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SBR - Authors' Podcast

Corie Adjmi’s Journey from New Orleans to Brooklyn and Beyond

Welcome to the Sunday Book Review, the Authors Podcast! On this episode, Tom welcomes Corie Adjmi in the latest edition of the Sunday Book Review-Authors Podcast! Corie was born and raised in New Orleans before moving to Brooklyn at the age of sixteen. She explored her passion for storytelling during her graduate studies and eventually spent twenty years working as a teacher before writing her first book. Her most recent novel, The Marriage Box, is an examination of the experiences of modern-day women which is sparked by a period of reflection exploring the consequences of marriage at a young age.

Corie shares her creative process and recommends books on writing from authors Stephen King and Julia Cameron. Deeper conversations explore her blog post about confronting the internal dialogue around societal judgments of gender. Get the fascinating insight from this talented author, plus relax as Corie encourages her listeners to take little steps and rediscover the craft of writing. This podcast is not one to miss!

Key Highlights Include

·      Exploring the Power of Storytelling Through Literature [00:04:31]

·      The Challenges of Getting Married at a Young Age [00:08:35]

·      Taking Baby Steps Towards Writing Success [00:12:57]

·      The Value of Finding Comfort in Books During Difficult Times [00:16:47]

·      Unpacking Internal Dialogue in the #MeToo Movement. [00:20:59]

·      Exploring the Fear of Revealing Your True Self [00:25:30]

Notable Quotes

1.     “It was really important to me. That I made the team. And I had to work really hard to, you know, perfect a jump and, you know, learn all the moves and take it seriously because the competition to get on a cheerleading.”

2.     “Writing the novel was much more difficult because I could never get enough momentum. I’d get through 20 pages, have to put it down, sometimes days would go by weeks, even months.”

3.     “For me reading with a pencil in my hand, admiring what somebody else has done, taking notes in the margins, underlining, circling, learning from what other people have done is a way that I feel like I’m engaging with writing and the craft of writing; and it’s less intimidating.”

4.     “Have the courage to walk through it.”

Resources

Check out Corie Adjmi

Check out Corie’s book “Life and Other Shortcomings” here

Categories
Innovation in Compliance

Igniting Purpose within Organizations with Christina Foxwell

How can you build a culture of trust and purpose in your organization? Tom Fox’s guest this week, Christina Foxwell, is an expert in helping companies unleash the purpose within each employee to build a sustainable business. In this episode, Tom and Christina explore the world of organizational transformation: Christina shares how her team helps companies put programs in place to measure outcomes and document results, satisfying stakeholders such as regulators and shareholders. She also emphasizes the importance of building a coaching culture, which can help transform company culture as well as the personal lives of employees. 

Christina Foxwell is the Global CEO of Ignite Purpose, a company that aims to make a difference to one person’s life a day so that they can make a difference to their world. She is a renowned leadership and transformation expert who has spent more than two decades working with organizations and executives to achieve their goals. At Ignite Purpose, Christina and her team specialize in partnering with organizations to create transformational change through culture change, leadership development, and team optimization. She is also a sought-after speaker and podcast host, using her platform to share insights and inspire leaders to unlock their full potential. 

 

You’ll hear Tom and Christina talk about:

  • Building a culture starts with one person and then cascades into the organization.
  • Organizations need to foster connections among people and create communities where employees can bring their whole selves to work.
  • Trust is essential, and it starts with individuals trusting themselves before they can trust others.
  • In a hybrid work model, companies need to create opportunities for employees to come together, both physically and emotionally.
  • There is no cookie-cutter solution to building a culture of purpose and values. It requires a relentless effort to find the answer together.
  • Measurement and documentation are crucial for demonstrating outcomes to regulators, shareholders, and stakeholders.
  • Transformation requires a shift in culture, not just a tick-box approach.
  • Coaching executives on how they show up, including their thoughts, speech, and emotions, is critical to creating a coaching culture.
  • Creating a coaching culture helps to change the language of failure to learning, promoting purpose and engagement in the workforce.
  • Podcasting helped to build Christina’s courage and gave her a platform for sharing insights, for challenging and inspiring others.
  • The younger workforce wants to learn and develop differently, challenging organizations to think about how to reach them through different mediums.

 

KEY QUOTES

“Connection isn’t just a physicality. It’s an emotional choice to be connected. What we’ve got to do is we’ve got to give our people permission to make that emotional choice and teach them the gift of community and connection.” – Christina Foxwell

 

“We change the language of failure to learning, which means we want people to show up.” – Christina Foxwell

 

“We need to be able to open our mind…As a business owner, how do we reach people in different mediums to create the talent growth within the organization?” – Christina Foxwell

 

“For me, [podcasting] is about sharing insights and learning and maybe learning to have the courage to use my voice and to speak to people, to bring about new ideas.” – Christina Foxwell

 

Resources:

Christina Foxwell on LinkedIn | YouTube | Twitter | Facebook  

Ignite Purpose

Categories
Data Driven Compliance

Vince Walden on a Data Driven Approach to Sanctions and ESG

Data Driven Compliance, hosted by Tom Fox, is a podcast featuring an in-depth conversation around the uses of data and data analytics in compliance programs. In this episode, host Tom Fox visits Vince Walden from Kona AI to discuss data driven compliance and new areas of risk, such as trade AML and trade sanctions. Vince provides an example of a heavy equipment manufacturer using RFIDs on their products to monitor movement, and Tom warns of heavy fines for companies who fail to comply with prevailing sanctions. The conversation continues as Vince and Tom touch on topics such as ESG compliance, financial implications of green initiatives, and consortiums for sharing data. They also discuss how data analytics and text analytics can be used to track inventory and the importance of tracking energy spend to identify ESG-compliant vendors.

Key Highlights

·      Sanctions & trade compliance are the new FCPA.

·      Data-driven compliance for sanctions & trade compliance.

·      Data-driven ESG?

·      The cost of meeting ESG standards.

·      Economic benefits of sustainability.

·      Research with MIT and Integrity Distributed on the data sharing consortium.

Notable Quotes

“It’s not hard. Now they have to put the chips on, which is a variable.”

“You really have to mine the supply chain and use, you know, text analytics, text mining beyond just traditional accounting tools. To get into the weeds in that supply chain to find out where risks are located.”

“It’s funny. This is why I love our profession that we’re all in. It’s compliance and any fraud professionals, there’s always something new, always something changing.”

 “With a much broader overview. So you can see the big picture.”

 Resources

Vince Walden on LinkedIn

KonaAI

Categories
Daily Compliance News

March 28, 2023 – The Textbook Edition

Welcome to the Daily Compliance News. Each day, Tom Fox, the Voice of Compliance, brings you compliance-related stories to start your day. Sit back, enjoy a cup of morning coffee, and listen to the Daily Compliance News. All from the Compliance Podcast Network. Each day we consider four stories from the business world, compliance, ethics, risk management, leadership, or general interest for the compliance professional.

Stories we are following in today’s edition of Daily Compliance News:

·       Venezuela cracks down on corruption. (Reuters)

·       CFTC sues Binance.  (Reuters)

·       Fed says SVB case of ‘textbook mismanagement.’ (NYT)

·       Pissed off from pay transparency. (FT)

Categories
Blog

Coming Conflict with China-Business Challenges and Responses: Supply Chain Issues

In the short span of the 21st Century, the world’s two top powers, the United States and China, have moved inexplicably toward a showdown. This evolved from a commercial competition into something more akin to permanent non-kinetic warfare. What does this mean for US business doing business in and with China? For this special 5-part blog post series, I visited with Brandon Daniels, CEO and President of Exiger, to explore issues diverse as a real danger, supply chain, exports, cyber-attacks, and IP theft from the business perspective and give the compliance and business executive their viewpoints on what you can do to not only prepare your company but protect it as well. In Part II, we consider Supply Chain issues.

Have you ever stopped to consider the human rights abuses at the root of the products you use every day? From our solar panels to our computer screens, the exploitation of the Uyghur minority in China is a painful reality that has been hidden from Western consumers for too long. How has the global supply chain issues that have been enabled by this exploitation and how the geopolitical tensions with China must be addressed if we are to ever move past this human rights violation? In this blog post, we explore the implications of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, the COVID-19 response, and the need to diversify our supply chains away from China if we are to bring balance to the world and ensure a fair playing field for everyone.

Here are some steps you need to follow to help you to shore up issues caused by China, impacting your Supply Chain.:

  1. Take the issue of Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act seriously.
  2. Diversify the supply chain to reduce risk of disruption.
  3. Invest in alternative sources of supply.
  4. Consider reshoring manufacturing to places like the US, UK, etc. with relative stability and free market.
  5. Invest in US manufacturing to increase innovation and provide security.

1.The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act

Taking the issue of Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act seriously requires a comprehensive understanding of the human rights abuses taking place in the Xinjiang region of China. This region is home to the minority Uyghur people, who are subjugated by a paramilitary organization that controls all commerce and government functions. The production of items like neon, steel, lithium, and silica relies heavily on these subjugated people, driving down the cost of goods and manipulating economic markets. This is a clear violation of human rights, and it is not justifiable from any perspective. To take the issue of Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act seriously, companies must recognize the implications of this human rights violation and take actionable steps to diversify their supply chains, invest in alternative sourcing, and return manufacturing to the US. Taking these steps is essential in order to create a fair playing field and combat the human rights abuses taking place in Xinjiang.

  1. Diversify your supply chain

Diversifying the supply chain is key to reducing the risk of disruption from the conflict with China. Companies should look to invest in other countries in the Asia Pacific region such as Vietnam, Malaysia, and Cambodia, who are open for business and have less stringent regulations than China. Companies should also consider reshoring, which means bringing manufacturing back to the United States or other countries with more stable free market economies. This will help limit exposure to potential disruptions due to geopolitical tensions in China. You should review your long-term supply chain strategy, to include investing in alternative sources of materials and suppliers can help ensure continuity of operations and reduce the risk of disruption. Finally, companies should consider investing in research and development to create alternative sources of goods to diversify the supply chain and limit their exposure to potential disruptions from the conflict with China.

  1. Invest in alternative sources of supply

When considering how to address the issues of human rights abuses and Supply Chain interruptions due to China, it is important to consider investing in alternative sources of supply. Mexico, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Indonesia are all countries that offer alternative sources of supply, and they are more likely to be subject to less geopolitical tensions than China. To ensure Supply Chain security and to mitigate the risk of human rights abuses, companies should consider investing in these countries. This could include establishing manufacturing plants in these countries, as well as working with local vendors to source the necessary raw materials. Additionally, companies should consider investing in research and development in these countries to develop alternative technologies that are not dependent on Chinese resources. By investing in alternative sources of supply, companies can ensure a secure and ethical supply chain, which is essential for the long-term success of any business.

  1. Consider reshoring manufacturing

When it comes to considering reshoring manufacturing to more stable and free market sites such as the US, UK, etc.; the first step is to make sure to diversify your Supply Chain. This could mean making investments in alternative suppliers to ensure that the company is not solely reliant on one given country or region. Businesses should look into the opportunities of reshoring to the US and UK to take advantage of the 525,000 underutilized manufacturers in the US. Doing this could make it more cost effective and provide an additional layer of security in the event of a conflict with China. Lastly, companies should also consider investing in local manufacturing in the Asia Pacific region, such as in Vietnam, Malaysia, and Indonesia, to take advantage of these countries’ open for business attitude. This could help to bring about innovation and balance to the world’s Supply Chains.

  1. Invest in US manufacturing

Investing in US manufacturing is the fifth step in addressing the geopolitical tensions between China and the US. This step is essential to increase innovation and provide security. US companies must take seriously the idea of “reshoring” or bringing back manufacturing to the US. There are currently 525,000 manufacturers in the US that have the potential to be utilized. To make this possible, investments must be made in order to ensure that goods can be manufactured cost-effectively and with the highest quality. This will provide stability and security in the potential conflict with China, as well as providing innovative goods that are manufactured within the US. It may take time and money to invest in US manufacturing, but the potential reward is worth it.

The issue of Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act is a serious one, and companies must take proactive steps to ensure that their supply chains are secure and ethical. Diversifying the supply chain is essential in order to reduce the risk of disruption due to geopolitical tensions and investing in alternative sources of supply such as Mexico, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Indonesia is a great way to do this. Companies should investigate reshoring manufacturing to places like the US and UK, as this will provide an additional layer of security and help to create a fair playing field for everyone. Finally, companies should invest in US manufacturing to increase innovation and provide security. By taking these steps, companies can help to ensure a secure and ethical supply chain and combat the human rights abuses taking place in Xinjiang. With the right mindset and actionable steps, we can all make a difference in the world and create a better future for everyone.

For a deeper dive into these issues, check out the 5-part podcast series with Tom Fox and Brandon Daniels, here.

Categories
Uncovering Hidden Risks

Ep 5 – Tips for Internal Investigations While Maintaining Privacy

Randyll Newman, Supervisor of Student Data and Information Security for Prince William County Public Schools in Virginia, joins host Erica Toelle and guest host Christophe Fiessinger on this week’s episode of Uncovering Hidden Risks. Randyll oversees the planning, operation, and management of security for the school division’s network infrastructure, data, and student information systems. He also served 10 years as a police officer and detective in Fairfax County, Va., retiring from the United States Naval Reserves after serving 26 years. Randyll discusses how organizations approach internal investigations, how important it is to maintain privacy for students and faculty during these investigations, and examples from previous case studies.

In This Episode You Will Learn:
  • Prince William County Public Schools’ reputation for innovative education
  • How important it is to maintain privacy for students and faculty
  • Business requirements for internal investigations
  • Considerations and adherence to regulatory compliance: Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA); and Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA)
  • Tips and advice for other organizations
Some Questions We Ask:
  • What principles guided the initiative to ensure user privacy?
  • Can you outline the privacy principles you follow during investigations?
  • How did you design the technical solution to meet these business requirements?
Resources:

For more background, read the PWCS Case Study

View Randyll Newman on LinkedIn

View Christophe Fiessinger on LinkedIn

View Erica Toelle on LinkedIn

Related Microsoft Podcasts:          

Listen to: Afternoon Cyber Tea with Ann Johnson 

Listen to: Security Unlocked

Listen to: Security Unlocked: CISO Series with Bret Arsenault

Discover and follow other Microsoft podcasts at microsoft.com/podcasts

Uncovering Hidden Risks is produced by Microsoft and distributed as part of The CyberWire Network. 

Categories
31 Days to More Effective Compliance Programs

One Month to a More Effective Compliance Program for Business Ventures-Franchisor Compliance

Most franchisors have thorough financial vetting requirements before allowing any person or business to become a franchisee. However, how many of these same businesses perform compliance due diligence on their prospective overseas franchises? How many U.S. franchisors have compliance training programs? How many evaluate, on an ongoing basis, the compliance program of their overseas franchisees? How many U.S. franchisors have a compliance hotline or other reporting mechanism for any compliance violations made against their franchisees?

Some issues include health and wage compliance officials who may appear during routine health inspections or local wage and hour compliance determinations; intellectual property officials, as maintaining intellectual property rights is critical for any franchise model; utility officials as every franchise operation needs power maintained; and government procurement officials if the franchise is selling to a foreign government or state owned enterprise.
How would all of this play out for a franchisor? As a franchisor moves into foreign markets there could well be the temptation to “grease the skids” and make payments or offer gifts to government officials, or their family members, to get the permits or permissions necessary to open and operate. In many countries, bribery is a common way of getting business done, and there can be tremendous pressure from local agents or franchisee candidates to follow regional customs and use bribes to become or remain competitive. Even if it is not the U.S. franchisor’s own employees that engage in the FCPA violations, the U.S. franchisor will still face the risk of an enforcement action if the franchisee’s employees engage in such conduct.
Three key takeaways: 

  1. Franchises can bring an unexpected level of FCPA exposure.
  2. Franchisors must have more than financial vetting for potential franchisees.
  3. Use your compliance tool kit for business ventures in managing the FCPA risk for franchises.
Categories
Coming Conflict with China

Coming Conflict with China: Part 1-From Potential Conflict to Real Danger

In the short span of the 21st Century, the world’s two top powers, the United States and China, have moved inexplicably toward a showdown. This evolved from a commercial competition into something more akin to permanent non-kinetic warfare. What does this mean for US business doing business in and with China? In this special 5-part podcast post series, Tom Fox and Brandon Daniels, CEO of Exiger, a global leading third-party and supply chain management software company, explore issues diverse as a real danger, supply chain, exports, cyber-attacks, and IP theft from the business perspective and give the compliance and business executive their viewpoints on what you can do to not only prepare your company but protect it as well. In Part I, from potential conflict to real danger.

Are your relationships headed toward conflict or real danger? Find out in this first episode of this special 5-part podcast series. In this series, Tom is joined by Brandon Daniels, who is an advocate for free markets and democracy and is passionate about providing transparency to the global corporate ecosystem. As this podcast series was being recorded, Chinese authorities arrested employees of the Mintz Group in Beijing. The Mintz Group is a well-known and well-respected international investigations firm. This is one more step in the increasing opacity of the Chinese market. They consider the economic battle being lost to Chinese companies due to their coercive tactics. How do cheap bids pose national security risks? Explore these topics and more in this episode.

Key Quote- Brandon Daniels

“Don’t just go with the cheap bid. Pay attention to the national security risk that a cheap bid from one of these Chinese companies could mean to your business and think differently about how you establish security in critical products.”

 Key Takeaways

  1. What is the Chinese government doing to increase opacity in the Chinese market, and how is this impacting global free markets?
  2. How is the Chinese government manipulating the economics of the global market, and what implications does this have for businesses?
  3. What strategies and approaches can businesses take to ensure security and diversity in their supply chain?

 Resources

Exiger

Tom Fox

Connect with me on the following sites:

Instagram

Facebook

YouTube

Twitter

LinkedIn

 

Categories
Blog

Coming Conflict with China-Business Challenges and Responses: From Potential Conflict to Real Danger

In the short span of the 21st Century, the world’s two top powers, the United States and China, have moved inexplicably toward a showdown. This evolved from a commercial competition into something more akin to permanent non-kinetic warfare. What does this mean for US business doing business in and with China? For this special 5-part blog post series, I visited with Brandon Daniels, CEO and President of Exiger, to explore issues diverse as a real danger, supply chain, exports, cyber-attacks, and IP theft from the business perspective and give the compliance and business executive their viewpoints on what you can do to not only prepare your company but protect it as well. In Part I, from potential conflict to real danger.

It is time to ask some tough questions and come up with robust responses to the challenges. With China’s increasing attempts to subvert the US economy, decrease transparency of its business practices, and the use of its blocking statutes that protect its companies from US laws, the situation is becoming increasingly challenging. What steps can you take to safeguard yourself and your business? Join us to explore these questions and more in this special series.

Here are the steps you should follow to begin to think your organization’s business and operational security.:

  1. Identifying potential threats and risks in the global business and commerce ecosystem.
  2. Developing a strategy to diversify the global supply chain to mitigate risks and increase security.
  3. Finding alternate sources of supply and production in different countries to create redundancy and increase diversity.

1.Identifying potential threats and risks

Identifying potential threats and risks in the global business and commerce ecosystem requires an understanding of how geopolitical tensions and economic coercion can impact businesses and markets. When looking at the arrests of Mintz’s Group employees in Beijing and the potential for China to subvert our global free market, it is important to consider how Chinese investments in critical technologies, like battery plants, and their control of resources, like cobalt and copper, could be used to manipulate the market. It is also important to be aware of China’s attempts to restrict access to economic policies, like tariffs, that make it cheaper to manufacture in China than in Vietnam or Malaysia. It is important to consider the impact of China’s annexing of other countries, their blocking statutes, and their potential to use Uighur forced labor in their garment industry, all of which could lead to human rights issues. By understanding the potential threats and risks, businesses can be better prepared to put appropriate measures in place to protect their data, their people, and their customers.

  1. Developing a strategy to diversify your global supply chain 

Developing a strategy to diversify the global supply chain to mitigate risks and increase security is a crucial step in mitigating potential risks associated with China’s increasing adversarial activity. To ensure the safety and security of a company’s supply chain, it is important to diversify its sources of supply, especially for critical infrastructure such as logic bearing circuitry and pharmaceutical ingredients. Your organization should think twice before accepting a cheap bid from a Chinese company and instead diversifying to sources from countries such as Japan, South Korea, the United Kingdom, and the United States. By diversifying supply chain sources, companies can ensure that they are not over-dependent on any one country, and can also take advantage of premium pricing that comes with diversity, security and redundancy in their commerce.

  1. Finding alternate sources of supply and production

Finding alternate sources of supply and production in different countries to create redundancy and increase diversity is an important step in mitigating risk in a highly unpredictable geopolitical environment. To do this, you should start by looking into local manufacturing capabilities and taking the opportunity to support companies from other countries, such as Japan, Korea, the UK, the US, Mexico, and Canada. These countries may be more reliable in their political stability and may offer a premium for the security that comes with diversity. Additionally, it is important to investigate the state of the industries in these countries and what investments they are making. For example, Japan is investing heavily in their electronics sector, Korea in semiconductors, and the US and Canada in AI. To ensure your business is protected, you should also consider investing in a backup plan in case of disruption from your current source. This could involve researching other suppliers, negotiating contracts with them, and training staff and operations to use them. By investing in these alternate sources and plans, you will be able to create redundancy and increase diversity in your supply chain, ultimately making your business more secure.

The importance of identifying potential threats and risks in the global business and commerce ecosystem and developing a strategy to diversify the global supply chain to mitigate risks and increase security cannot be overstated. You should be working to find alternate sources of supply in different countries to create redundancy and increase diversity. By taking the necessary steps to understand the potential risks of doing business with China, businesses can be better prepared to protect their data, their people, and their customers. Opaqueness is the foe of transparency.  With the right knowledge and strategy, you too can ensure the safety and security of your business.

For a deeper dive into these issues, check out the 5-part podcast series with Tom Fox and Brandon Daniels, here.

Categories
Corruption, Crime and Compliance

DOJ Issues New Compliance Guidance and Focus on Corporate Compliance Systems

The Justice Department is raising the bar on corporate compliance, and Michael Volkov believes we are witnessing a watershed moment. In this episode of Corruption, Crime and Compliance, he explains the significant revisions to the evaluation of corporate compliance programs, the new corporate enforcement policy, and the criminal division’s three-year pilot program on compensation incentives and clawback. 

Some of the ideas discussed in this episode include:

  • DOJ is raising expectations for corporate compliance programs and incentivizing ethical behavior.
  • Companies must implement effective employee reporting systems, conduct timely internal investigations, and hold bad actors and weak supervisors accountable for their failures.
  • DOJ is frustrated with the lack of cooperation between HR and compliance departments and seeks to promote a new era of compliance cooperation and operationalization.
  • The evaluation of corporate compliance programs now includes a new section entitled Compensation Structures and Consequence Management, which mandates the design and implementation of compensation schemes to foster a compliance culture.
  • DOJ’s three-year pilot program for corporate compensation systems and clawbacks aims to reduce the burden on corporate shareholders and punish individual wrongdoers.
  • Companies need to bring together senior leadership, business leaders, legal and compliance, and human resources to build together a set of incentives, disincentives and other structural changes to promote an ethical culture of compliance.
  • DOJ expects companies to implement an effective employee reporting system. The updated guidelines provide specific guidance on how that reporting system ties into the overall advancement of the corporate culture, timely internal investigations, careful root cause analyses, and a new term consequence management.
  • Companies can earn a fine reduction when they seek to recoup compensation from culpable employees, and prosecutors will have discretion in how to fashion the requirements for the compliance-related compensation and bonus systems.
  • DOJ’s new policy includes important requirements for preservation of data from messaging applications and texting systems, and companies need to tailor communications data preservation policies to the specific risk, profile, and needs of their business.

 

KEY QUOTES:

“DOJ’s intent here is just unmistakable. Companies have to monitor, detect, and prevent future wrongdoing, and they have to hold bad actors and weak supervisors accountable for their failures.” – Michael Volkov

 

“To the extent that compliance and HR departments fail to coordinate and fight over turf, companies will face increased risks of a defective ethics and compliance program, employee misconduct rates will rise, and government investigation risks will rise as well.” – Michael Volkov

 

“Finally, with respect to risk management, companies have to ensure that they are appropriate consequences to executives and employees who fail to comply with communications and data preservation requirements. ” – Michael Volkov

 

Resources:

Michael Volkov on LinkedIn | Twitter

The Volkov Law Group