The Human Factor: Corporate Integrity Matters

Would you like to learn about the perspectives and experiences of an international global head of compliance and data privacy?

Let's do that together with Deepa. She's the global head of compliance and data privacy at Sonova in Switzerland.

Deepas job as a compliance officer, both at Sonova and other organizations in the past involves establishing ethical standards and integrity platforms in large organizations.

WHY

Ethic has been her own waiving north star and one which has helped her to establish herself as a strong leader during critical path in her careers. Deepas passions include digital ethics, whistleblower protection and diversity and inclusion. Deepa is an Indian and has lived and worked in Singapore and Switzerland for the past 23 years.

WHO

Deepa is a lawyer and holds a master in business law, a master in information science and is a qualified privacy professional.

THANK YOU FOR SHARING, SUBSCRIBING AND REVIEWING

Thank you for joining me on this episode of THE HUMAN FACTOR – Corporate Integrity Matters. If you enjoyed this episode, please share, subscribe and review on Apple Podcasts or Google Play Music so more people can enjoy the upcoming episodes.

Don’t forget to follow and connect with me on Linkedin and Instagram. I am looking forward meeting you there.

YOU ARE IMPORTANT

Let me know what topic you would like to have on spot– via [email protected]

Further information about Corporate Integrity can be found on www.corporateintegrityconcepts.com

And if you are interested in becoming part of the amazing movement, join us www.corporateintegrityacademy.com

What are the relevant areas depending on each other when it comes to organizational crises in the field of integrity and why? Just upfront- I broke it down to four key areas. Knowing that there were others too and analyzed it from different perspectives. As a board member, advisor, and entrepreneur with an investigative background.

And if you would also like to reflect on what are the interconnections and why – that is the right episode to do so.

WHY

A framework helps to structure. And especially in extraordinary situations, it is proven that an internalized methodology, framework, approach, or even checklist helps to stay actionable. As you know – actionability is our key success factor and whenever possible we share tools to keep you on top of your actionability. Coming back to these four dependencies I have chosen the ones I see as the most important ones when it comes to integrity. In the different roles of being a board member, an advisor, entrepreneur but especially a sparring partner when it came to integrity. Having that framework in mind clarifies the root causes of the actual situation. But more about that in a few minutes.

KEY MESSAGES

With these four areas of dependencies in mind, the importance of each area can be recognized. Need it reactive and preventive. Also, when conduct investigations these four areas give us helpful food for thoughts when we establish the hypothesis.

As your take-to-the-office assignment, the following reflections

1. Which maturity level has each of the four areas?
2. Where can I impact to increase the level?
3. How could I raise awareness if I can not add enough to protect the organization?

And by the way: how about drawing the iceberg with your corporate identity and discuss it with other peers in your management team or the board?

IMPORTANT LINKS AND MENTIONS

All the details of the Code of conduct – for that we have other episodes which go much further than I do today. For example Episode 10

Looking at the four areas – which are not isolated.

THANK YOU FOR SHARING, SUBSCRIBING AND REVIEWING

Thank you for joining me on this episode of THE HUMAN FACTOR – Corporate Integrity Matters.

If you enjoyed this episode, please share, subscribe and review on Apple Podcasts or Google Play Music so more people can enjoy the upcoming episodes.

Don’t forget to follow and connect with me on Linkedin and Instagram. I am looking forward meeting you there.

YOU ARE IMPORTANT

Let me know what topic you would like to have on spot – via [email protected]

Further information about Corporate Integrity can be found on www.corporateintegrityconcepts.com

And if you are interested in becoming part of the amazing movement, join us on www.corporateintegrityacademy.com

For some, it is the absolute highlight and for the others a nightmare. The fact-finding report and especially the writing process. Being aware of some typical pitfalls is crucial – for all the stakeholders. And as always, they have different perspectives and positions to look at it. For an investigator, it is the final product. Whether you are an investigator or recipient of that report – the discussed pitfalls in this episode will sharpen your view when it comes to the quality of a fact-finding report.

WHY

When an organization is in the position that they need a fact-finding report they are already in an extraordinary position. Having then already heard about it before and knowing what to be expected is highly important. Otherwise, they cannot act with professional skepticism and judgment. Most of the time, executives and board members do not yet have huge experience in that field of expertise. From the perspective of an investigator, the report is important too. II do not have to tell you that the perception of the entire investigation is mainly impacted by the fact-finding report at the end.

KEY MESSAGES

Conclusion and opinion about writing a professional fact-finding report are transparent and big fan of not using too many puts on the green destroying the great strokes before. Same for the report. Bring it home and be proud of it. There isn’t a better compliment from the recipients than praising your delivery. And also the recipients will highly appreciate a great report as they have to further work with it. The fact-finding report is often not the end of the process as measurements will be implemented based on the results provided in the report. With the different pitfalls – or professionally done success factors – we investigated in this episode you are well prepared. Of course – you need to have the right team and constantly invest in education. As a take-home or take-to-the-office assignment I would like to give the following reflection:

Do we have covered the following topics when we mandate or conduct an investigation?

1. Timing
2. Recipients
3. Scoping
4. Structure

I know – it is better to bring up only three points as it is said that humans are not capable to remember more. But – having you as listeners I am sure, these four key elements are not too much. The T-R-S-S of Timing, Recipients, Scoping, Structure.

THANK YOU FOR SHARING, SUBSCRIBING AND REVIEWING

Thank you for joining me on this episode of THE HUMAN FACTOR – Corporate Integrity Matters.

If you enjoyed this episode, please share, subscribe and review on Apple Podcasts or Google Play Music so more people can enjoy the upcoming episodes.

Don’t forget to follow and connect with me on Linkedin and Instagram. I am looking forward meeting you there.

YOU ARE IMPORTANT

Let me know what topic you would like to have on spot – via [email protected]

Further information about Corporate Integrity can be found on www.corporateintegrityconcepts.com

And if you are interested in becoming part of the amazing movement, join us on www.corporateintegrityacademy.com

There are a lot of colours around when we talk about crime and cyber security. White and black when we are in the cyber territory. White and blue when we talk about crime.

Today we talk about the broader one. The one related to crime.

If you are interested in the difference – this episode gives you the insights and background.

WHY

Differentiating the terms white-collar and blue-collar crime is important when we analyse the fraud patterns. The fraud patterns are sub-summarized in the fraud tree.

In short, the fraud tree contains different key patterns like:

1. Asset misappropriation
2. Financial statement fraud
3. Corruption and bribery

These are only the key areas which will then have their sub areas with the different patterns.

And as you might have noticed over the last months – the patterns are evolving. Faster than the protection and prevention measurements on the fraud management side.

Not all the fraud patterns in the fraud tree are just white or blue. There might be combinations.

And what the criteria are will be crystal clear by understanding the difference of the two terms.

KEY MESSAGES

When it comes to the classification of fraud, I use the opportunity as one of the key driver – if not THE key driver. If I understand who has access to what my hypothesis work becomes very effective.

The former definition of blue- and white-collar crime often references back to the social classes.

I am convinced that it less depends on the social class and status than on the opportunity.

Of course, white-collar crime is definitively more often conducted by the higher organisational level someone reaches – but the blue-collar crimes are conducted by those too.

The more white-collar workers feel the pressure the more also blue-collar crime drivers increase:

1. opportunities,
2. pressure and
3. rationalisation

IMPORTANT LINKS AND MENTIONS

And if you are interested in learning more about the fraud triangle, in episode 6 I explain why the fraud triangle is a very important source when it comes to preventing and investigating fraudulent behaviour.

THANK YOU FOR SHARING, SUBSCRIBING AND REVIEWING

Thank you for joining me on this episode of THE HUMAN FACTOR – Corporate Integrity Matters.

If you enjoyed this episode, please share, subscribe and review on Apple Podcasts or Google Play Music so more people can enjoy the upcoming episodes.

Don’t forget to follow and connect with me on Linkedin and Instagram. I am looking forward meeting you there.

YOU ARE IMPORTANT

Let me know what topic you would like to have on spot – via [email protected]

Further information about Corporate Integrity can be found on www.corporateintegrityconcepts.com

And if you are interested in becoming part of the amazing movement, join us on www.corporateintegrityacademy.com

When we talk about what should be done to reach the next maturity level– often the focus is rather on our teams and employees than on the boards.

How about the boards? Especially the boards actionability?

There are practical approaches to strengthen the boards actionability. And with that – the entire organisation they serve to!

WHY

Bringing it back to the business world – a dysfunctional board works against the vision – promised. Even though it is often not obvious.

And the root cause is kept protected – in many cases I see during serious investigations when it comes to – non-compliance.

A strong actionable board is important! Important to steer towards the vision – with a supporting strategy and wise tactics.

The actionability of a board is not just the sum of each individual serving in the board – and here the challenge starts.

KEY MESSAGES

Key pillars to strengthen our actionability:

1. Recognise
2. Validate
3. Preparation

Let’s think about – what can you do as an individual and as part of a board to increase and strengthen your actionability?

A few ideas when it comes to the recognition pillar are Include actionability

- On the boards agenda as a topic to be discussed (this must be the initial stept before anything else)

- In the strategic discussion

- In the risk management process – it starts with the risk landscape and actionability is part of it

- into the yearly assessment of the non-executive board

- goal setting process of the executive team

A validation does not only consist of an assessment. There are other valuable aspects to validate the individual and group actionability.

We need to prepare based on what we have learned during the validation phase – on an individual level and on a board level.

EPISODES' REFLECTION

Let’s think about – what can you do as an individual and as part of a board to increase and strengthen your actionability?

IMPORTANT LINKS AND MENTIONS

In Episode 20 I talked about how to prepare for incidents – You will find other ideas how to do so there too.

THANK YOU FOR SHARING, SUBSCRIBING AND REVIEWING

Thank you for joining me on this episode of THE HUMAN FACTOR – Corporate Integrity Matters.

If you enjoyed this episode, please share, subscribe and review on Apple Podcasts or Google Play Music so more people can enjoy the upcoming episodes.

Don’t forget to follow and connect with me on Linkedin and Instagram. I am looking forward meeting you there.

YOU ARE IMPORTANT

Let me know what topic you would like to have on spot – via [email protected]

Further information about Corporate Integrity can be found on www.corporateintegrityconcepts.com

And if you are interested in becoming part of the amazing movement, join us on www.corporateintegrityacademy.com

It is unquestionable that the completeness of the risk landscape is one of the key success factors. But also a moving target. What was not on the radar a few weeks a go needds highest attention now.

We all learned that - latest when COVID-19 changed from a risk to the event. An event which was on the risk landscapes of many organisations and also by the research teams.

Not only the board of directors which have the overall responsibility but also the auditors are on duty when it comes to the risk identification process.

WHY

Since then I recognize that the awareness - and also openness to talk about the risk maps increased significantly. Which is a great trend for our organisation.

Is it important to think about additional sources to reflect on the existing risk map or risk landscape? I definitively think so!

Observations show, that teams and also individual are often too focused on their own function, department, business or even industry and not watching out what else happens out in the world. That is not new and absolutely normal. Being concious about that helps to become more risk-intelligent.

KEY MESSAGES

Starting with the approach of OSINT is key and often the organisation reach a very high level of professionalism within a short period of time. It will become one of your competitive advantage when the OSINT skills improve. With these the resources to challenge the existing risk map will be found and contribute to that holistic approach.

The transformation which can happen is that the existing belief that it is too time consuming to challenge the risk map with additional external sources will expire.

EPISODES' REFLECTION

When it comes to our take-home or take to the office assignment please come up with a plan how you address what you have heard today

1. will you challenge the existing risk map?
2. will you bring in the OSINT approach?
3. Will you talk about the mentioned sources of the World Economic Forum, the Corruption Perception Index, The Report to the Nation and the Security Trends?

IMPORTANT LINKS AND MENTIONS

https://www.weforum.org/reports/the-global-risks-report-2021

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open-source_intelligence

https://www.acfe.com/

https://www.transparency.org/en

https://www.gartner.com/smarterwithgartner/gartner-top-security-and-risk-trends-for-2021/

THANK YOU FOR SHARING, SUBSCRIBING AND REVIEWING

Thank you for joining me on this episode of THE HUMAN FACTOR – Corporate Integrity Matters.

If you enjoyed this episode, please share, subscribe and review on Apple Podcasts or Google Play Music so more people can enjoy the upcoming episodes.

Don’t forget to follow and connect with me on Linkedin and Instagram. I am looking forward meeting you there.

YOU ARE IMPORTANT

Let me know what topic you would like to have on spot – via [email protected]

Further information about Corporate Integrity can be found on www.corporateintegrityconcepts.com

And if you are interested in becoming part of the amazing movement, join us on www.corporateintegrityacademy.com

As member of a board – no matter whether it is a management or the non-executive board – whether you have one or two tier boards we have the responsibility that the strategy follows the vision and the tactics the strategy.

The role of being a sponsor within the organisation is not new and there are many different forms and terms for that specific and important role.

Especially when it comes to project management, we often see the approach of having a c-level sponsor which is part of the steering committee.

When we take a closer look to the projects which are rather related to Corporate Culture, Corporate Integrity – which also includes the actual discussion around ESG or the Social Development Goals – the sponsorship on board level is on a lower maturity level - if existing.

WHY

Why? Because a sponsor makes sure that the defined goals – not matter what the project relates to – are aligned with the overall strategy and supports when it comes to the lobbying within the different boards.

For me it is unquestionable that a sponsor on board level is key to successfully build, live, and improve Corporate Integrity.

And when I listen to the new generation of leaders – it is clear to them too.

KEY MESSAGES

The sponsor delegated to the initiative – in this case Corporate Integrity – represents the tone at the top which will have significant impact to the companies’ journey.

Therefore, it is important who will be the sponsor and how is that delegate being identified. That needs a serious discussion within the board.

Criteria’s which could be discussed are:

1. Long serving board member vs. new to the club?
2. Existing expertise in the field of Corporate Integrity within the board?
3. Who has the necessary time to be allocated?
4. Who has the expertise AND the leadership skills to be a sponsor?

It is not given that all board members are the perfect match to an initiative only because of their role as a board member. This needs to be discussed to ensure the initial decision is not hindering the successful sponsorship.

From experience, a sponsor should encourage the project leader to speak up transparently. Depending on the constellation it will need courage from a project leader, but it is necessary that such a relationship can successfully work for the organisation.

The leadership skill active listening is crucial for every board sponsor. You want to understand – therefore you first must listen and then to ask the right questions. Which is an additional skill required to be an impactful sponsor.

In addition to that the board sponsor does good not to be involved in the daily operations to keep the perspective of an additional – often more objective – level.

A wisely identified and selected sponsor for Corporate Integrity is one of the key drivers to make the initiative a success. Having the wrong one will rather negatively impact the undertaking.

EPISODES' REFLECTION

The two questions when it comes to your next decision-making about accepting a sponsorship are:

1. Who would have the qualifications in our board to be the sponsor?
2. Who has the resources required to support?
3. 
   

THANK YOU FOR SHARING, SUBSCRIBING AND REVIEWING

Thank you for joining me on this episode of THE HUMAN FACTOR – Corporate Integrity Matters.

If you enjoyed this episode, please share, subscribe and review on Apple Podcasts or Google Play Music so more people can enjoy the upcoming episodes.

Don’t forget to follow and connect with me on Linkedin and Instagram. I am looking forward meeting you there.

YOU ARE IMPORTANT

Let me know what topic you would like to have on spot – via [email protected]

Further information about Corporate Integrity can be found on www.corporateintegrityconcepts.com

And if you are interested in becoming part of the amazing movement, join us on www.corporateintegrityacademy.com

There are people in the room poisoning the organisation.

If they are sitting on your C-suite - it will negatively impact the vision but not only that.

By understanding and identifying the red flags of such distracting traits you protect the organisations vision, strategy, and culture. It is worth to do so!

WHY

As member of a board – no matter whether it is a management or the non-executive board – whether you have one or two tier boards we have the responsibility.

And exactly here it starts with the different views of what boards are responsible for. The responsibility of protecting supportive behaviour from destroying behaviour.

Especially as a non-executive board member with a larger distance to the operational duties you can add significant value by taking up that part of responsibility and ensure that the team can work towards the vision.

By not identifying the destroying behaviour we put our organisation towards a risk which could torpedo the entire business model by an insider.

There isn’t any organisation who could afford that. But a lot out there think they could not afford the protection either.

You can and it doesn’t cost you anything if you have the right set of people in place. On board level too.

KEY MESSAGES

Identifying a mindset within the c-level which is not only supporting the organisations’ purpose and strategy is key to protect the assets and reputation.

That needs a speak-up culture - also within the board where such topics receive the attention needed - personal interests and ego driven agendas have not spot in a board room.

Building a corporate culture of integrity includes the responsibility of protecting and nurturing the right mind set.

EPISODES' REFLECTION

Maybe when you next time reflect on your management team – no matter whether you are a supervisory board member or on c-level – the awareness increases when it comes to the different mind-sets you identify.

1. Do this match with the purpose and strategy of the organisation?
2. If not, what is your plan?

THANK YOU FOR SHARING, SUBSCRIBING AND REVIEWING

Thank you for joining me on this episode of THE HUMAN FACTOR – Corporate Integrity Matters.

If you enjoyed this episode, please share, subscribe and review on Apple Podcasts or Google Play Music so more people can enjoy the upcoming episodes.

Don’t forget to follow and connect with me on Linkedin and Instagram. I am looking forward meeting you there.

YOU ARE IMPORTANT

Let me know what topic you would like to have on spot – via [email protected]

Further information about Corporate Integrity can be found on either www.sonjastirnimann.com or www.corporateintegrityconcepts.com

And if you are interested in becoming part of the amazing movement, join us on www.corporateintegrityacademy.com

Are you prepared for the worst or avoiding to even think about it?

Doesn’t matter what position are in right now. This episode will give you the elements needed to be prepared for the worst and when I talk about the “worst” it is related to

1. Non-compliance
2. Fraud
3. White-collar crime
4. Or a cyber attack

The incidents which are happening all the time and are hardly discussed...

WHY

Actionability is what every leader needs to protect – no matter what kind of situation. To protect the vision, strategy, and business – with all the related shareholders and stakeholder’s interest.

Therefore – there isn’t anything more important than staying actionable. Which is the not the same as reacting….

KEY MESSAGES

The methodology introduces was established over the last ten years and we call it the FraudAidKit™ and divided into five successive phases, which are coordinated in a modular way and include:

- Awareness

- Implementation

- Maintenance

- Alert

- Process

Reflecting on these five stages which are described in detail during this episode - there might be room for improvement in some organisations.

Unquestioned is the fact that:

Not for leaders who want to shape the culture of corporate integrity. Being prepared protects the mission, vision, strategy – and the most precious assets.

And when I say that – I always have the individual situation in my mind too.

EPISODES' REFLECTION

- How am I prepared?

- How are we prepared?

- For what are we prepared how?

IMPORTANT LINKS AND MENTIONS

If you would like to hear more about resilience – especially the corporate resilience – you will find it in our episode Nr. 19.

THANK YOU FOR SHARING, SUBSCRIBING AND REVIEWING

Thank you for joining me on this episode of THE HUMAN FACTOR – Corporate Integrity Matters.

If you enjoyed this episode, please share, subscribe and review on Apple Podcasts or Google Play Music so more people can enjoy the upcoming episodes.

Don’t forget to follow and connect with me on Linkedin and Instagram. I am looking forward meeting you there.

YOU ARE IMPORTANT

Let me know what topic you would like to have on spot – via [email protected]

Further information about Corporate Integrity can be found on www.corporateintegrityconcepts.com

And if you are interested in becoming part of the amazing movement, join us on www.corporateintegrityacademy.com

Resilience is one of the terms we read and hear more often than ever before. If you would like to have a look behind the scenes of what it means for Corporate leaders and how you could make resilience work for you

This episode will give you food for thoughts.

And of course the possibility to start right afterwards. At the end it is all about implementing what makes you successful.

WHY

First, why should we as Board members and business leaders think about resilience when it comes to business? Individually and in our personal environment – the term is more common than in the Corporate World.

No matter what kind of system or organism the resilience – together with resistance – is crucial. An organisation – no matter what size – is a system.

What we see in my daily work with Non-Executive Board members, management teams or individuals outlines the importance.

Especially when it comes to incidents

• Incidents like

• Fraud cases

• Cyber attacks

• Blackmail

• Extortion

• Non-Compliance

...leading to forensic investigations

I would like to work with two different definitions to make the term more tangible and to prepare it for the implementation on different levels.

HOW

The first – which is more specific for corporates than the one I introduce later - is

Resilience is the ability to

1. adapt,
2. recover,
3. and thrive

in the face of shocks that are internal and external, as well as known and unanticipated. Taking a closer look to that definition we see that the key components lead us to further questions.

The ability to ADAPT in a manner that protects the assets and allows successful business in the future

Which immediately leads us to THRIVE. In parallel and after the ADAPTION it is important that an organism or organisation can RECOVER. The mistake of leaving out recovery will be paid with a very high price tag! Every shock impacts the actionability of individuals, teams and at the end also the organisation.

The drivers of the incidents can be

- internal or external

Internal could be:

- white-collar crime pattern which is recognized internally

- External investigation based on a whistle-blower

External incidents are

- Cyber attack with extortion

- CEO-fraud

And these shocks can either affect our organisations

- known or unanticipated

Depending on the maturity level of the risk identification process you will have more or less surprises. More about that can be found also in Episode 4

Of course there are always unforeseen and unanticipated shocks which need to be managed.

Why not spending a session in the board discussing the implemented processes regarding these unanticipated shocks?

Let us switch now

The second definition is much broader and will also put ourselves on spot when we reflect on it:

What does that mean? Why does experience influence resilience? And what is the part of digestion? That theory says that experience without digestion does not lead to resilience. Experience needs to be internalised to increase resilience.

That aspect can be analysed either from an individual or organisational standpoint and leads to the next question: How can I internalise a shock in the corporate environment?

What I see when such shock or incidents affect an organisation is, that at the beginning the necessary attention is given due to the fact.

When we take the example of an incident in the environment of white-collar crime. As we know, more than 90% of these cases are done by insiders.

After such an internal investigation we have a lot of insights what went wrong, and these loopholes must be corrected to protect the business.

That is the digestion part of an experience.

Following up on the incident, accepting what happened and strategically decide AND IMPLEMENT the measurements for the future.

KEY MESSAGES

Coming back to the initial question whether we talk about a hype or asset when it comes to corporate resilience.

Using the term as buzzword is a hype I do not support at all.

Organisations which already have a high level of resilience do not talk about it at all. They just learn from and digest the daily experiences, incidents, and shocks.

Nevertheless, it is topic which belongs to the strategic and operational level of an organisation.

We as board members or managers have the duty to protect our organisations. In the long run. Resilience will support the vision.

And having said that: also our individual resilience is an asset we have to take care of.

EPISODES' REFLECTION

- what is your organisations digestion strategy and process after a shock?

- How could you improve that digestions process to increase corporate resilience?

IMPORTANT LINKS AND MENTIONS

Adaption in Episode 14.

Maturity Level in Episode 4.

THANK YOU FOR SHARING, SUBSCRIBING AND REVIEWING

Thank you for joining me on this episode of THE HUMAN FACTOR – Corporate Integrity Matters.

If you enjoyed this episode, please share, subscribe and review on Apple Podcasts or Google Play Music so more people can enjoy the upcoming episodes.

Don’t forget to follow and connect with me on Linkedin and Instagram. I am looking forward meeting you there.

YOU ARE IMPORTANT

Let me know what topic you would like to have on spot – via [email protected]

Further information about Corporate Integrity can be found on www.corporateintegrityconcepts.com

And if you are interested in becoming part of the amazing movement, join us on www.corporateintegrityacademy.com