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Newsletters
March
I've put together a list of the ten things you should know to prevent and detect theft and fraud at your operation. In some cases, awareness may be all the solution you need. But in most other situations, you will need to take that knowledge and apply it to your own situation through positive action.
April
While attending a conference recently, I ran into an old friend and he asked about the current state of the theft and fraud prevention world. After recounting some of the current cases I'm familiar with, this friend passed along a story of having to fire an associate and friend for a conflict of interest/breach of trust issue. He lamented the fact that what we saw as an obvious conflict of interest wasn't apparent to the associate until he was being fired for it.
May
This month we will continue our discussion of ethics in organizations by exploring some of the ethical issues that can develop. There are three primary categories of ethical issues -- legal, professional and general ethics.
June
How is your integrity? What a good headliner in a campaign to solicit employee support for fraud prevention and detection. By focusing on integrity you are not only creating an environment and internal culture that seeks the highest ethical standards, you are making the message personal. And that's right where you want it to be - up front and personal.
July
We'll wrap up this series with a discussion of the importance of the manager (or supervisor) in supporting and reinforcing a companies climate of ethical conduct. The manager is challenged to be the principled leader who sets the tone for ethical behavior through his or her words, actions and practices in everyday situations. Without the manager's support and integrity, a code of ethics is only a piece of paper.
August
A recent case of zone jumping occurred in the last few months and I thought we could take a few minutes to talk about zone jumping - an often over-looked window into fraud for the timber industry.
September
As many of you may have heard through the grapevine a forester in California was recently killed while investigating a possible squatter and illegal drug grow. I'm sure all of us are stunned at this occurring to a fellow forester
November
Last month, investigators with the South Carolina Forestry Commission charged a timber harvester with failing to pay a landowner for the wood removed from his property. The alleged perpetrator is accused of removing approximately $27K of timber
December
Most small offices are built on a foundation of trust and family-like values. Employees genuinely like each other and consider each other as friends. Many are related in some way, to each other or to the owner himself. It's hard to imagine that friends would steal from friends.
January 2012
A small forestry consulting business with over 25 employees initiated a company re-organization in order to be ready for anticipated growth. During the process a few accounting discrepancies were discovered.
February 2012
Recently I was asked to provide a presentation on timberland security for the Appalachian Society of American Foresters Winter meeting. In preparing that discussion I decided to address the question I hear most frequently any time I speak in front of a group of foresters. That question usually goes something like this, "Why do we need timberland security? We trust those we do business with. We have known them for over 20 years and they are just good people."
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