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How the CFO and General Counsel Can Partner More Effectively

Harvard Business Review

Commentators and researchers have focused on the crucial role of the CEO in leading effective corporate action to promote high performance, high integrity , and sound risk management. This critical alliance needs and deserves much greater analysis and application.

CFO 8
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The “Business in Society” Imperative for CEOs

Harvard Business Review

In virtually every country across the globe, a broad range of governmental and ethical issues directly and immediately shape what companies can and cannot do. CEO acumen on business-in-society issues is thus imperative in addressing fundamental corporate issues, from business strategy to compliance to ethical standards to risk management.

CEO 8
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If the Auditors Sign Off, Does That Make It Okay?

Harvard Business Review

Andrew Fastow, the former chief financial officer of Enron, recently completed a six-year prison sentence for his part in the scandalous deception that hid Enron's financial troubles from investors. Fastow emphasized that enablers are not an excuse: each individual is his or her own and only gatekeeper.

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The Rise of the General Counsel

Harvard Business Review

The general counsel, not the senior partner in the law firm, is now often the go-to counselor for the CEO and the board on law, ethics, public policy, corporate citizenship, and country and geopolitical risk. . — and increasingly in Europe and Asia — are not mentioned: 1.