ethical laps in business
As Jim Balassone, executive-in-residence at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics, noted in his introduction, “Tim and I are the same age, with similar backgrounds and education. Perhaps the only difference is that I went to work for a company where it was easy to be ethical and Tim went to work for Rite Aid. I’d like to think that I would have acted differently or escaped some of the traps Tim will talk about—I would like to think that, but I’m far from sure that would be true.”
Noonan outlined his purpose by saying, “I'm here today to spend a little bit of time with you to talk about the crisis at Rite Aid. It could have been your company, your associations. It could be anyone's. It was a real crisis. And I hope it’s the kind of crisis that none of you ever get yourself caught up in,” he said. “I made some bad decisions, but ultimately, you’ve got to make some right decisions. I’m no different than you. I want you to understand that this could happen to you, it could happen to anybody.”Alex Grass founded Rite Aid, a mom-and-pop health and beauty aids store, in Scranton, Pa., in 1962. The company went public in 1968, and by 1995, Grass’s son forced him out as CEO. Amid rapid expansion, numerous acquisitions, and costly innovations, Rite Aid got involved in a financial crisis resulting in a $1.6 billion restatement, shareholder lawsuits, and ultimately, indictments and convictions of officers of the company. Noonan himself eventually pled guilty to misprision, defined as the failure by someone who is not an accessory to prevent or notify the authorities of a felony. (For more on the financial crisis, view William Black’s PowerPoint presentation.)
Noonan began at his career at a pharmacy that was eventually acquired by Rite Aid, moving from stock boy, to pharmacist, to COO and eventually to interim CEO of Rite Aid. The company had state-of-the-art warehouses and an innovative robotic pharmaceutical system industry leading technology, unique store design, and was
Noonan outlined his purpose by saying, “I'm here today to spend a little bit of time with you to talk about the crisis at Rite Aid. It could have been your company, your associations. It could be anyone's. It was a real crisis. And I hope it’s the kind of crisis that none of you ever get yourself caught up in,” he said. “I made some bad decisions, but ultimately, you’ve got to make some right decisions. I’m no different than you. I want you to understand that this could happen to you, it could happen to anybody.”Alex Grass founded Rite Aid, a mom-and-pop health and beauty aids store, in Scranton, Pa., in 1962. The company went public in 1968, and by 1995, Grass’s son forced him out as CEO. Amid rapid expansion, numerous acquisitions, and costly innovations, Rite Aid got involved in a financial crisis resulting in a $1.6 billion restatement, shareholder lawsuits, and ultimately, indictments and convictions of officers of the company. Noonan himself eventually pled guilty to misprision, defined as the failure by someone who is not an accessory to prevent or notify the authorities of a felony. (For more on the financial crisis, view William Black’s PowerPoint presentation.)
Noonan began at his career at a pharmacy that was eventually acquired by Rite Aid, moving from stock boy, to pharmacist, to COO and eventually to interim CEO of Rite Aid. The company had state-of-the-art warehouses and an innovative robotic pharmaceutical system industry leading technology, unique store design, and was