Corporate culture is one of those intangibles that is hard to measure, but can sometimes be the maker or breaker of a company
By Craig Donaldson
Corporate culture is one of those intangibles that is hard to measure, but can sometimes be the maker or breaker of a company.
As the Cole Commission continues its inquiry into the Australian Wheat Board (AWB), there is more and more evidence that, when it came to kickbacks to Saddam Hussein’s regime in the UN Oil-for-Food Program, there was a ‘nudge nudge, wink wink’approach to doing business in senior circles at AWB.
Under the Commonwealth Criminal Code Act2005, corporate culture is defined as “an attitude, policy, rule, course of conduct or practice existing within the body corporate generally or in the part of the body corporate in which the relevant activities takes place”.
It’s well established that the CEO, followed by the executive team, largely set the course of an organisation’s culture. No matter how many values or mission statements they dream up, and no matter how many posters preaching values HR plasters on the wall, the current investigation into AWB has significant ramifications for all companies.
As Professor Rick Sarre notes in our front page story, HR departments should be quaking in their boots if there is a significant difference between company values and actual company practice – especially if any of that practice involves something against the law.
What might seem like a simple ‘nudge nudge, wink wink’ approach to doing business can lead to something much more serious, and HR could be vicariously liable for not drawing a line in the sand here. Sure, HR might get told off for doing so, but if it comes down to a choice between leaving or staying put and then having the proverbial hit the fan, as it has with AWB, which would you prefer?
A number of AWB staff, including managers involved in Iraq deals, didn’t buy into the ‘nudge nudge, wink wink’ culture when they refused to sign codes of conduct because of concerns about corruption.
But given that wheat is one of Australia’s major exports and money earners, it will be interesting indeed to see just how much the Cole Commission can pin on the Federal Government and its approval of AWB’s ‘nudge nudge, wink wink’ approach to doing business.
