Where Is Your Company Most Prone to Lapses in Integrity?

Eugene F. Soltes

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Article | Harvard Business Review | July–August 2019

Where Is Your Company Most Prone to Lapses in Integrity?

by Eugene F. Soltes

Abstract

Every sizable organization has integrity gaps—areas where what’s considered appropriate behavior diverges from the norms set by its leaders. Within these pockets, things like offensive language, overly aggressive sales practices, or conflicts of interest may be overlooked or even implicitly condoned. Such lapses not only endanger the reputation of the company but also pose regulatory and liability risks.

Keywords: integrity; Organizational Culture; Ethics;

Format: Print

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Citation:

Soltes, Eugene F. "Where Is Your Company Most Prone to Lapses in Integrity?" Harvard Business Review 97, no. 4 (July–August 2019): 51–54.

About the Author

Eugene F. Soltes

Associate Professor of Business Administration

Accounting and Management

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Case | HBS Case Collection | December 2016 (Revised July 2019)

Rajat Gupta

Paul Healy and Eugene Soltes

Rajat Gupta, former managing director of McKinsey & Company; a director of Goldman Sachs, Procter & Gamble, and AMR; and a well-known philanthropist, was convicted of engaging in insider trading. The case explores Gupta’s rise and the later legal problems he faced.

Keywords: insider trading; McKinsey; Ethics; Crime and Corruption; United States;

Citation:
Healy, Paul, and Eugene Soltes. "Rajat Gupta." Harvard Business School Case 117-004, December 2016. (Revised July 2019.) View Details

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Article | Accounting Review | May 2019

Who Consumes Firm Disclosures? Evidence from Earnings Conference Calls

Anne Heinrichs, Jihwon Park and Eugene F. Soltes

Using a set of proprietary records, we examine who consumes quarterly earnings conference calls and under which circumstances the calls are consumed. While there is significant interest in calls by institutional investors and sell-side analysts, we find that investors who do not hold a position in the firm are leading consumers. We show that buy-side non-holders who consume calls are more likely to hold positions in competitors and to purchase the stock in the future. In addition, many investors who hold large positions only consume calls periodically. We also document a benefit of consuming calls by finding that the consumption of calls is associated with more informed trading decisions. Overall, our investigation illuminates the actual consumption of conference calls by different consumers and the potential benefits of consuming additional firm disclosures.

Keywords: disclosure; conference calls; firm news; Corporate Disclosure; Business Earnings; Situation or Environment;

Citation:
Heinrichs, Anne, Jihwon Park, and Eugene F. Soltes. "Who Consumes Firm Disclosures? Evidence from Earnings Conference Calls." Accounting Review 94, no. 3 (May 2019): 205–231. View Details

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Case | HBS Case Collection | January 2019

Accenture's Code of Business Ethics

Eugene Soltes

Leaders of Accenture’s compliance and ethics program are seeking to design a new code of business ethics for its global workforce of over 400,000 employees. The case explores the decision-making process that went into the design process and ultimately how they created a revised code.

Keywords: code of conduct; Compliance; Ethics; Law; Leadership; Governance Compliance;

Citation:
Soltes, Eugene. "Accenture's Code of Business Ethics." Harvard Business School Case 119-049, January 2019. View Details

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Where Is Your Company Most Prone to Lapses in Integrity?

Abstract

Citation:

About the Author

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