At What Price? A Destructive Force or A Lapse of Business Sense

Ken Camp has one of his better posts in a very long time, where he muses off of Rich's post about the impact of Siemens alleged bribery efforts. In the post Ken connected three different thoughts, but all with a central theme. In turn it got me thinking.

First, I feel the Siemens debacle is an example of what Ayn Rand dubbed "Anti-Greed" in Atlas Shrugged. It is not the Wall Street "greed is good" line at play but rather what can we do so no one else makes money.

Second Ken, in pointing to Rich's post, draws out the fact that this is likely the tip of the iceberg, and is why you will see companies now documenting things more or being like WalMart, where every sample left has to go through the purchasing team where it's logged.

Third, the Siemens matter, where they "settled" will mean that globally the anti-corruption forces will tag team more, as we're in such a crazy state now where money flows across borders as fast or faster than email, that the rise of the global economy police via the UN and Interpol will come about.

We're no longer, and haven't been for a very long time, living in a nation state world. Borders are simply there for geographic and tax reasons. Multi-national organizations, both civil and criminal exist, and anyone who thinks the local crack dealer isn't part of a global "company" without knowing it is on drugs themselves. What the Siemens folks allegedly did was an example of how old school business works. It was about keeping everyone happy. Other companies in other industries likely do the same thing. The question is which will be the next target for the investigators.