Conflicts of Interest Preventing and detecting conflicts of interest
{"Image DocumentName": "Conflicts of Interest Preventing and detecting conflicts of interest", "Image ImageDescription": "Specifically address conflict of interest illegalities in company ethics policy. Annual financial disclosure statement. Communication with employees regarding their other business interests. Establish anonymous reporting mechanism to receive tips and complaints. Periodically run comparisons between vendor and employee addresses and phone numbers. Preventing and Detecting Conflicts of Interest. Conflict of interest schemes are violations of the rule that a fiduciary, agent or employee must act in good faith, with full disclosure, in the best interest of the principal or employer. Most schemes are a violation of the legal maxim that a person cannot serve two masters. Some of the more common schemes involve an employee\u2019s, manager\u2019s, or executive\u2019s interest in a customer or supplier and receipt of gifts. As in other situations, the employee, manager, or executive is compensated for her interest in the form of consulting fees. The prevention of conflicts of interest can be difficult. The primary resource for heading off this complex act is a company ethics policy that specifically addresses the problems and illegalities associated with conflicts of interest and related offenses. The purpose of the policy is to make the position of the company absolutely clear, to define what constitutes a conflict or an improper relationship, and to express in no uncertain terms that conflicts are not appropriate and will not be tolerated. The absence of a clear policy leaves an opportunity for a perpetrator to rationalize his behavior or to claim ignorance of any wrongdoing. A policy requiring employees to complete an annual financial disclosure statement is also an excellent proactive approach to preventing conflicts of interest. Comparing the disclosed names and addresses with the vendor list may reveal real conflicts of interest and the appearance of such. Communication with employees regarding their other business interests is also advisable. In cases where public state records reveal the key officers of all corporations, a name search of these records compared to company employees could be revealing. In order to detect conflicts of interest, organizations should concentrate on establishing an anonymous reporting mechanism to receive tips and complaints. This is how most conflict of interest cases are detected. Complaints typically come from employees who are aware of a co-worker\u2019s self-dealing, or from vendors who have knowledge that a competing vendor with ties to an employee of the organization is being favored. Another detection method that can be helpful is to periodically run comparisons between vendor and employee addresses and phone numbers. Obviously, if a vendor is owned or run by an employee of the organization without that fact having been disclosed, this would constitute a conflict of interest.", "Image XResolution": "37", "Image YResolution": "37", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Centimeter", "Image Software": "SlidePlayer", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Centered"}