmer grins.

The evolution of Microsoft is not the most pressing issue on Ballmer's desk every day. Microsoft's business is healthy enough financially. Revenue was $23 billion when Ballmer became CEO in fiscal 2000 and hit $36.8 billion in fiscal 2004 — 60% growth in four years.

On other fronts, Linux continues to give Microsoft fits in server operating systems. Open source browser Firefox has been luring away users of Microsoft's Explorer. Microsoft faces powerful competition in cell phone operating systems, game consoles and TV set-top boxes. Read More....


USATODAY.com - CEO helps Microsoft enter its 30s gracefully