Freescale Semiconductor, Inc. Seeks 'Balance' in Its Ethics Investigations, Ethikos Reports

MAMARONECK, N.Y., July 22 /PRNewswire/ -- When a report arrives via the corporate ethics line, a company must quickly decide: Does the matter require investigation?

If the answer is yes, then it faces a crucial second question: Who in- or outside the company will conduct the investigation?

At Freescale Semiconductor, Inc., Larry M. Parsons is the "triage point" for corporate ethics line reports. He decides who should or should not be investigated.

Conducting a successful ethics investigation often requires a fine balance -- between not doing enough and doing too much, Parsons tells the bimonthly publication Ethikos in a recent interview. One has to avoid becoming 'paralyzed' by too much data.

Freescale Semiconductor does more than 100 investigations a year, estimates Parsons, the company's vice president, business conduct and ethics. Of these, Parsons himself conducts about 12 to 20, often the most sensitive ones.

Created in 2004 from the divestiture of Motorola's semiconductor business, Freescale Semiconductor is a private concern headquartered in Austin (TX), with more than 18,000 employees in 20 countries.

Yes, it's important to pay attention to details, particularly when preparing an investigation, but you have to sift through the details and keep things moving. You can't let yourself become "paralyzed" by the amount of data "so the investigation goes on for months and months," Parsons tells Ethikos.  "Don't let the perfect overcome the good," he cautions.

The interview recounts an actual investigation that Parsons conducted that involved an employee soliciting inappropriate travel from a supplier. The person under question was a long-term employee, respected in the company. But Freescale Semiconductor had recently changed vendors. The old supplier, having lost the account, was upset and brought the allegation against the Freescale employee. (The article can be viewed online at http://EthikosPublication.com/html/freescale.html.)

"Don't get locked into your initial view of the facts and subconsciously steer your investigation to support that view," says Parsons in conclusion.  "Follow the evidence and don't ever be surprised by what people are capable of doing."

Now in its 24th year, Ethikos (www.EthikosPublication.com) takes a unique case-study approach to corporate ethics. Recent issues have included profiles of General Electric, USAA, Coca-Cola, Cisco, McDonald's, British Telecom, AOL, Tyco, Duke Energy, KPMG, and Novartis, among others. To see selected recent articles go to: http://www.ethikospublication.com/html/selectedarticles.html

SOURCE Ethikos