Murphy Has Been Found     

The CIA had lost track of one its top operatives and called in one of their top spy hunters.  The CIA boss says to the spy hunter, “All I can tell you is that his name is Murphy and that he’s somewhere in Ireland.  If you think you’ve located him, tell him the code words, ‘the weather forecast calls for mist in the morning.’  If it’s really him, he’ll answer, ‘Yes, and for mist at noon as well.”

So the spy hunter goes to Ireland and stops in a bar in one of the small towns.  He says to the bartender “Maybe you can help me.  I’m looking for a guy named Murphy.”

The bartender replies, “You’re going to have to be more specific because, around here, there are lots of Murphys.  There’s Murphy the Baker, Murphy the Banker, Murphy the Blacksmith.  And as a matter of fact, my name is Murphy, too.”

Hearing this, the spy hunter figures he might as well try the code words on the bartender, so he says, “The weather forecast calls for mist in the morning.”

The bartender rather quickly replies, “Oh, you’re looking for Murphy the Spy.  He lives down the street.”

I read with great interest a recently released report from the Chartered Global Management Accountants (CGMA) organization titled, “Managing Responsible Business, A Global Survey on Business Ethics.”  The report is based on a global survey of management accountants in some 80 countries.  The key findings in the report are:

1.      Corporate leadership appears to be less actively engaged in reviewing and taking responsibility for ethical performance compared to 2008.  A weakened “tone from the top” has potentially serious implications for the overall ethical operating culture of an organization.

2.      In accounting for ethics, the good news is that there was an increase in organisations both collecting and reporting on ethical information and corporate social responsibility.  The bad news, however, is that the number of firms collecting and reporting information is still a minority and lag way behind the 80% of organisations that have ethical codes.

3.      Despite an increase in ethical codes and training, there is greater pressure within organisations to act unethically.  Pressures are most apparent in some emerging economies. 

4.      Security of information remains the greatest issue of concern across all markets.  Bribery has risen from 6^th to 3^rd in the rankings of issues of concern.  Fewer now believe that business has a moral imperative to help address global issues, with a decline from 84% to 77% since 2008.

The overall conclusion drawn from the survey results is that while there have been positive developments in terms of building the architecture for ethical codes and policies, the translation of these into actual practice and everyday business processes is lagging behind.  

When I completed my study of the CGMA report, I felt a little like the spy hunter and wondered, where are the ethics leaders?  My goodness, how long does it take a company, a firm, a country, a world to learn something about right behavior?  Where is the ethics leadership?

I’m glad, even excited to tell you that I am optimistic and do see bright hope in the development of ethics leaders.  Oh yes, there are some excellent models today in the corporate realm, in professional firms, in universities, in government and in our homes.  I want to tell you about one significant development that gives me great confidence in ethics leadership for the future.

Dr. O.C. Farrell and his wife, Dr. Linda Farrell are Professors of Marketing and Bill Daniels Professors of Business Ethics at the University of New Mexico.  They are renowned for their research, scholarship and publications in ethical decision-making, stakeholder relationships, social responsibility and are welcomed throughout the country as speakers on the subject of business ethics.  Under the overall auspices of the NASBA Center for the Public Trust (CPT) O.C. and Linda will provide content for a university student certification program in ethics.  This vast CPT project is focused on ethical leadership and will be delivered in six separate modules on line through universities all over the country.  The conclusion of the program is reached by a student passing through the rigors of course work and confirming examinations and then receiving her Certificate.  Can you imagine the edge this type certification gives a student as he pursues a career?  No, it doesn’t automatically make him an ethics leader but it does—more than anything else I’ve seen—move him in the right direction in a positive, confident manner.  Again, imagine hundreds, thousands and tens of thousands of students going through the CPT certification program validating their intent to be part of a dynamic culture of ethical leadership.

However elusive ethics leadership may now be in our fast-paced organization cultures, I am encouraged that CPT and the Farrells recognize the leadership potential with our university students.  The CPT Ethical Leadership Certification Program will better secure the future for integrity and ethics in the marketplace through the identification and development of tomorrow’s ethics leaders.

 Murphy has been found!

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