HP, Its Former CEO, and Covenants Not to Compete

Posted on September 11, 2010 by mmjdiary

Mark Hurd, former CEO of Hewlett-Packard, resigned following revelations about his relationship with a vendor and his expense reports.  Oracle CEO Larry Ellison called the decision one of the stupidest he had ever seen and proceeded to hire Hurd as Oracle’s CEO.  HP filed suit against Hurd for breach of his exit agreement and also to prevent a transfer of trade secrets to Oracle, an HP competitor.  Mr. Ellison called the lawsuit “vindictive.” Actions against CEOs when they depart are rare, but the two companies are competitors and the possibility of transfer of secrets is a possibility.  The challenge is that the suit is in California and California frowns on covenants not to compete — something its courts view as interfering with the right to earn a living.

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“Barrio is my husband. This woman has no legitimacy.” Mrs. Barrio “We are in love. I’ll wait for him.” Mr. Barrio’s mistress

Posted on September 11, 2010 by mmjdiary

So went an exchange between the two women keeping a vigil above the Chilean gold mine where miners have been trapped since August 5, 2010.  Seems Mrs. Barrio overheard the mistress and her friends praying for trapped miner Yonni Barrio.  The rescue continues to go well, but Yonni remains unaware of the drama that awaits once the rescue is complete.  Truth does have a way of percolating to the surface.  Continue reading →

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“I worked for an uncle last year who paid me in cash. The BP guy wanted my tax statements, but how can I pay taxes if everything I earned was in cash?” Crab fisherman from Louisiana on proof required for receiving money from the government mediator from the $20 billion BP forked over

Posted on September 10, 2010 by mmjdiary

Income.  It’s called income.  Whether cash or check, one should report it.  However, the Gulf Coast fishermen are struggling to obtain payouts for lost wages and business income because they can’t produce an income tax return that shows what they made.  Pundits are fretting, “Oh, what times are these when oil giants demand proof that you made income before reimbursing you for lost income!”  When you don’t pay your taxes, well, there is a downside.  Sometimes an oil spill causes it all to percolate to the surface, as it were.  Some are worried that filing a claim will raise an IRS eyebrow and Continue reading →

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“Dope!”

Posted on August 30, 2010 by mmjdiary

In a classic illustration of the front-page-of-the-newspaper test for making ethical decisions, the New York Daily News summed up Roger Clemens’ indictment for perjury and obstruction of justice in the investigation into his use of performance-enhancing drugs. The News actually used the much better Jennings’ National Enquirer test:  Make up the worst possible headline you can think of for what you are about to do and then decide accordingly.

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The Medium Changes, But the Ethical Issues Are the Same

Posted on August 30, 2010 by mmjdiary

Reverb Communications settled up with the FTC.  The marketing company agreed to remove from the Internet all the iTune reviews that appeared to be written by run-of-the-mill app users but that had really been written by its very own employees.  Reverb admitted nothing, noting that it could not agree with the FTC on the facts.  However, Reverb could have taken a lesson from Hollywood.  Fake reviews are nothing new.  We have had them for movies. Actress Demi Moore starred in the 1995 movie, The Scarlet Letter,   Continue reading →

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Use a Qualitative Survey

Posted on August 24, 2010 by mmjdiary

Oh, how we love those dashboards!  Run those surveys!  Get those numbers!  Show how well we are doing on “the ethics thing.”  You would be foolish not to have the surveys, but those numbers may not be telling you what you need to know.

 Add to those qualitative surveys this question:

 Describe something that you did at work during the past year that still bothers you.

 The Barometer has run this qualitative survey at a number of companies and in training sessions.  The companies’ numbers on their dashboard surveys are terrific, but when those descriptions of what bothered employees came in, the response from managers was the same, “I can’t believe this is going on at this company.”

 Something is lost in translation between those survey questions and employees’ decisions and actions.  Use this little exercise to zero in on what’s actually happening.

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If They Can’t Think of an Ethical Dilemma . . .

Posted on August 24, 2010 by mmjdiary

Here’s an interview question that provides a window into the soul:  Describe an ethical dilemma that you have faced (in your life, your last job) and explain how you resolved it.  If your interviewee struggles to come up with one, well, trouble may lie ahead.  That blank look and stymied expression could be the result of any of the following: Continue reading →

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“Deciding to use performance-enhancing substances and methods has nothing to do with the lack of morality. It has to do with normative structure of elite sport, and the athlete’s commitment to his identity as an athlete.”

Posted on August 22, 2010 by mmjdiary

 Jay Coakley, sociologist and author, discussing Lance Armstrong and the  allegations of steroid use

Ah, but generally shifting norms don’t find us denying our adherence to the norm in lieu of, well, in this case, the laws as well as the regs of the sport.

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Roger That and Blago This: Truth Percolates and/or Gushes

Posted on August 20, 2010 by mmjdiary

Roger Clemens was indicted for perjury.  Former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich was convicted on one count of 24 charges – that of lying to the FBI. Common thread?  Their troubles did not spring from their mistakes, misjudgments, and almost felonies.  Their troubles resulted from what they did when their conduct percolated to the surface.  Well, their troubles began when their conduct gushed to the surface like oil from a BP Gulf rig.  From the time of Nixon, it’s always the cover-up that gets you.  Continue reading →

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Of Could vs. Should, Ethical Theory, and Mosques

Posted on August 14, 2010 by mmjdiary

The Barometer demands reasoning and analysis from her students, not “I feel.”  Were well trained ethics students charged with the assignment of evaluating whether a Muslim community center and mosque should be built three blocks away from Ground Zero in New York City, they would seize first on the word “should.” “Should” grabs them because they are trained to avoid confusing “could” with “should.”  In this emotional debate, the two have been confused. The First Amendment and religious freedom being what they and federal courts being staffed ideologically Continue reading →

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The Rude Air Travelers, But I Repeat Myself

Posted on August 11, 2010 by mmjdiary

The two men from Houston whisked by me as I waited for the TSA agent to use her highlighter and give me entrance to the innards of the Atlanta airport.  They had the attitude of those who travel sockless in expensive loafers. Indeed, they had their expensive loafers on, sans socks. The TSA agent was struggling because I had a boarding card, an increasing rarity these days.  I lacked the ubiquitous one-sheet print-out from the home or hotel computer.  Our TSA agent did not know where to swipe her orange highlighter Continue reading →

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Another CEO Bites the Dust, Albeit With $40 MIL: Thoughts on Former HP CEO Mark Hurd

Posted on August 11, 2010 by mmjdiary

 

  1.  Has every male in America forgotten “Fatal Attraction”?
  2. There’s a fine line between romance and sexual harassment – a line that becomes noticeably brighter once one party in the romance loses interest, drops out, or quits awarding contracts.
  3. Expense reports are tricky things.  Before signing, read.  Actually, follow the academic studies and read The Ten Commandments before filling them out.  The studies show Continue reading →
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The Cut-and-Paste Crowd

Posted on August 4, 2010 by mmjdiary

The New York Times ran a piece on Sunday, August 1, 2010 that highlighted, as it were, research on the tendency of students today to cut and paste information from the Internet without attribution.  The Times discovered a phenomenon with which those of use in the academic world are all too familiar.  To students today, “cut and paste” is the way to write papers!   Cuts way back on the nastiness of footnotes and sources.  About 40% of students admit to copying others’ work for assignments and only 29% believe that Web cut-and-paste is “serious cheating.” And the Times also discovered that, when discovered, Continue reading →

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“BP CEO Tony Hayward will step down. He’s looking forward to spending more time saying insensitive things to his family.” Stephen Colbert

Posted on August 2, 2010 by mmjdiary
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