Shirley Temple and Excellence in FCPA Training Video

Today we honor one of the most interesting personalities of the 20^th century, Shirley Temple, who died yesterday. She was probably the greatest child actress of all-time, being the lead grossing star for five straight years during the 1930s. But the thing I found most remarkable about this woman was her third career, after marriage and motherhood, in the US Diplomatic Corp. President Richard Nixon appointed her as a Representative UN. Nixon later appointed her as Ambassador to Ghana. President Ford named her to be the first female Chief of Protocol of the US. Finally, the first President Bush appointed her as Ambassador to Czechoslovakia. But whatever role Shirley Temple chose she did it with excellence.

Just as Ms. Temple had a commitment to excellence, so does my colleague, Mike Koehler, the FCPA Professor. Recently the FCPA Professor announced that he had partnered with Emtrain to create a best in class Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) compliance training video. I had the opportunity to view the video and I can agree that it is certainly an excellent training video, which you should consider for use in your company’s ongoing compliance training and communication. As you would expect from the FCPA Professor, each slide is well documented and provides the basis for the training. However, the thing that I thought made the training stand out was the variety of techniques used throughout the video.

There are separate chapters on the following subjects: an Introduction to the FCPA, the social and business case for the FCPA, the definition of bribery under the Act, a definition of what constitutes “Anything of Value” under the Act, who is a Foreign Official under the Act and who else might be covered by the FCPA, what does it mean to “Obtain or Retain Business”, the high nature of Third Parties under the FCPA and how to manage that risk, what might be available as an exception to the Act and defenses under the FCPA, Books and Internal Controls, a discussion of the UK Bribery Act, Red Flags that you should be aware, creation of a FCPA compliance policy and self-reporting of violations to the DOJ/SEC and a summary section. After completion of the course you should be able to describe how corruption impedes global economic development and how it undermines the ability to compete fairly in business; outline three fundamental elements of a bribery offense that can lead to prosecution of companies as well as individuals; identify various red flags that can be indicators of bribery and outline how, and to whom, you should report concerns about possible bribery and corruption.

The video training includes the following:

• Executive and non-executive versions
• The ability to configure the course with company-specific policies, videos, graphics, text, and employee hotline or reporting information
• 20+ video clips to illustrate real-world business scenarios that present risk
• An Enforcement Risk Spectrum that helps learners “issue spot” bribery and corruption risk
• The ability to use video scenes outside the e-Learning experience in live training, discussion groups, or company emails and reminders
• A compliance Learning Management System (LMS), enabling an administrator to launch and track training efforts and generate audit-ready training reports showing time spent on each video, screen, policy, etc.
• There will be productions available in Mandarin Chinese, Russian, Arabic, Portuguese, French, and other languages upon request.

But the video is more than simply a recitation of what is required under the FCPA. The thing that makes it stand out for me is the different types of training it employs to hold the listener’s attention. First is the length of 60 minutes for an executive/high risk trainee and a shorter length for those who do not fall into those categories. Next, for those who may desire to devolve deeply into the subject matter, are short concise descriptions of the legal and compliance concept involved in the discussions. For instance, in the section on the definition of bribery there is a discussion of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) established standards to combat bribery and the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC), which established guidelines for codes of conduct for public officials, transparent and objective procurement systems, and increased accounting and auditing standards for the private sector. Added to this is a short piece on the UK Bribery Act. All of these non-US laws are then tied into the FCPA so the listener will have a broad understanding of what they may be facing in any multi-national business from the anti-corruption compliance perspective. Significantly, and most soberingly, the video points out that according to the World Bank Institute, more than $1 trillion is paid globally in bribes each year. Some of the worst affected countries are the poorest ones in the world.

What I think makes the video unique and frankly enjoyable to watch, is that it  has several interactive features. The first is that it opens with an interactive pre-assessment that is designed to determine how much you already know about global bribery and corruption. From there, each section has a short interactive questionnaire at the conclusion of the video on the section’s topic. These features allow the participants to examine their own expertise and then self-assess the lessons that they have learned throughout the presentation. By making each session interactive, you not only hold the attention of the listener but also garner their participation in the training. Any time you can get participation in training, you are a long way towards having an effective training program.

There are a couple of other cool features. It allows your company to customize the training by attaching some of your key anti-corruption policies and procedures for review during the Policies section of the training. Additionally, and following my mantra of Document, Document and Document, after completion of the training, your participation is electronically noted for record keeping, along with a copy of the training materials. So when the regulators want to see not only who was trained but also the materials they were trained on, you have easily assessable records to document the event.

So when the FPCA Professor says he has created a best in class FCPA training program, I heartily agree. You can check out a demo version of the training video by clicking here.

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As many of you know, Jon Rydberg and I wrote and published a book at the end of last year, entitled “Global Anti-Corruption & Anti-Bribery Leadership Practical FCPA and U.K. Bribery Act Compliance Concepts for the Corporate Board Member, C-Suite Executive and General Counsel”. On Thursday, February 13, we will discuss our book in a webinar hosted by Hiperos LLC. Hiperos President, Greg Dickinson, will be interviewing Jon and myself about the book, its genesis and our thoughts on ‘doing compliance’ as opposed to simply having a compliance program. The event is free and you can find details and register by clicking here.

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This publication contains general information only and is based on the experiences and research of the author. The author is not, by means of this publication, rendering business, legal advice, or other professional advice or services. This publication is not a substitute for such legal advice or services, nor should it be used as a basis for any decision or action that may affect your business. Before making any decision or taking any action that may affect your business, you should consult a qualified legal advisor. The author, his affiliates, and related entities shall not be responsible for any loss sustained by any person or entity that relies on this publication. The Author gives his permission to link, post, distribute, or reference this article for any lawful purpose, provided attribution is made to the author. The author can be reached at tfox@tfoxlaw.com.

© Thomas R. Fox, 2014

The Culinary Aspects of Homer’s Odyssey and Compliance Training

I recently came across a fascinating book entitled “The Meaning of Meat and the Structure of the Odyssey” by Egbert Bakker. In this work, Bakker looks at the culinary aspects of Odysseus’ journey home from the Trojan War. Peter Thonemann, writing in the TLS, said that “Bakker’s book is a powerful illustration of the importance of food and culinary practices to past society.” In other words, the eating habits could be used to not only understand the past but also perhaps train those in the present about the “wider moral culpability” found in Homer’s work.

I thought about this different way of learning as I was reading a recent article by the Open Compliance and Ethics Group (OCEG) President Carol Switzer in the Compliance Week magazine, entitled “Playing the Game of Risk in Workplace Education”. Her article was coupled with a roundtable discussion of the subject and another in the OCEG, GRC Illustrated Series entitled “Risk-Based Education and Training”.

In the article, Switzer reminds us “one size does not fit all in deciding the content and intensity of training needs for each role or individual”. Recognizing that it all starts with a risk-based analysis of who needs the training is just the start. Switzer believes that by engaging employees in the training, it can become more effective. She looks to the world of gaming when stating that, “Well-designed games encourage engagement, and more engagement means more reinforcement, and that leads to better recollection and application of the information. Situational decision making drives the player to think, not just act. Making wrong choices and seeing the consequences leads to desire to act the right way and gain rewards, be it advancing to the next level of the game, earning a prize for success, or understanding that in the real workplace world the reward may be achievement of personal and organizational objectives.”

In her roundtable, she posed the question, “How do you suggest companies decide on the appropriate amount of training? Earl Jones, Shareholder at Littler Mendelson PC, responded that a company needs to evaluate where its risks are, “If the company is betting on international expansion, then intensive anti-bribery and corruption intensive training is a necessity for key employees. Also design training to build and protect sources of value. If an intangible asset, like a brand, is an important source of value, thoroughly train employees to identify, understand, and react to events or behavior that could impair the brand.”

When it comes to the scope and style of training, Steve Perreault, Global Head of eLearning GRC for Thomson Reuter, suggested you should assess your training by employee groups. You should “Understand things like: How likely is a group of employees to participate in activity that is related to a particular regulatory area? How complex is that regulation? What controls are in place already? Is this employee group responsible for making sure others comply with policies and regulations? You also have to consider what you will need to provide to evidence to regulators and courts that the program exists and is effective. Once you get that figured out, you must ensure that you stay on top of changes in legislation and enforcement, and revise policy, procedures, and training accordingly.”

Switzer next turned to measuring the effectiveness of training and how a company might determine this. Alisha Lynch, Global Ethics and Compliance Education Leader at Dell Inc., said, “Determining the scope and style of training should have several input sources.  Most organizations have three- to five-year strategic plans, and training programs should be designed to support those plans and initiatives. One good analogy is that a training initiative should be like a physical fitness regime. You cannot exercise the same muscle every time to make significant improvements, and you cannot ignore the diet. A culture is like a diet. If the organization designs and delivers great training but the culture is toxic, probably no improvement will be made.”

In the GRC Illustrated Series, it suggests that companies take a risk-based approach to provide appropriate levels and types of training and education to different individuals across the organization. Some of the factors they suggest you review are the role of the individuals, geography, and their level of exposure to particular risk areas. Such an approach moves away from the ‘tick-the-box’ approach that generally renders such compliance useless. It also helps to ensure that there is a more effective use of budgetary resources by focusing training efforts to maximize the return on the investment. The piece advocates a three-pronged approach.

Define

The first step is to define what you are trying to achieve. The piece recognizes that “while some organizations limit their training programs to what is legally required, more successful ones know that there are many reasons for developing a thoughtful, well-designed approach to employee education.” It puts forward that if training is done right, it will help the organization to achieve several goals. These include: the business Objectives; managing threats and business opportunities; it will address change in positive manner; it can help to ensure integrity and the company’s reputation; it can strengthen the business’s culture and ethical conduct; and, lastly, it can provide evidence that the company has complied with legal requirements such as the US Sentencing Guidelines and the Ten Hallmark’s of an Effective Compliance Program.

Design

The next step is to design the training program, which is further broken down into three steps, which drill down into the specifics of training. By using these three steps, you can help to assure that the training will be effective for the individual but also for the nature of the risk involved.

The first is to design the training program. Steps include the development of curriculum using a risk-based model. You should set uniform methods for acquiring content, maintaining records, and reporting. This should be followed by the establishment of standards for selecting appropriate content, delivery methods, frequency, and assurance based on risk exposure. You can review any technological solutions for both e-learning delivery and documentation. Finally, you will need to consider training content revision when requirements or risk analyses change.

After the design of the training program, the next level is to design the specific training courses. Here you should establish your learning objectives and map the training to legal and competency requirements. You must always remember who is your audience and what their characteristics might be. You need to ensure that the content is timely and the instructors are effective. Finally, you will need to determine not only the most appropriate mechanism to deliver the content but also define the key performance indicators and determine methods to audit them.

The final design level is the individual’s training plan. Here you need to analyze what the person’s role is within the organization and use this to determine mandatory and risk-based training needs. You will need to consider modifying the risk profile based upon assessments given before and after the training is delivered and then adapt the training as an employee’s role and risk profile changes within an organization

Deliver

For the delivery of the training materials, they also have a tripartite scheme. They break it down into high risk exposure roles; medium risk exposure roles and low-risk exposure roles.

• High Risk Exposure Roles – are defined as those employees whose roles in an organization can significantly impact the company. Here expert subject proficiency is demanded and individuals should be able to act with confidence in a wide range of scenarios and conditions based on a strong understanding of the risks, requirements, and penalties. Training may be repeated frequently using several methods of delivery, have greater assurance through testing and certification of course completion, and include ongoing risk profiling of individuals through assessment of behavior choices in online courses or live simulation exercises.
• Medium Risk Exposure Roles – are defined as those employees who face risk on regular basis or present a moderate level of negative impact to a company if they mishandle the risk. These individuals should know the risks, requirements, and penalties and should be able to apply their knowledge to common scenarios using standards and tools given to them. Training should have content to make them proficient in the subject, be refreshed periodically, use a mix of modes of delivery, and have methods to prove evidence of understanding.
• Low Risk Exposure Roles – are defined as those employees with a low likelihood of facing the attendant risk. Persons in this category should be made aware of the risks, requirements, and penalties, as well as the organization’s expectations about how to address it. They should know relevant policies and procedures and where to get assistance in addressing a risk or making a behavior decision.

As with all areas in an anti-corruption compliance program, Switzer and the OCEG suggest that you monitor and audit your program so that you can review it and improve as circumstances warrant. I would add that you should also Document, Document and Document what you are doing for the same reasons. Just as Bakker’s new look at the culinary aspects of the classics can provide new insights into interpretation, it also shows the training that was written into Homer’s Odyssey.

This publication contains general information only and is based on the experiences and research of the author. The author is not, by means of this publication, rendering business, legal advice, or other professional advice or services. This publication is not a substitute for such legal advice or services, nor should it be used as a basis for any decision or action that may affect your business. Before making any decision or taking any action that may affect your business, you should consult a qualified legal advisor. The author, his affiliates, and related entities shall not be responsible for any loss sustained by any person or entity that relies on this publication. The Author gives his permission to link, post, distribute, or reference this article for any lawful purpose, provided attribution is made to the author. The author can be reached at tfox@tfoxlaw.com.

© Thomas R. Fox, 2014

How Do You Develop a Compliance Practitioner?

The Morrill Act was a seminal moment in American education. This law, passed in 1862, provided that land-grant institutions of higher learning should be created “without excluding other scientific and classical studies and including military tactic, to teach such branches of learning as are related to agriculture and the mechanic arts, in such manner as the legislatures of the States may respectively prescribe, in order to promote the liberal and practical education of the industrial classes in the several pursuits and professions in life.”

Under the Act, each eligible state received a total of 30,000 acres of federal land, either within or contiguous to its boundaries, for each member of congress the state had as of the census of 1860. This land, or the proceeds from its sale, was to be used toward establishing and funding the educational institutions described above. The law had been introduced in the 1850s but the Southern land aristocracy, who most assuredly did not want universal education for the masses, prevented it from being enacted into law. With the South in rebellion, the measure passed in the first Congress elected after the Civil War had begun.

I was at Michigan State University (MSU) this past weekend and one of the school’s biggest points of pride is that it was an original land-grant college, originally named Michigan Agricultural College. I met with the Director of my old graduate program, which is now Human Resources-Labor Relations (HR-LR), Bill Cooke. One of the things that the school does is to train HR professionals. I talked with Director Cooke about my beliefs on how HR ties into a company’s compliance program. That led to a discussion about the training HR professionals receive on anti-corruption compliance programs such as those designed to comply with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) or UK Bribery Act.

My visit to MSU, and the discussions about training in graduate programs, got me to thinking about the training of a compliance profession. How do you do it? What should go into it? Most compliance practitioners’ experience is somewhat similar to mine; I am a lawyer and worked in a corporate legal department. I was thrown into a compliance role with not little training, but no training. It was simply go to a seminar and learn about FCPA compliance. And, of course, good luck. I had the same happy experience when I was appointed as world-wide export control director. At least I could spell FCPA when I started that role.

What is available out there if you want to learn how to become a compliance practitioner? If you are a law student and attending Southern Illinois University (SIU) School of Law, you could take the FCPA Professor’s upper-level elective course entitled “Current Developments in American Law: Foreign Corrupt Practices Act”. The Professor was interviewed about his class in the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin, in an article entitled “Students take bribe(ry class).” The article noted that through this study of the FCPA itself, its history, judicial decisions involving it, enforcement of it and resolved FCPA enforcement actions, the FCPA Professor believes that “Understanding how the law is enforced and critically analyzing it and developing FCPA compliance skills is really a skill set for any future lawyer to have.” The FCPA Professor also uses this course to expose his students to other areas, “including corporate criminal liability, U.S. Department of Justice and SEC enforcement policies and “a working knowledge of resolution vehicles that are used to resolve FCPA enforcement actions.””

But this is a law school class for (most probably) prospective lawyers. There are many compliance practitioners out there who are not lawyers. In my discussions with Director Cooke there are so many areas where a HR professional can help inculcate compliance into a company’s DNA. Think about some or all of the following areas that are in the core function of HR.

Training – A key role for HR in any company is training. This has traditionally been in areas such as discrimination, harassment and safety, to name just a few and based on this traditional role of HR in training it is a natural extension of HR’s function to expand to the area of FCPA compliance and ethics.

Employee Evaluation and Succession Planning – One of the very important functions of HR is assisting management in setting the criteria for employee bonuses and in the evaluation of employees for those bonuses. This is an equally important role in conveying the company message of adherence to a FCPA compliance and ethics policy. In addition to employee evaluation, HR can play a key role in assisting a company to identify early on in an employee’s career the propensity for compliance and ethics by focusing on leadership behaviors in addition to simply business excellence.

Hotlines and Investigations – One of the traditional roles of HR in the US is to maintain a hotline for reporting of harassment claims, whether based on EEOC violations or other types of harassment. It is a natural extension of HR’s traditional function to handle this role.

I believe that the compliance practitioner needs a multi-disciplinary training. The legal training is a good basis but if you went to a law school like mine, real world discussion were considered what ‘other’ law schools did. Further, there are non-legal areas such as review of financial data and financial controls which are a part of any compliance practitioners remit which also need to be considered. Most of these areas are a part of separate disciplines which need to be tied together for the compliance practitioner.

One resource for such training is the SCCE, which provides a compliance certification through its Compliance Certification Board (CCB) which has developed criteria to determine competence in the practice of compliance and ethics across various industries and specialty areas, and recognizes individuals meeting these criteria through its compliance certification programs. But even these programs only provide a starting point as best practices in a compliance regime continue to evolve, particularly through the use of advanced analytics.

Just as the Morrill Act provided an initial basis for professional studies in agricultural and mechanical disciplines, land-grant colleges continue to evolve. MSU, for instance, wants to be a university to the world. The same evolution is true for compliance practitioners. As our field matures, the need for the development of compliance practitioners will increase. Courses like the FCPA Professor leads for lawyers and the SCCE puts on for compliance practitioners will help drive the next generation of compliance professionals.

This publication contains general information only and is based on the experiences and research of the author. The author is not, by means of this publication, rendering business, legal advice, or other professional advice or services. This publication is not a substitute for such legal advice or services, nor should it be used as a basis for any decision or action that may affect your business. Before making any decision or taking any action that may affect your business, you should consult a qualified legal advisor. The author, his affiliates, and related entities shall not be responsible for any loss sustained by any person or entity that relies on this publication. The Author gives his permission to link, post, distribute, or reference this article for any lawful purpose, provided attribution is made to the author. The author can be reached at tfox@tfoxlaw.com.

© Thomas R. Fox, 2013

How to Reach Your Audience in Compliance Training – The Use of Charisma

One often hears or reads about complaints that compliance training is dull, nay even boring. I mean, how many times can you expect someone to be lectured to on the riveting subject of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) or even the UK Bribery Act? Coupled with the legally spellbinding subject, the sessions are often led by lawyers who are training non-lawyers. What can I say; the audience does not always have the appreciation of the subject that I do. I thought about this ongoing conundrum when I came across a recent article in the Financial Times (FT), entitled “The subtle secrets of charisma”, by author Alicia Clegg. The focus of her article was that senior managers, by learning techniques of rhetoric, vocal cadence and gesture, can help make senior managers more like leaders. However, I thought that her tips could also help the compliance practitioner in the more mundane area of compliance training.

In her article, Clegg cited to the example of an Infosys executive who was introducing a “controversial HR policy to his company.” During the talk, he felt that his audience was quite restless and “sensed that he was failing to take his listeners with him.” The Infosys executive was quoted as saying “After the talk, people asked me, privately ‘Do you really think this is the right thing to do?’” “I thought: ‘Well, yes, actually, I do. Isn’t that what I said?’” He had failed to convince. Today, however, the executive would deliver a far different talk. Clegg said that “he would acknowledge his colleagues’ concerns, share his own feelings and perhaps tell a personal story. He might modulate his voice; organise his key points into pithy three-part lists; use metaphors; smile or frown occasionally, while gradually building to a statement of personal conviction or a vision of a better future.” In other words, he would work these concepts of ‘charisma’ into his chat.

Clegg discussed the work of John Antonakis, a professor of organizational behavior at Lausanne University. In a June Harvard Business Review article he published, along with colleagues Marika Fenley and Sue Liechti, entitled “Leaning Charisma”, Antonakis argues, however, that having charismatic qualities can turn a competent manager into someone that others notice and want to follow. Antonakis and his team claim to have identified twelve communication habits, rooted in the principles of “classic rhetoric, that make a speaker appear more authoritative, trustworthy and persuasive – in short, more like a leader. Nine of the techniques are verbal: using metaphors and easy-to-remember three-part lists; telling stories; drawing vivid contrasts; asking rhetorical questions; expressing moral conviction; reflecting an audience’s sentiments; and setting high but achievable goals. The rest are non-verbal: raising and lowering your voice, letting your feelings show in face and hand gestures to reinforce what you say.” Their case for their charisma training runs counter to a recent theme in management ideas that plays down corporate stars in favor of teams.

Clegg writes about old ways of making new points. She says that the modern-day science of persuasion is rooted in three “rhetorical appeals” described long ago by Aristotle. The three are: ethos, logos and pathos.

• Ethos – establishing your credentials and building rapport. Here you should use “useful ethos techniques include speaking your audience’s language and reflecting their concerns in what you say.” You should recognize that staff are likely to be more interested in what’s changing for them – how will their job be different?

• Logos – persuading through logic. Under this you should consider “using useful logos techniques include contrasts and rhetorical questions, which can clarify choices by juxtaposing good and bad outcomes and combine reason with emotion; three-point lists are easy to recall and suggest completeness.” As a lawyer, I found comfort that, as stated in the article, using trios of points can add a purposeful edge to your presenting technique.

• Pathos – persuasion with emotion. Under this technique you should endeavor to use “useful pathos techniques include stories, metaphors, lowering or raising your voice; while gestures and facial expressions can heighten emotional force.” But here one must be careful to respect cultural differences, as “What Asians consider over-the-top, southern Europeans may consider emotionally repressed.”

Clegg cites to other examples of effective rhetoric. She quotes Sam Leith, author of “You Talkin’ to Me?” who says “Effective rhetoric need not be fancy rhetoric.” Rather than cultivating a high-flown style, he advises novices to tune into how their audience thinks, and to listen to how they speak. He identifies General George Patton as a master of the art of persuasive plain-speaking. In the final weeks of World War II, the general exhorted his troops to redouble their efforts with the words “The quicker they are whipped, the quicker we can go home”. This got the audience of his troops on his side because getting home was what mattered to them the most.

Clegg also discussed the well-known technique of repetition. She included Martin Luther King’s ‘I Have a Dream’ speech where King used the device of repeated phrases at the start of successive clauses so that there develops ‘an appreciation of what is easy on the ear is important.” Clegg also discussed the technique of chiasmus, “in which the second half of a statement reverses the order of words in the first − as in “ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country”. The words were simple and direct – and their impact all the greater.”

Antonakis argues that these techniques can be taught and, more importantly, learned and that “everyone can improve with practice.” But Clegg cautioned that there is more than simply having commanding rhetoric. A good leader must be a good listener as well. She cites to the work of Harvard academician Rosabeth Moss Kanter who argues in her blog that “it is how well you listen, rather than how well you talk, that persuades people to do things.”

Clegg appropriately ends by noting that no matter how good your rhetorical techniques are, “It is not just what you say, or how you say it, that convinces people you are not phony. You can dress things up with all the anaphora and epistrophe in the world, but if you don’t have a deep sense that something is important you’re not going to persuade anyone.”

So for the compliance practitioner who puts on training there is plenty of good advice on rhetorical techniques that you can use. But, most importantly, don’t be phony.

This publication contains general information only and is based on the experiences and research of the author. The author is not, by means of this publication, rendering business, legal advice, or other professional advice or services. This publication is not a substitute for such legal advice or services, nor should it be used as a basis for any decision or action that may affect your business. Before making any decision or taking any action that may affect your business, you should consult a qualified legal advisor. The author, his affiliates, and related entities shall not be responsible for any loss sustained by any person or entity that relies on this publication. The Author gives his permission to link, post, distribute, or reference this article for any lawful purpose, provided attribution is made to the author. The author can be reached at tfox@tfoxlaw.com.

© Thomas R. Fox, 2013

NFL Replacement Referees-the Lessons of Training Temporary Employees

The short autumn of our discontent is over as the United States has ended one of its greatest national convolutions of recent memory. Am I speaking of the attack on the US Consulate in Libya; the current stalemate of US politics and the Presidential race or the upcoming financial cliff on which the US may dive over on December 31?

No, I am talking about the debacle of replacement referees by the National Football League (NFL). After an eight week lockout by management, including three regular season games, the results were so catastrophic for America that the NFL finally game to its senses and settled the labor dispute.

How bad was the fallout? So bad that the controversy not only made the front page of the Financial Times (FT) last week but it also made the FT’s Op-Ed page on September 29, in a piece written by FT Senior Editor Christopher Caldwell, in an article entitled “NFL falls foul of the ‘drunken Santa’ problem”. Caldwell used the (unfortunately) well known fact of US department stores hiring alcoholics to pose as Santa Claus during the Christmas holidays as the lead in for a discussion of “O-Ring Theory of Economic Development” as articulated by Michael Kremer. Kremer’s thesis is that in “high-value added fields, where one malfunction in a complex chain can destroy all value, special rules apply.” This leads to the concept, found in the employment relations context, where there is a “positive correlation between the wages of workers in different occupations within enterprises.”

I would add one additional corollary to the above. That is training. The replacement referees obviously did not know the rules and when they did know the rules, they had great trouble applying them in game situations. In other words, they had not been properly trained.

Why is training of temporary employees important in the context of an anti-corruption/anti-bribery compliance program? I would point to the ongoing Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) investigation into the activities of Hewlett-Packard (HP) as the Poster Child for training of temporary (or contract) employees on your company’s anti-corruption, anti-bribery program. As reported by Karin Matussek of Bloomberg News on September 13, 2012 three former HP managers were charged in Germany in a corruption investigation over improper payments made to win a €35 million ($45 million) sale of computers to Russia about nine years ago. One of the ex-managers charged is a Finnish woman; the other two are men, one American and one German. The German authorities started their probe back in 2009, after provincial tax authorities found, in a routine audit of an unrelated company, evidence of payments for which “real use could be established for some payments found in the accounts. The owner of that company was charged.” German Prosecutors also requested and received permission from the Court to make HP an associated party to the case. Prior to the Court ruling on this request, Matussek quoted Wolfgang Klein, spokesman for Saxony’s Chief Prosecutor’s Office, who told her that “If the court grants that request and the allegations are proved, Hewlett-Packard’s profits from the transaction may be seized”.

The HP story was broken in the US by the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) in April, 2010. In the article it was reported that one witness said that the transactions in question were internally approved by HP through its then existing, contract approval process. Mr. Dieter Brunner, a bookkeeper who is a witness in the probe, said in an interview that he was surprised when, as a temporary employee of HP, he first saw an invoice from an agent in 2004. “It didn’t make sense” because there was no apparent reason for HP to pay such big sums to accounts controlled by small-businesses. He then proceeded to say he processed the transactions anyway because he was the most junior employee handling the file, “I assumed the deal was OK, because senior officials also signed off on the paperwork”.

Think what position HP might be in today if this temporary employee had been trained on the company’s system for internally reporting compliance issues? If Brunner had escalated his concern that the payment to the agent “didn’t make sense” perhaps HP would not have been under investigation by governmental authorities in Germany and Russian. In the United States, both the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) have announced they will also investigate the transaction, which it can only be supposed are for potential FCPA violations. While HP has not made any public announcements regarding the costs of the investigation date, it can only be speculated that the costs are in the millions because HP is the subject of investigations in at least three separate jurisdictions, the US, Germany and Russia, regarding the transaction at issue. Further, HP is now investigating other international operations to ascertain if other commissions paid involved similar allegations of bribery and corruption as those in this German subsidiary’s transaction.

Training is recognized as one of the points in the 13 point minimum best practices compliance program as delineated by the DOJ and as one of the elements under the US Sentencing Guideline’s Seven Elements of an Effective Compliance Program. It is also recognized in Principle 5 of the Six Principles of an Adequate Procedures compliance program as set out by the UK Ministry of Justice (MOJ). Lastly, it is recognized by the OECD in its 13 Good Practices for Internal Controls, Ethics and Compliance.

When refereeing a sporting event, one has to know the rules and how to apply them. What were the real referees doing while the NFL had locked them out? They were training. Each week, they took a written test on the rules of football. Each week they studied the games which were played for issues that arose. In other words, during the NFL lock-out of its referees, the referees were still training. This ongoing training for the real referees was nothing new or different than they have traditionally done as they did so when a contract existed and they were working NFL games.

I understand that compliance training fatigue can set in if such training is given too often. However companies need to realize that when professionals handle job duties which are high risk within the context of a FCPA or UK  Bribery Act compliance regime; there must be training on not only the specifics of a company system but also on how to escalate a concern. Think about where HP might be right now if the contract accountant had been trained on how to use the company hotline.

So the autumn of our discontent has turned into glorious fall colors with the return of the real referees. But for the compliance professional, the real lesson is training. Coupled with the ongoing HP FCPA investigation matter as a teaching moment, I would suggest that you review how many contract employees your company has in high risk compliance positions. Do not simply look at persons in the sales chain but also those in positions who may be reviewing high risk transactions. Do you have any contract accountants, such as HP had in its German subsidiary? How about contract attorneys or even outside counsel reviewing such transaction? What about contract personnel in internal audit? If so, have they been trained on your company’s compliance program and how to escalate a concern?

I hope that you will consider these questions before you end up as a national laughingstock or on the front page of the FT.

This publication contains general information only and is based on the experiences and research of the author. The author is not, by means of this publication, rendering business, legal advice, or other professional advice or services. This publication is not a substitute for such legal advice or services, nor should it be used as a basis for any decision or action that may affect your business. Before making any decision or taking any action that may affect your business, you should consult a qualified legal advisor. The author, his affiliates, and related entities shall not be responsible for any loss sustained by any person or entity that relies on this publication. The Author gives his permission to link, post, distribute, or reference this article for any lawful purpose, provided attribution is made to the author. The author can be reached at tfox@tfoxlaw.com.

© Thomas R. Fox, 2012

Haas School Training for Compliance and Ethics Leadership

There are a myriad of compliance and ethics conferences across the country each year. I regularly attend and speak at some of these. There are also more regular webinar and local events which may focus on specific topics or themes. However, there are relatively few educational programs, put on by universities or business schools which focus on the ‘how to’ of compliance leadership. This situation will soon change.

A recent article in the European Business Review, entitled “Leading with Ethics and Compliance”, author Mark Meaney discussed the Occupy Wall Street movement and similar protests in the context of the requirement for “business schools to address the need for greater accountability and transparency in business decision-making.” He pointed towards Dean Rich Lyons of the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley, who has argued for the “importance of creating a culture within the business school that encourages students to go beyond themselves as future business leaders in learning to accept responsibility for the impact on society of their actions.” In addition to its traditional business school curriculum the Haas School also has “training and education for individuals who will have as their function to change the ethical climate of corporations from the inside in their role as Chief Ethics and Compliance Officers (CECOs).”

This outreach program is based upon research done at the Haas School which concluded that compliance programs usually adopt one of two approaches to corporate ethics and compliance training: a rules-based approach or a values-based approach. The Haas School has taken the belief that neither approach is entirely effective at corporate compliance and ethics. In a rules-based approach, compliance programs use “deterrence as a means of enforcing employee compliance with corporate policies, ethical standards, and government rules and regulations.” This emphasis on the rules and the investigation and punishment of employees creates a ‘culture of fear’ that stifles open communication. In a values-based approach, compliance programs will “emphasize creating a corporate culture that encourages employees to speak up about potential issues without the fear of retaliation. While a vast improvement over the rules-based approach, the values-based approach to corporate compliance and ethics still does not go far enough.”

The Haas School’s approach is that an ethics and compliance program only becomes truly effective when an organization fully integrates compliance into the company’s overall strategic planning process. Once senior executives make the connection between brand reputation and success in an “idea economy” they will realize the return on investment (ROI) of an ethics and compliance program. Companies can then learn how best to leverage their ethics and compliance programs in strategic planning to maximize innovation and performance with integrity in gaining a competitive edge.

The focus has led to the creation of an executive learning program, entitled  “Leading with Ethics and Compliance”, which is designed to provide compliance practitioners with the necessary tools that will empower them to achieve strategic relevance by partnering with key decision makers to cultivate influence, earning a reputation as a creative thinker intent on progress and not obstruction, and by measuring how ethics and compliance improves the organization’s ability to meet its corporate objectives.

This intensive three day intensive course will be taught at the UC Berkeley, Center for Executive Education from February 13 to 15. I had the opportunity to review the agenda and its faculty and speakers recently and it appears to have an impressive array of notables in the compliance and ethics field. The faculty includes the aforementioned Mark Meaney and others from the Haas School, melded with speakers from a wide range of compliance practices, both in-house and third party service providers.

The curriculum includes the following broad categories: (1) Ethics and Compliance 3.0, which includes topics such as From Check Box to Culture to Strategy; Ethics, Compliance, and Organizational Strategy; and Leading Change, Leveraging Culture. (2) The E&C Officer as Strategic Partner, including topics such as Power and Influence with Integrity; Transformational Leadership and Building Your Base. (3) Tools of the Successful E&C Officer; including such topics as Data Privacy and Security in Information Management; Managing Hotlines and Conducting Internal Investigations; Global Compliance Risk Mitigation; and Sector Regulatory Update.

If you hold a leadership position in compliance, or aspire to, this Haas School program would appear to be an excellent place for you to hear about some of the most current best practices in compliance leadership. For more information on the program, click here.

This publication contains general information only and is based on the experiences and research of the author. The author is not, by means of this publication, rendering business, legal advice, or other professional advice or services. This publication is not a substitute for such legal advice or services, nor should it be used as a basis for any decision or action that may affect your business. Before making any decision or taking any action that may affect your business, you should consult a qualified legal advisor. The author, his affiliates, and related entities shall not be responsible for any loss sustained by any person or entity that relies on this publication. The Author gives his permission to link, post, distribute, or reference this article for any lawful purpose, provided attribution is made to the author. The author can be reached at tfox@tfoxlaw.com.

© Thomas R. Fox, 2012