Business as Usual?

October 2017Business Continuity General

Abstract

Recent (1) criminal penalties paid by Volkswagen, (2) the bankruptcy filing by Takata and (3) the plea bargains by two ex- Penn State University officials, and the conviction of its past President, to felonies of child endangerment, raise once again the perplexing question of why do corporations, universities and the insurance industry treat unexpected events that result in death, serious injury or substantial property damage as “business as usual”? Why do they allow the commercial repercussions and litigation surrounding these events to be dragged out over several years with the employers or clients suffering enormous financial consequences and the victims ultimately receiving 50% or less of the dollars paid? Is it indifference, inexperience, a lack of leadership, an over weighted and under questioned acceptance of legal opinions, a biased reliance on immediate corporate profits or some other inexplicable misunderstanding of what the adverse consequences could be?

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Donald Rosenberg

Former General Counsel, Qualcomm, USA

David Teece

Executive Chairman, Berkeley Research Group LLC, USA

Kirti Gupta

Senior Advisor, Center for Strategic and International Studies, USA

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Business as Usual?

Abstract

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