Ethicast

Ethicast

Join host Bill Coffin as he interviews the top thought leaders in the world of business integrity as they share the best practices, innovations, and insights that showcase something every truly successful organization knows: strong ethics is good business.

  1. 6d ago

    2027 World’s Most Ethical Companies® Application Best Practices

    The World’s Most Ethical Companies recognizes enterprises that have demonstrated best-in-class ethics and compliance programs, corporate governance practices, and cultures of integrity. The 2027 application period begins tomorrow, July 29, and the final submission deadline is Thursday, October 29 at 8:00 p.m. ET. As returning applicants know, the application process is always a little different from year to year as the landscape of ethics and compliance itself never stops changing. So let’s get into some of the ways that applicants can set themselves up for success. In this episode, Ethisphere Chief Strategy Officer, Erica Salmon Byrne, shares her insights on some best practices to keep in mind when applying for the 2027 World’s Most Ethical Companies® recognition. Including: How should applicants budget their time and people-hours for this task Properly documenting your application How to connect with allied functions across the enterprise to get crucial details Advice for first-time applicants, especially with smaller or younger E&C programs What Ethisphere does - and doesn't - want to see from this year’s applicants To learn more about the World’s Most Ethical Companies, visit worldsmostethicalcompanies.com. The 2027 application period runs from July 29 to October 29 at 8:00 p.m. ET. To take a deep dive into the application process itself, register for our free webinar, Guide to Applying for the 2027 World’s Most Ethical Companies®, at https://ethisphere.com/webinars

  2. Jul 20

    How the World's Largest Bakery Made Integrity Part of Its DNA

    Grupo Bimbo is the world's largest baking company — 130,000 employees, nearly 200 plants, and 13,000 products sold across 3 million points of sale worldwide. In 2026, it was named a World's Most Ethical Companies® Honoree for the 10th time, a milestone few organizations ever reach even once. On this episode of the Ethicast, host Bill Coffin sits down with Ignacio Stepancic, Global Compliance Leader at Grupo Bimbo, for a candid conversation about what it actually takes to sustain a decade of ethical leadership. Ignacio talks about how artificial intelligence has transformed third-party due diligence, why the company treats its Code of Conduct as a living document that gets revisited every year, and how a genuine "speak-up" culture has become a recruiting and retention advantage. He closes with straight talk for any organization considering its first World's Most Ethical Companies application. Chapters (00:02:47) - How Grupo Bimbo maintains a high standard of excellence in E&C over time(00:06:53) - Some of the most important evolutions of Grupo Bimbo's E&C program since its first World's Most Ethical Companies recognition(00:09:12) - The role of technology in the program(00:10:26) - Updating the Grupo Bimbo Code of Conduct(00:12:12) - The importance of building an internal culture of ethics(00:13:53) - How developing a reputation for ethics helps find and retain talent(00:15:22) - What the program has in store over the next 18-24 months(00:16:47) - On collaborating with other departments across the organization(00:19:04) - Advice for first-time applicants

  3. Jul 13

    Western Digital’s Path to Eight World’s Most Ethical Companies® Honors

    Western Digital has earned World’s Most Ethical Companies® honors eight times — a streak that doesn’t happen by treating ethics and compliance (E&C) as a finished project. In this episode of the Ethicast, host Bill Coffin sits down with Joe Santosuosso, Vice President and Chief Compliance Officer at Western Digital, to unpack how his team keeps a large, complex organization performing at that level year after year. They cover how Western Digital uses external recognition as a benchmarking tool rather than a trophy, how a risk-based approach lets a lean team cover more ground, and how the company’s newest set of values builds ethics into the definition of excellence instead of treating it as a separate track. Chapters (00:00:00) - Introduction: Western Digital and Joe Santosuosso(00:01:17) - What eight-time World’s Most Ethical Companies® honors and Compliance Leader Verification™ recognition mean to WD’s E&C program(00:03:19) - How these honors help tell the E&C story to internal and external stakeholders(00:05:06) - Benchmarking the program: measuring performance and staying current with best practices(00:07:49) - How Western Digital prioritizes risk within its risk-based approach(00:10:08) - Western Digital’s evolving company values, and how ethics and compliance shapes and reflects them(00:13:36) - Why ethics and compliance is work Joe gets to do, not just has to do

  4. Jun 29

    The Courage to Transform Investigations

    What happens when you stop treating investigations like a black box — and start treating them like a tool for cultural transformation? Scott Sullivan, former Chief Integrity & Compliance Officer at Newmont Corporation, the world's largest gold mining company, did exactly that. The result: a 385% increase in reporting over four years, a radical rethinking of speak-up culture, and a model for how ethics and compliance leaders can build trust with the entire organization — not just manage risk for the few. In this episode, Scott breaks down how the 2021 Rio Tinto report on workplace behavior prompted Newmont to lift the hood on its own investigations process, how shifting from "speak up" to "ask, listen, act" moved accountability to leadership, and how the Organizational Justice and Integrity Dashboard (OJID) gave employees and executives alike a clear, honest picture of what was actually happening inside the organization. He also makes a case that culture doesn't have to be expensive. It just takes guts — and the right allies. If you're a compliance leader looking to drive real culture change, this one is worth your full attention. Chapters (00:00:00) - Opening and Intro(00:01:01) - Transitioning organizational culture by adopting radical transparency(00:04:00) - Building an organizational justice integrity dashboard to measure results(00:06:09) - Dealing with a nearly 400% increase in reporting overnight(00:07:20) - How to gain leadership support and internal allies for bold E&C initiatives(00:09:35) - Improving culture doesn't take money, it takes guts(00:10:52) - The best part about working in ethics and compliance

  5. Jun 22

    Is Your AI Governance Keeping Pace with Your AI?

    Your AI is moving faster than your governance. That's not a future problem — it's a right-now problem. In this episode, Bill Coffin sits down with Laura Jacobus, EVP of Strategic Advisory Services at Mitratech, to unpack why the AI governance frameworks most companies built 18 months ago are already struggling to keep up — and what AI Governance 2.0 actually looks like in practice. From Board mandates pushing AI into the hands of first-time users, to agentic AI systems that can delete a database in seconds without a human in the loop, Laura brings sharp, practical perspective on where E&C programs need to evolve — and fast. Chapters (00:00:00) - Introduction: Why your AI governance probably needs an upgrade(00:02:20) - AI Governance 2.0: Is it time to rethink your framework from the ground up?(00:09:09) - Board mandates, reluctant users, and the GDPR parallel — how the governance challenge has shifted(00:15:34) - The agentic AI wake-up call: When an AI agent deletes your database in seconds(00:20:00) - Wrapping up: What to do next, and where to follow Laura and Mitratech

  6. Jun 15

    How FedEx Builds Integrity Across a Global Compliance Program

    For a global organization with more than 500,000 team members, ethics and compliance cannot rely on policies alone. It takes leadership, structure, local connection, practical testing, and a culture of continuous improvement. In this episode of Ethicast, host Bill Coffin speaks with Peter Blumberg, Vice President and Chief Compliance Officer at FedEx, about how FedEx continues to strengthen its corporate integrity and compliance program during a period of major business transformation. Peter discusses the company’s One FedEx transformation, the value of maintaining regional compliance connection within a centralized structure, the importance of cyber incident exercises, and how FedEx is expanding its integrity ambassador program while exploring responsible uses of AI and automation. Key takeaways: How FedEx maintains ethics and compliance excellence during business transformation Why centralized compliance programs still need strong regional connection How cyber incident simulations test decision-making, governance, and disclosure readiness Why integrity ambassadors can extend compliance presence across global operations How AI and automation can improve the way employees engage with compliance teams • Why third-party evaluation helps prove program maturity Why mature programs should aim for progress, benchmarking, and continuous improvement For the latest thought leadership in ethics and compliance, including free videos, articles, research, and more, visit the Ethisphere Resource Center: https://www.ethisphere.com/resources Subscribe to our biweekly newsletter, Ethisphere Insights: https://ethisphere.com/newsletter/ Chapters (00:01:59) - Maintaining compliance excellence during transformation(00:04:38) - Why cyber ransom exercises matter for ethics and compliance programs(00:06:49) - What FedEx is working on next: ambassadors, AI, and automation(00:11:33) - Why third-party compliance verification matters(00:13:56) - Advice for mature programs trying to reach the next level(00:16:42) - Resources and closing

  7. Jun 8

    What Compliance Teams Miss About Third-Party Risk

    Someone set fire to a Kimberly-Clark distribution warehouse in California, caused $600 million in damage, and livestreamed the whole thing. The part that got less attention: he didn't work for Kimberly-Clark. He worked for a third-party logistics company they'd hired. Kimberly-Clark had a supplier code of conduct. They had compliance standards. They'd commissioned third-party audits. And it still happened. That's the reality of third-party risk management — you can build a solid program and still get blindsided by something you couldn't have predicted. But that doesn't mean programs aren't worth building. It means they have to be built well, and most aren't. In this episode, host Bill Coffin sits down with Emily Miner, Director on the Data & Services team at Ethisphere, to talk about where ethics and compliance programs fall short on third-party risk — and what strong ones actually look like. Emily draws on her work evaluating E&C programs across industries and her deep involvement in Ethisphere's World's Most Ethical Companies assessment process. They cover: Why third-party risk management tends to be less mature than other E&C program elements — and what that gap looks like in practice How E&C should be involved across the full third-party lifecycle, from due diligence and onboarding through ongoing monitoring and offboarding Why 90% of FCPA enforcement cases over the past 15 years have involved a third-party intermediary What supplier codes of conduct typically miss — including a lack of specificity in key prohibitions, weak enforcement language, and treating the code as a checklist rather than a values statement What companies like JLL and Microsoft are doing right in their third-party codes Emily also discusses her article, "What Makes for a Good Third-Party Code of Conduct?" published in Ethisphere Magazine. Link below. Read Emily's article: https://ethisphere.com/magazine/what-makes-an-effective-third-party-code-of-conduct/ Learn how Ethisphere can help you measure and strengthen your ethics and compliance program: https://ethisphere.com/solutions Subscribe for new episodes every week on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts. Follow Ethisphere on LinkedIn for more on ethics, compliance, and what it means to do business with integrity. Chapters (00:02:17) - The Kimberly-Clark warehouse fire and what it reveals about third-party risk(00:08:30) - What E&C teams are most commonly trying to manage through TPRM(00:13:57) - What third-party codes of conduct tend to miss or underemphasize(00:21:42) - Wrap-up and where to find Emily's article

  8. Jun 1

    How a Google Engineer Made $1M on Polymarket (And How the CFTC Caught Him) | Ethicast Reacts

    A Google information security engineer with access to the company's internal search trend data allegedly used that data to place 23 Polymarket bets — and won 22 of them, netting nearly $1 million. His handle was AlphaRaccoon. The CFTC and DOJ aren't laughing. In this episode of Ethicast Reacts, host Bill Coffin and Ethisphere Chief Strategy Officer Erica Salmon-Byrne break down the charges — commodities fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering — and what the case reveals about a risk most ethics and compliance teams haven't fully mapped yet. This is the fourth prediction market episode of Ethicast Reacts so far, and if the headlines are any indicator, it won't be the last. Chapters (00:00:00) - Introduction and case overview(00:04:13) - How Polymarket users flagged Alpha Raccoon to the FBI(00:06:08) - What Google did right (and why the CFTC cited it)(00:09:22) - What companies should be monitoring right now(00:12:08) - The fraud triangle applied to prediction markets(00:14:46) - Who should own prediction market risk inside your organization(00:17:37) - How E&C teams can get out in front of this

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Ratings & Reviews

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About

Join host Bill Coffin as he interviews the top thought leaders in the world of business integrity as they share the best practices, innovations, and insights that showcase something every truly successful organization knows: strong ethics is good business.

Information

  • Creator
    Ethicast
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2026
  • Episodes
    100
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2023
  • Show Website
    Ethicast

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