Companies have become much more likely to dismiss their chief executive officers over the last several years because of a scandal or improper conduct by the CEO or other employees — including fraud, bribery, insider trading, inflated resumes, and sexual indiscretions. Larger companies are more at risk than smaller ones, as are companies where the CEO has been in office for a long time, and companies where the CEO is also the board chair, according to PwC’s Strategy& recent CEO Success study.
CEOs Are Getting Fired for Ethical Lapses More Than They Used To
And it’s more common at large companies.
June 06, 2017
Summary.
Companies have become much more likely to dismiss their chief executive officers over the last several years because of a scandal or improper conduct — including fraud, bribery, insider trading, inflated resumes, and sexual indiscretions. From 2007 to 2011, forced turnovers due to ethical lapses were 3.9% of all successions at the world’s 2,500 largest public companies. From 2012-2016, that figure rose to 5.3% — while that might sound small, it’s a 36 percent increase. Larger companies are more at risk than smaller ones, as are companies where the CEO has been in office for a long time, and companies where the CEO is also the board chair, according to PwC’s Strategy and recent CEO Success study.
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New!
HBR Learning
Ethics at Work Course
Accelerate your career with Harvard ManageMentor®. HBR Learning’s online leadership training helps you hone your skills with courses like Ethics at Work. Earn badges to share on LinkedIn and your resume. Access more than 40 courses trusted by Fortune 500 companies.
Avoid integrity traps in the workplace.