Professional ethics should not be an oxymoron – that’s the contention of Michael Rasmussen, a business analyst who was the first to define and model the Governance, Risk, and Compliance market for products and professional services. Today, a growing number of businesses are recognizing that respect for copyright and intellectual property is essential to corporate social responsibility – in ways familiar to why those same organizations now practice environmental and social responsibility.
“A lot of companies haven’t really thought much about that intersection of copyright and intellectual property as part of their social responsibility practices. And to me, that’s a big mistake,” Rasmussen tells Chris Kenneally of Copyright Clearance Center.
In a new white paper from Copyright Clearance Center, Rasmussen describes how ethical behavior molds an organization’s reputation. “If management doesn’t respect copyrighted material and the intellectual property of others, why should lower levels of the organization respect it?” Rasmussen says. “You can’t have different rules for different levels of people within the organization. There has to be consistency from top to bottom.”
Michael Rasmussen has more than 15 years of experience assisting organizations in defining Governance, Risk, and Compliance processes that are sustainable, consistent, efficient, and transparent. Corporate Integrity, which he founded, provides education, research, analysis, and advisory services for corporate governance, enterprise risk management, and compliance. Previously, he was a Vice-President and top analyst at Forrester Research, Inc.
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To obtain a free copy of Corporate Social Responsibility: Good Corporate Citizens Respect Copyright and the Property of Others, go to www.copyright.com/CorporateResponsibility.