In the wake of new legislation sparked by recent corporate scandals, many organizations, including the IEEE, are beefing up their financial oversight practices. This year the institute’s Board of Directors named longtime IEEE volunteer Lloyd A. “Pete” Morley to a newly created position, that of corporate integrity contact person, to handle reports of suspected financial misconduct. And next year, the board will consider establishing a new set of standards for volunteers and employees, called the Code of Business Conduct, which is now being drafted.

The reason for the code? It’s “good business practice,” says Ron Jensen, chair of the IEEE Audit Committee and an IEEE senior member. The standards come at the recommendation of the IEEE’s legal counsel that the organization should follow the principles of behavior included in the 2002 U.S. law known as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. That legislation established new reporting and monitoring requirements for management and boards of directors of all U.S. public companies. It also specified that the companies must have a mechanism—as embodied in the corporate integrity contact person—for receiving and handling reports of financial misconduct.

The IEEE has standards of conduct in place that are outlined in its Code of Ethics and its employee handbook—for which Morley has provided review and counsel. Although the new code will include standards laid out in the two existing compliance documents, it will go into greater detail in the area of financial misconduct, which will be Morley’s bailiwick. The new code will also establish a formal process for investigating suspected violations.

Of course, the IEEE already prohibits volunteers and employees from accepting bribes or kickbacks of any kind from IEEE members, staff, customers, or vendors. But the Code of Business Conduct will give specific examples of what constitutes inappropriate actions.

Also, the new code will explain situations that represent a conflict of interest, such as operating an outside business that markets products to, or in competition with, the IEEE. Also, under the code, those entrusted with confidential information such as technical product specifications or internal financial data will be expected to discuss it only with those who have a “need to know.”

Employees and volunteers have always been asked to report instances of what they regard as inappropriate actions. IEEE Human Resources and the IEEE Ethics and Member Conduct Committee (EMCC) have received and processed misconduct complaints from employees and members, respectively, all along. But Morley will focus on handling complaints of financial improprieties by members and employees.

CODE MONITOR An IEEE Fellow and veteran volunteer who has chaired and served on many IEEE boards and committees, Morley is a full-time electrical engineering professor at the University of Alabama, in Tuscaloosa. The appointment came as a great surprise, he says.

Lloyd A. "Pete" Morley

“When I read that the person who fills the role must be of unquestioned integrity, I was really honored to be asked to serve,” Morley says.

The one thing he says he hopes people realize is how important it is to report suspected financial misconduct. It’s better to report such suspicions, even if it turns out there is no wrongdoing, than to remain quiet, he says.

Morley gets involved once someone reports a financial misconduct violation of the code—either by e-mail to corp-integrity@ieee.org or by postal mail to him at the IEEE in Piscataway, N.J. Complaints can be made anonymously; all matters will be handled confidentially to alleviate any concerns of retaliation.

Morley will investigate the complaint and, if it seems valid, interview the person accused of committing the wrongful act, reporting to the IEEE Audit Committee throughout the process. Next, he will determine if misconduct did occur and file a report with the committee. If the complaint is about a member, the report is released to the EMCC. If it is about an employee, the report goes to the IEEE’s Human Resources Department. Those bodies process the complaint, and then it’s up to the IEEE executive director (in the case of employees) or the Board of Directors (for member complaints) to make a final ruling.

Code violations could lead to disciplinary actions, including membership termination for volunteers and employment termination and prosecution for employees.

Morley says he believes in the code’s efficacy and the importance of his position, and he hopes to make the reporting of possible violations as painless as possible.

“I want to make people within our organization—staff and volunteers— feel comfortable about what to do if they find someone doing something they suspect to be wrong,” he says.