In an increasingly risk-averse and socially concerned environment, organizations must pay greater attention to governance. In addition, regulators, activists and lawyers also pay greater attention to how organizations conduct themselves, and the appearance of governance. Paradoxically, greater specification of how organizations must conduct themselves can frequently lead to situations where ethical conduct is against the law. The most corrupt regimes and bureaucracies are often the most ethical, on paper. One might muse that corruption and bureaucracy are positively correlated. Further, one might observe that the inability of organizations to make decisions without recourse to experts in various areas of regulation, for instance human resources or procurement or health and safety, leads to more likelihood that organizations will get things wrong. But do principles pay? Is it true that "the people you help on your way up are slightly less likely to knife you on your way down"?
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