Essay
The Pennsylvania State University scandal resulted in an independent investigation, which culminated in the Freeh Report, which included findings and recommendations for future action to improve the university from an ethics and compliance perspective. On October 28, 2013, the media reported that Penn State had entered into a $59.7 million settlement with the victims in the case.
According to the Freeh Report, "The most saddening finding by the Special Investigative Counsel is the total and consistent disregard by most senior leaders at Penn State for the safety and welfare of Sandusky's child victims." (emphasis added). The report goes on to state that the four most powerful people at Penn State wholly failed to protect against a child predator harming children for over a decade (emphasis added). According to the Report, "They exhibited a striking lack of empathy for Sandusky's victims by failing to inquire as to their safety and well being".
The Report states that President Spanier, as well as three other administrative staff members, failed to create and maintain an ethical culture. In addition, the Report states, "These individuals, unchecked by the Board of Trustees that did not perform its oversight duties, empowered Sandusky to attract potential victims" (emphasis added). Some coaches, administrators, and football staff members ignored the red flags of Sandusky's behaviors and no one warned the public about him. By not promptly and fully advising the Board of Trustees about the 1998 and 2001 child sexual abuse allegations against Sandusky ... Spanier failed as President. The Board also failed in its duties to oversee the President and senior University officials in 1998 and 2001 by not inquiring about important University matters and by not creating an environment where University officials felt accountable.".
Essay Questions:
1. Assume that you have been hired as the new University President. Answer the following:
- Please provide examples of employee silence from the Freeh Report. How did employee silence impact the ability of Jerry Sandusky to be held accountable for his actions?
- Please provide examples of failure of leadership by Spanier, Schultz, Curley, and the Board of Trustees. What do these failures of leadership suggest was the type of leadership used at Penn State during Spanier's tenure? Why was that type of leadership harmful to the university's ethical culture?
- Please provide specific examples of organizational distrust from the Freeh Report.
- Please discuss the ethical culture of Penn State and discuss how the ethical culture led to the events that occurred.
- Please discuss what (from an organizational standpoint) led to the type of culture that allowed Sandusky's actions to go undetected.
2. What methods would you use to create organizational trust and an ethical culture in the following areas? Organize your answer by using the specific topics below.
- Hiring and Retention - How would you change the process for hiring and retention? What methods would you use and why? Using the Freeh Report, cite your reasons for why you chose a particular process in this area.
- Ethics and Compliance Training - What type/method of training would you use and why? What would you emphasize in your training? How would better employee training have helped prevent the Penn State Scandal?
- Management Style and Ethically Approachable Managers - How would you create a management environment where ethically approachable managers were the norm?
- Communication of Ethics Expectations at the Organizational Level (i.e., "Codes") - How would you go about creating Codes of Ethics and Codes of Conduct? Who would be involved? Whose input would you get prior to writing the Codes?
- Ethics Surveys at the Organizational Level - What surveys would you use at the organizational level and why?
- Dealing with the Organizational Distrust and Employee Silence at the University - What methods would you use to combat the dangerous problem of employee silence?
- Ethics Reporting Systems - What types of ethics reporting systems would you create and why? How would you create them? How could good ethics reporting systems have impacted the outcome of this case?
- Employee Engagement and Employee Empowerment - How would you go about creating employee engagement and empowerment? Who would be empowered and why? How did the lack of employee engagement and empowerment impact the outcome in the Penn State situation?
- The Performance Appraisal Process of both management and non-management employees - What techniques would you use with regard to improve the fairness of performance appraisals and to create employee engagement? What would you analyze with regard to employee performance? What would a good Performance Appraisal System have created with regard to Penn State?
- Compliance Activities - How would you improve employee compliance? What techniques would you use to ensure compliance with university policies and federal and state laws? What actions by senior management created a culture of non compliance at Penn State?