IMC Southern California — Monthly Meeting

Afternoon Workshop: Ethics for consultants: a slam dunk or a moral dilemma?

Facilitator: Gene Siciliano

Sarbanes-Oxley made the point that more is expected ethically of CEOs and CFOs of publicly traded companies.

Will its passage make them act more ethically or simply more carefully?
Will it trickle down to the smaller clients most of us serve?
After all, ethical behavior is relative to the situation, isn't it?
Some occupations have a greater duty to act ethically than others, don't they?
Should we really expect the same ethics from our lawyers that we expect from our religious leaders?

And what about consultants? Should sales training consultants and public relations advisors be held to the same standard as financial consultants and CPAs? Where is the line we shouldn't cross? How do we recognize it when things are moving fast and the client wants us to "keep up?" Does IMC's Code of Ethics really do the job?

In this interactive workshop and warm-up act for Professor McCord, we want to get your mind thinking about ethics in the real world we live in, where the choices may seem like shades of grey more often than black and white.

What circumstances in your practice have led you to draw that line and possibly confront a client? And how did you do it and retain the client’s confidence? Bring your stories and your issues. Bring the questions you couldn’t ask when the ethical quandary was upon you, yet you couldn’t proceed without knowing the answer.

Evening Presentation: Essential Ethics for Survival and Success in the 21st Century

Speaker: Professor Linnea McCord

Contrary to popular belief, the rules of ethical conduct in the United States are:

NOT situational
NOT relative
NOT unclear
NOT hard to teach, and
NOT optional!

Another dangerous myth is, "it's unethical, but legal". Contrary to popular belief, it is possible to land in prison for more than 25 years for unethical conduct even though the best accounting and law firms in the country said it was "legal".

In the current era of stepped-up enforcement, criminal indictments, prison sentences, public scandal and damaged reputations, consultants and their clients cannot afford to be confused about ethics. An ethical lapse in today's environment may be fatal.

In this session, you will learn (1) the true meaning of ethics, (2) why ethical conduct is not optional, (3) what the simple and clear rules of ethical conduct are, and (4) why ethical conduct is your best competitive advantage in today's hyper-competitive global economy.

About Gene Siciliano CMC CPA - Founder/President Western Management Associates

Gene Siciliano CMC CPA is the founder and president of Western Management Associates, a financial management consulting firm based in Los Angeles and now in its 20th year. Known as Your CFO For Rent, he provides executive coaching in finance for senior executives, financial management advisory services, and workshops and training programs to corporate and association clients nationwide.

Gene is the author of "Finance for Non-Financial Managers," McGraw-Hill 2003, "Finance for Administrative Assistants," Informa plc 2006, and "Did Sarbanes-Oxley Miss the Point?" Western Management Associates 2006. He is a nationally recognized speaker and writer on finance and management issues

About Linnea McCord J.D., M.B.A. Professor of Business Law

Linnea McCord, J.D., M.B.A., a professor of Business Law, Graziadio School of Business and Management, Pepperdine University, 28 years experience teaching business ethics and law. As an in-house corporate counsel and later the General Counsel of a division of a high-tech Fortune Global 500 multinational corporation, Dr. McCord taught business ethics and law seminars for all levels of management, from the newest management trainees to top-level executives of the company. In an academic setting, Dr. McCord has taught business ethics and law classes for more than 16 years to undergraduate, graduate, executive and President and Key Executive business school students. In addition, Dr. McCord is a sought-after professional speaker and has delivered numerous keynote speeches and seminars on business ethics and law topics to corporations, government entities, nonprofits and associations across the United States. Dr. McCord is currently teaching, researching and writing in the field of business ethics and corporate governance.