The Network GRC Blog

That’s Our Policy. What’s Yours?

July 06 2011

Kevin O’Malley, Director of Product Management, The Network

Corporate policy management With all due apologies to that insurance giant and their deep-voiced ad person, knowing your “policy” is essential for a well-run business. We’re not talking about insurance policy here, but instead, about internal policy, code of conduct, should-and-should-nots, and the sort. What exactly do corporate policies do for an organization? Why are they important, and what should you look for in your approach to policy management?

All good questions. The noted GRC pundit Michael Rasmussen of Corporate Integrity, LLC, makes reference to “clear accountability,” and that pretty much sums it up. Full-lifecycle policy management – which includes policy creation, distribution, education, certification, tracking, and maintenance – is…

Confidentiality and Follow-up: Urgent or Else

July 05 2011

Cindy Knezevich, VP of Marketing, The Network

Confidentiality, web based case management It’s the chicken-and-egg dilemma in the ethics business: does confidentiality breed cover-ups (and therefore allow misconduct), or does it work as the unseen hand of justice? Just last week the General Accountability Project (GAP), the non-profit whistleblower advocacy organization, posted a blog concerning the corruption problems at World Bank and how confidentiality can be used to cover up said corruption without some form of incident management that includes follow-up and disclosure. The basic connotation is that those with “privileges” or who had some form of insider information can use the cloak of confidentiality to sweep the misconduct under the proverbial rug. Unless, of course, there…

See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Report No Evil

June 28 2011

James Barrett, Sr. Marketing Communications Manager, The Network

Fraud reporting I recently read an interesting and almost comical—if it weren’t so tragic—online forum conversation between a handful of people who were discussing the ethics of a pharmaceutical sales rep reportedly selling samples out of her car. The debate was over whether to report her through the company’s ethics hotline or to take the attitude, as one person said, of “see nothing… hear nothing… report nothing…. Comfortable and prefer to keep it that way.”

Are these employees really that callus toward their company’s ethics programs? The contributors to this forum—all anonymous, so we can’t know for sure whether or not they are really employees of the pharma company in…

Feds Fighting Fraud with Technology

June 22 2011

James Barrett, Sr. Marketing Communications Manager, The Network

Fraud detection, protection It probably comes as no surprise that the federal government is not as technologically advanced in terms of fraud fighting tools as the private sector. Commercial enterprises are created to make money, or in the case of non-profits, to further a cause. Some would argue that government is only in place to spend money. However you look at it, the government has never done well at fighting fraud, whether internal or external. The Pentagon’s $900 toilet seat comes to mind. Or Social Security checks continuing to be sent to those long deceased. Most of us have wondered how that kind of fraud and mismanagement could go on…

Visual Storytelling: Perfect for Business Ethics

June 17 2011

Jay Thomas, Creative Director, The Network

Visual story telling elearning The use of illustrated and animated content has exploded over the last couple of decades. Graphic novels, manga and animé (Japanese comics and animation), Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, Pixar, Disney and a multitude of major motion picture releases are but a few examples of the expansion of the use of this medium in entertainment. This has also corresponded with an increase in acceptance and interest by adults and has increasingly filtered into the business world. Interestingly, in many other cultures, notably Japan and Europe, comics have always been an accepted medium by adults and a lot of content has always been produced for them. This is also happening in…

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