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On My Bookshelf:
How Companies Win
by Rick Kash & David Calhoun
The Truth About Leadership
by James M. Kouzes & Barry Z. Posner
The 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader
by John C. Maxwell
The 2020 Workplace: How Innovative Companies Attract, Develop, and Keep Tomorrow's Employees Today
by Jeanne C. Meister & Karie Willyerd
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Business Ethics & Leadership Blog
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David, you heard it from me first. I think these "hotlines" are going to revolutionize how companies manage their ethical culture. The future is now!
Reggie
David,
I reviewed the article, and it didnt describe any situations where that a call to this hotline was enough to "call off the dogs." To me, if the hotline was being used so business leaders could get the SEC to curtail an investigation that otherwise was completely proper, I would agree with you. At a minimum, the SEC has failed to manage the perception of this hotline.
As someone who has been investigated (and cleared) six times over the years because of alleged investigation improprieties -- the best defense for an implicated person is a good offense -- we should not kid ourselves that these mechanisms don't exist informally in our companies. A call to our hotlines, an email to a senior executive, or an allegation of an "inquisition" can all derail a valid workplace investigation. I would suggest that the real focus should be on what the SEC -- or our companies' leadership -- did when they get these complaints. A good test for "tone from the top" if you ask me.
Meric
Meric, I agree with you that the examples given in the truthout.org article didn't prove the hypothesis. But it seems to me that if the SEC career (i.e. NOT political-appointee) employees were complaining about the usage of the hotline, that the existence of the hotline "sent a signal" to them, there was some kind of operational problem occurring and not just an issue with perceptions.
It's become pretty apparent that the Department of Justice was politicized under the Bush administration. There's no reason to think the SEC wasn't also politicized. In a manner similar to the DOJ allegations, the SEC could have been used for unreasonable investigations of political enemies while also telling its career employees to back off reasonable investigations of political friends.