Tyco International Scandal
Tyco International Scandal
Tyco International Scandal
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Company Information
Tyco International Ltd. (Tyco) is a diversified company, which provides security products and services, fire protection and detection products and services, valves and controls, and other industrial products. It operates in five segments: 1. ADT (American District Telegraph) Worldwide designs, sells, install, services and monitors electronic security systems for residential, commercial, industrial and governmental customers. 2. Flow Control designs, manufactures, sells and services valves, pipes, fittings, valve automation and heat tracing products for the water and wastewater markets, the oil, gas and other energy markets along with general process industries. 3. Fire Protection Services designs, sells, installs and services fire detection and fire suppression systems for commercial, industrial and governmental customers. 4. Electrical and Metal Products designs, manufactures and sells galvanized steel tubing, armored wire and cable and other metal products for non-residential construction, electrical, fire and safety and mechanical customers. 5. Safety Products designs, manufactures and sells fire protection, security and life safety products, including fire suppression products, breathing apparatus, intrusion security, access control and video management systems. In addition, Safety Products manufactures products installed and serviced by ADT Worldwide and Fire Protection Services.
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Company Separation:
In June 2007, Tyco concluded a corporate separation that split the company into three publicly independent companies: 1. Covidien Ltd. (formerly Tyco Healthcare) 2. Tyco Electronics Ltd. (now TE Connectivity Ltd.) 3. Tyco International Ltd. (formerly Tyco Fire & Security and Tyco Engineered Products & Services (TFS/TEPS))
Tyco Scandal:
Dennis Kozlowski worked all his life to get from the bottom to the top of Tyco International Ltd. And when he reached the CEO position he was often compared to other great CEOs in history like Jack Welch. However, he picked up a lavish lifestyle that would soon be his destruction and bring him behind bars. After purchasing many art pieces in 2002 the SEC (security and Exchange commission: is a federal agency which holds primary responsibility for enforcing the federal securities laws and regulating the securities industry) started an investigation and accused him of failing to pay taxes of about $1 million dollars, but as the investigation proceeded the case became more complicated as it turned out that CEO Dennis Kozlowski and CFO Mark Swartz have been looting Tyco International of more than $600 million. Examples of how this was possible are following: -Over the years they have been giving themselves interest free loans from the company and then later on forgave themselves for it through Mark Schwartz falsifying documents. -Dennis Kozlowski gave himself bonuses to repay the debt. -They sold stocks at inflated prices. The biggest crime that happened here was that Kozlowski and Schwartz abused their power of control to steal from and lie to the stockowners. The journal Business Week posted Kozlowski as one of their TOP 25 CEOs in 2000. That is how good people thought he was. The money that was used to buy houses and silly things like $6000 shower curtains should have been used to push the company further or given to the shareholders. But bottom line is stealing is stealing. 4|P a ge
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Governance challenges:
Strong functional leadership and mentoring are critical to the ongoing development of high-integrity leaders and employees:
Absolute power tends to corrupt. Top leaders need strong functional leaders who can push back. Functional leaders can temper the ambitions of the top leader.
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Leaders must have a "web of accountability" surrounding them, with process disciplines in place to hold them accountable:
Leaders at the companies that ran into trouble had few systematic constraints on their actions. Pillmore said."Any CEO is doomed to fail without an accountability structure around them. I don't care how good they think they might be, or how strong their integrity. With pressures to make earnings forecasts, you are asking for trouble without that structure in place." How leaders in company are held accountable? What structures and processes ensure that they are called to task? Even if systems are working well with current executives who have high integrity, how could they be open to abuse in the future by less ethical leaders?
Boards and senior leadership teams must develop and implement sophisticated means to evaluate senior management character:
In the companies that got into trouble, managers were evaluated based on their ability to hit their numbers, but there wasn't much assessment of their character. "The boards had little idea of the character of these people that ran their companies, "Pillmore said. Tyco now evaluates 10 character traits of top managers annually. It looks for qualities such as "managerial courage." "You want people in the grassroots of the organization who are empowered to be courageous," Pillmore said. "Leaders create the environment that makes it comfortable to be courageous." Does company evaluate the character of its senior leaders or merely track their contributions to financial performance? Does the firm encourage people to be courageous? What aspects of character are most important to the long-term success of firm?
Rebuilding Tyco:
How did Tyco go about turning around its own governance? To transform itself, the company changed leadership, policies, and communications. To strengthen leadership, Breen brought in a new board of directors and a new corporate team. He also established Pillmore's position and an ombudsmanboth reporting directly to 6|P a ge
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