Early Warning: Conflict of Interest... ovvero punti di vista.

Questa me la devo segnare perche' non me l'aspettavo proprio.

Mi sa che mi perdero' subito il 99% dei lettori perche' di pallosissimo lavoro si tratta. Mi scuso in anticipo. ;-)

Dopo che il dir finanziario di NY mi ha fatto un paio di domande strane su una trattativa che abbiamo in corso, ne ho parlato con il mio Business Analyst il quale mi ha detto di avergli mandato la seguente mail:

subject: Early Warning: Conflict of Interest

Hi John,

I want to alert you to a possible conflict of interest with the sale of Project Venus markets. I certainly trust the Management Team in PR [di cui io facco parte n.d.r.] to act in the best interest of Heineken, but I also believe part of my role as a finance leader is to mitigate potential conflicts of interest when they exist.

Issue: It is in the best interest of the company to receive payment for sale of businesses as an outright sale of the business. But this would not be included in the financial result and therefore in the bonus calculation of the management team.

Proposed Solution: include proceeds from the sale of the business as part of cash flow target for evaluation purposes.

If you have any questions or want to discuss alternatives, please let me know.

Regards,
TED

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Saro' ipersensibile, pero' ci sono rimasto male, visto che non mi aveva messo in copia e visto che non e' stato fatto assolutamente nulla di scorretto ne' da parte mia ne' dei miei colleghi impegnati nella trattativa.

Devo pero' riconoscere che secondo lui era tutto ok. Infatti mi ha mandato la mail di cui sopra con il seguente commento, senza fare una piega. Insomma non e' che mi abbia nascosto la cosa.

This is the email I sent to John. I have full confidence in you and the rest of the Management Team and I hope that this is clear in the communication. If not, I will need to make sure everyone understands to be the case.

TED

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Al che gli ho risposto, mettendo in copia il dir finanziario di NY, con questa mail:

Dear Ted,

thanks for sharing your communication with John.

I greatly commend your sense of integrity, and consider it a precious asset to the company.

I would only offer for your consideration the thought that a communication of this nature, made without copying the persons involved, could potentially convey a negative message to the receiver of the mail, when in fact that is unwarranted given the lack of any improper behaviour.

I would personally use this style only when I have the impression or suspicion that there actually is something wrong going-on.

In this specific case, considering that you and I have always openly discussed in various occasion the implied impact on EBIT of each alternative, and that you as well as the corporate legal counsel, are part of the negotiating team, seems to indicate that there are sufficient controls built in the process.
In addition to that, it is mentioned in the first page of the Business Case the fact that we are negotiating a one-off payment. Therefore this matter has been communicated to John and the rest of the organisation.

This said, once again, I thank you for sharing this, appreciate your sense of fairness, and encourage you to continue to follow your conscience.
With people like you on-board the company is in great hands.

Cheers,

Sono sicuro al cento per cento che non voleva farsi bello alle mie spalle, altrimenti non me ne avrebbe parlato. Era sinceramente sorpreso e dispiaciuto, quando ha capito che non ero molto contento della cosa. Qui c'e' una grossa differenza culturale di base e una scarsa (o dovrei dire diversa) sensibilita' da parte sua.

Che dire, c'e' sempre da imparare.