In the school of hard knocks, Koss's chief executive has made a $4.5 million tuition payment. The lesson in return? Don't exempt your financial executive from oversight, and she won't get to take millions out of your business account to pay her personal American Express bill. What if Koss fails to learn this lesson? Then what started out as a one-time expense will turn into a downpayment on institutional folly. For details, see yesterday's Wall Street Journal article, http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2009/12/23/koss-executive-accused-of-embezzling-company-funds-to-pay-off-shopping-spree/
Pitfalls like these occur more frequently than most people realize, with many top managers opting to make their tuition payments quietly to avoid embarrassment and loss of investor or consumer confidence. Such faux pas typically trigger an overreaction: a new audit or ethics program, an unleashing of hated sentinels who see catastrophe lurking around every corner. What is a more reasonable answer?
A simple No Dark Corners approach can redesign work flow to reduce opportunities for any individual to go astray. Everyone follows the rules. The workplace puts a premium on transparency, and no one-- no matter how senior or privileged-- gets a blank check to commit significant funds without some kind of witness and authorization. If the leadership at Koss balks about such basics, one can only wonder what other questionable activities may be eluding scrutiny in some accidental or contrived dark corner.
- Nick Catrantzos
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Nick Catrantzos + Tom Goff
- All Secure
- NICK CATRANTZOS is the lead author of the All Secure website and is the emeritus security director for a large public organization. He has also managed security aspects of corporate takeovers, response to international hostage situations, and finding and keeping secrets. He has been board certified in security management, licensed as a private investigator, and certified as an incident commander. He worked as a case officer for a discreet branch of public service. He protected stealth technology at Lockheed and, later, as a consulting security director for both Kroll and Control Risks, he assisted executives with workplace violence cases and with protecting VIPs and critical assets globally in volatile areas. Nick's partner, TOM GOFF, was a captain in the Military Police Corps, U.S. Army Reserve and has a law degree from the University of California at Davis. He is a former reporter for Fortune Magazine, was senior editor at New York Magazine and Esquire, and has provided crisis and communications counsel to senior executives at Fortune 500 companies, including Lockheed, ARCO, Microsoft, Nissan, and Sony Pictures.