Executives Behaving Badly!

Executives misbehavior on the personal front is no longer allowed to go unpunished, according to this article in the WSJ:

Corporate directors are far less willing than they were a few years ago to look the other way if an executive does something that threatens to embarrass a company. This is the case even if the executive is a star performer. It's also true even if the action had nothing to do directly with work and isn't tied to illegal behavior, such as sexual harassment or "creating a hostile work environment." The offense could be getting drunk or acting lewd at parties or having tangled or abusive love relationships.

The increased scrutiny of executives' conduct also reflects heightened governance in general, and a greater willingness on the part of employees to blow the whistle. Some who see executives behaving in ways that could hurt their company's reputation are speaking out more -- helped by employer hot lines established after the accounting scandals of prior years.

The article also goes on to cite instances of ousted execs at companies such as Home Box Office, WellPoint, Kaiser Aluminum and Boeing.