Ethical Crossroads

In this episode, we take a deep dive into what happens in a sports investigation. It seems like every month, there's a new controversy in sports that leads to an investigation. This time, we use the ongoing investigation into the University of Michigan athletic department and the recent plea agreement involving ex-head coach Sherrone Moore as a case study.  Here, you'll learn: 1) Why uni...

In this episode, we discuss the EPA's change to climate policy for car manufacturers under the Trump administration. We discuss why these changes, despite sounding like they could save American buyers money and help the economy, are unlikely to do either. 

In this episode, we talk about how the Los Angeles Rams created a winning culture to fuel their success in the NFL. Going beyond things like talent and players, we focus on mindsets and strategies such as: 1) Positive Psychology 2) Standards and Expectations  3) Taking Chances 4) Focusing on the Basics The episode focuses on how Les Snead and Sean McVay developed this culture to fuel nine seasons...

In this episode, we talk about how the Las Vegas Raiders, despite hiring great coaches and drafting some good players, continue to struggle due to a losing culture. We talk about how each coach, and the owner Mark Davis, have undertaken actions that contribute to the losing culture of the team. 

In this episode, I meet with Jamie Wallisch, Regulatory & Sustainability expert at Assent - a leader in supply chain sustainability management solutions. In 2023, Jamie visited the cobalt mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo to get  a better understanding of the human side of artisanal mining. Assent developed a full three episode video series of their experience and observations (see bel...

In this episode, we discuss how the gambling scandal involving Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter hurt Ohtani's image as an honest, transparent superstar. From a corruption perspective, we discuss how even allegations of wrongdoing can impact a player or business's reputation. 

In this new episode, we take a look at the reasons why Shohei Ohtani's new contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers - for $700 million dollars, is potentially harmful to the game of the baseball. From a legal and business standpoint, we discuss:  1) Changes in the business strategy of individual teams and the league 2) The labor employment challenges of increasing fairness in baseball, and 3) Ho...

In this episode, we revisit the world of sports to discuss why the "Patriot Way", the culture of the vaunted New England Patriots football team, failed to take hold on other teams. Rather than examining why the Patriot Way failed for football reasons, we try to determine why, as a corporate culture, this system failed when implemented by former New England coaches like Josh McDaniels on...

In this episode, we turn to the world of sports to discuss how the Los Angeles of Anaheim, owned by businessman Arte Moreno, have slowly become baseball's most corrupt team. We examine how corruption within the team, its management, and its third parties have affected the team's performance on the field. The LA Angels, once destined to be a great team through the drafting of Mike Trout a...

In this episode, I'm joined by Warren Calove, an expert on Web3, cryptocurrency and NFTs. Warren is a project manager for a Web3 company called Drip (https://www.dripstudios.io/) and heads up his own Web3 company.  In this episode, we discuss why Web3 could be the future of the internet, despite news of ethical issues related to cryptocurrency exchanges and NFTs. Topics include: 1) What is We...

In this episode, we discuss why the SEC has been aggressively filing suits against crypto exchanges like Binance and Coinbase. We take a look at the SEC's recent history of utilizing "industry sweeps" to make examples of companies, in order to execute a deterrent effect across similar companies or industries. Sources utilized for this episode include: US tightens crackdown on crypto...

In this episode, we cover how compliance and risk professionals can begin utilizing ChatGPT and whether the application's features are mature enough to help companies manage risk. We run through several real use cases to demonstrate how ChatGPT can be used and what changes need to be made for the application to be an effective tool for the compliance and risk industry. Sources utilized for th...

In this episode, we turn to the world of ESG and sustainability to discuss the newly adopted Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD). The CSRD potentially imposes several reporting requirements on companies in and around the European Union. In this episode, learn more about: 1) What the CSRD is and the reasons behind its enactment 2) Which types of organizations it applies to 3) What c...

In the first inaugural episode of Ethical Crossroads, we dive into the collapse of the FTX crypto exchange and try to determine the guiding ethical questions from this situation.