THE TELEGRAPH: BAE Systems is to appoint a senior executive to oversee the implementation of a new code of conduct at the defence company after its chairman, Dick Olver [sic], and chief executive, Mike Turner, accepted that it had not paid sufficient attention to ethical standards.
The company, Europe's largest arms manufacturer, is to incorporate 23 recommendations laid out yesterday in the Woolf Report, commissioned last year after years of allegations that BAE had engaged in bribery and corruption to win contracts. The 146-page report, dismissed as a whitewash by some and a road map to better corporate governance by others, also calls on the Government and the Ministry of Defence (MoD) to play a greater role in improving the reputation of Britain's defence industry.
The year-long inquiry, led by retired senior judge Lord Woolf of Barnes, recommends that BAE publishes and implements a global code of ethical business conduct with regular, independent audits of that conduct. "Critically, both the chairman and chief executive, in discussions with us, acknowledged that the company did not in the past pay sufficient attention to ethical standards and avoid activities that had the potential to give rise to reputational damage," the report said.
BAE's insufficient attention to ethical standards was combined with an "acceptance of conditions which constrained its ability to explain the full circumstances of its activities", the report said. "These contributed to widely held perceptions that it was involved in inappropriate behaviour. They recognise that, justly or otherwise, these perceptions have damaged the company's reputation." BAE to Appoint Ethics Tsar After Bribery Claims >>> By Russell Hotten | May 7, 2008
THE TELEGRAPH:
Woolf Report Points BAE Towards Higher Moral Ground >>> By Damian Reece | May 7, 2008
THE TELEGRAPH:
Putting a Gloss on Unethical Business Practices >>>
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback - UK)
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Hardback - UK)
ethics tsar
