2009’s most influential people in business ethics
Dec 30, 2009
One entrant called shareholder value a ‘dumb idea’
What do a pharmaceutical sales representative turned millionaire whistle-blower, a corporate lawyer tasked with changing a bribery plagued global corporate culture, the new head of the Securities and Exchange Commission, the murdered head of the Liberian anti-corruption commission and the head of the EU’s anti-trust commission have in common?
In addition to attention-grabbing biographies, they are tagged as the top five most influential individuals who impacted business ethics in 2009 as part the top 100 list complied by the New York-headquartered Ethisphere Institute, self-described as ‘a leading international think-tank dedicated to the creation, advancement and sharing of best practices in business ethics, corporate social responsibility, anti-corruption and sustainability’.
It makes for an interesting read for IROs swamped with ‘best,’ ‘worst,’ ‘most,’ and ‘least’ lists that sprout at year end, not the least because of what it says about trends and thinking in corporate ethics globally as well as some noteworthy entrants further down the list.
First, the top five:
1. John Kopchinski – former Pfizer sales representative, who ‘blew the whistle on Pfizer’s marketing activity and received $51.1 mn of the penalty that Pfizer paid for illegally marketing some of its drugs… Officially turned whistle-blowing into big business’.
2. Peter Solmssen – general counsel, Siemens, was ‘called in to clean up Siemens (as it navigates a World Bank settlement after its bribery scandal). Solmssen’s actions (are) a live case study as to how a company as large as Siemens can recover from such a large legal issue.’
3. Mary Schapiro – chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission who ‘clearly created a new tone compared to that set by her predecessor. Schapiro also announced that the SEC would hold its first Chief Compliance Officer National Seminar’.
4. Keith Jubah – head of Liberia’s Public Procurement and Concessions Commission, ‘killed… for doing his job. Unfortunately, that job involved fighting corruption in a country widely perceived to be among the most corrupt in the world. Jubah was shot to death near Liberia’s capital’.
5. Neelie Kroes – commissioner for competition at the European Union. ‘This may be the last year that Kroes makes this list (a former number one heavyweight from two years ago), as her term has ended… In her last year in this post, the EU remained a leader in the antitrust and cartel-busting world.’
Ethisphere compiled the list across eight distinct categories; Government and Regulatory; Business Leadership; Non-Government Organization (NGO); Design and Sustainability; Media and Whistleblowers; Thought Leadership; Corporate Culture; and Investment and Research.
One of the most interesting honorees is former GE chairman Jack Welch. Not lacking for honors crediting him with GE’s enviable stock performance during his tenure, Welch made the list at number 65 in the rankings for ‘for admitting in an interview with the Financial Times that his focus on shareholder value was the dumbest idea in the world’.
Only three entrants made the list in the Investment and Research category.
67. Bennett Freeman, senior vice president, sustainability research and policy, Calvert Group, ‘actively promoted the idea and benefits of socially responsible (investing) around the world’.
69. The Newsweek Greenrankings Team (Peter Kinder, president of KLD Research & Analytics; Simon Thomas, chief executive of Trucost; Paul Scott, managing director of CorporateRegister.com); who jointly ‘put together and launched Newsweek’s first annual Green Rankings’.
80. Mindy Lubber, president of CERES, ‘a leading voice in activist shareholder resolutions’.
By Brad Allen