This is one of those signs that may not apply on the reservation. Some studies of corporations with ethical problems found them to have a high-profile Chief Executive Officer or President who surrounded himself with people who were inexperienced, 'yes-men' or incompetent.
While it does sometimes happen that once someone is elected to the council they are surrounded by so many people trying to curry favor that they begin to think they can do no wrong, that whatever they choose to do is right, we really have not see this happen as often as the other ethical warning signs.
Of course, we have not been to every reservation. If you have a different view, please email us and let us know. Your answers will be kept confidential.
The Fourth Ethical Warning Sign: A Weak Board
Again, we have not seen this sign as often in Indian country as some of the others, but we have certainly seen it. Jennings gives a few examples of how a weak board might contribute to ethical problems, and we have seen all of these.
- Either the board is made up of friends of the Project Director, President or other person who they are supposedly overseeing, or
- The board has conflicts of its own that take up its attention so they cannot decide on setting policies, removing unethical staff or other board responsibilities,
- The board does not pay enough attention to the issues, spending time sight-seeing, in the casino or visiting instead of on board business,
- The board is "bought and paid for" receiving perks such as nice dinners, expensive trips for meetings, high per-diems and other goodies, so they don't want to rock the boat by bringing up any problems with the program,or
- Board members have a conflict of interest, being employed by the project or as a supplier to the project.
Just like the old saying, "When the cat's away, the mice will play," when a board does not pay attention to how money is spent, whether the program is meeting its objectives, whether students are getting a good education, well, there is that much less incentive to follow policies and procedures, not really focus on meeting those goals, 'for real', because there are not going to be any consequences if you don't meet them.