Legal isn’t always ethical
by Miki SaxonImage credit: seriykotik1970
We all know that legality and ethics don’t go hand in hand, but when (generally accepted) unethical actions go from legal to illegal companies can be slow to change direction.
Example: Siemens. But first, some background.
In 1998 Germany criminalized bribery of foreign officials, but prior to that it was fairly common practice, especially on large infrastructure projects where Siemens is a big player.
The investigation that started in 2006 is just now coming to trial with prosecutors planning on charging some 300 people.
Did the brass know? Seems likely since “managers carefully signed Post-it notes that had been affixed to potentially incriminating documents so that they might later peel away evidence of their imprimatur if necessary.”
The prosecution’s effort is aimed well beyond Siemens, “This trial is going to create a new sensibility in Germany,” said Anton Winkler, a senior prosecutor in Munich. “Not only this trial but the entire Siemens investigation. The message has arrived in all German companies.”
In case you don’t read the whole article it’s only fair to mention that “Siemens has hired its own legal and financial investigators, who have identified 1.3 billion euros ($2.1 billion) in suspicious payments that may have been used to win contracts around the world. (Whether in euros or dollars that ain’t hay!) Siemens also hired Michael Hershman, a co-founder of the prominent watchdog group Transparency International, to fashion a system for training employees in compliance with anticorruption laws.”
OK, they’re finally getting it—a decade late, but better late than never. “To be fair, Siemens is setting a pretty good example that other companies could learn from,” said Mark Pieth, a professor of criminology at the University of Basel and the head of antibribery efforts at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, based in Paris.”
Bribery has been illegal in the US far longer, yet companies still do it.
Will this make a difference? What do you think?
