Ethics Governance
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At Howmet Corporation, the Internal Auditor Wears the Ethics Hat (ethikos) At Howmet Corporation, the Internal Auditor Wears the Ethics Hat (ethikos) September/October 1999 - By Andrew Singer. At Howmet Corporation, the Internal Auditor Wears the Ethics HatNo specific educational regimen or background can ensure that an individual will be an effective ethics officer—just as no amount of training can guarantee a person will be an exemplary parent. Ethics officers, in fact, come from a broad range of backgrounds—legal, finance, human resources, and security, among others. At Howmet Corporation (Greenwich, CT), both the ethics officer and his chief assistant are internal auditors.Internal audit is not the most common background for an ethics/compliance officer—more have legal or human resources experience, arguably—but it is a good fit nonetheless, asserts Karl J. Van Mill, the company’s Director of Internal Audit, and Ethics and Compliance Officer, based in Whitehall, Michigan. How so? "Certain basics of internal audit lends itself to the ethics role: independence, senior management access, regular reporting to the audit committee of the board of directors, objectivity." Internal auditors typically travel extensively and know employees in many locations—as do ethics officers. Ethics, in fact, "is a natural extension of what we do," says Van Mill.Van Mill joined Howmet, a $1 billion (sales) manufacturer of metal castings, about two years ago. Earlier he was director of internal audit at McDonnell-Douglas, the huge aerospace company that is now a part of Boeing. He also worked for Arthur Andersen, the accounting firm.‘Refreshing’ the programWhen he arrived at Howmet, the company had an ethics policy and an ethics council, but it did not have what Van Mill called a "diligent" program. "Training, communication, the helpline—were not there," he recalls. His boss, John Ritter, the company’s Chief Financial Officer, asked him to "renew and refresh the ethics program."The training program that was subsequently implemented will reach all of the company’s 10,000 employees over the next twelve months, including many overseas workers. Full Article: http://www.singerpubs.com/ethikos/html/howmet.html |
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2006 Ethics-Governance.com |
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