There Has to Be a Better Way?

On this episode of There Has to Be a Better Way?, co-hosts Hui Chen and Zach Coseglia go it alone in a one-to-one talk designed specifically for ethics and compliance professionals. In past episodes, guests have hailed the power of storytelling, and this week, Hui and Zach share personal stories—and learnings—from their decades of experience in the world of corporate ethics and compliance. Topics include: earning a seat at the table through relationship-building and diplomacy; why complication and complexity isn’t always bad, but a lack of clarity is; and why compliance is, and needs to be recognized as, an area of unique expertise. 

Business professor Daniel Beunza spent years as an observer on the trading floors of Wall Street, and documents his journey in his award-winning book Taking the Floor: Models, Morals, and Management in a Wall Street Trading Room. On this episode of There Has to Be a Better Way?, Dr. Beunza shares his surprising findings about ethics, morality, and leadership in these highly intense and competitive settings, and how his ethnographic method of “living with the natives” and “going with surprises” can inform how we understand organizations and behaviors.

On this episode of There Has to Be a Better Way?, Shannon Kirk returns to the podcast to share “Better Ways” from multiple perspectives: As a thought leader on the application of machine learning and artificial intelligence in litigation and internal investigations, she highlights the importance of metrics as evidence of effectiveness; and as an award-winning author and lawyer, she explains why words and precision matter. 

In this episode, Nitish Upadhyaya, Director of Behavioral Insights at R&G Insights Lab, discusses the role of the human in an increasingly artificial world. The topics covered include trust and reciprocity between humans and bots, the importance of human-centricity in compliance programs, the power of creativity in personal and professional spaces, and Natish's unique qualities and mentors.

On this episode of There Has to Be a Better Way?, co-hosts Zach Coseglia and Hui Chen are joined by actor and activist Julia Ormond, founder and president of Asset Campaign, a nonprofit organization working to ensure human rights by driving supply chain transparency and empowering individuals to make informed purchasing, investment and employment decisions. Julia discusses the “aha” moment that inspired her work on human trafficking and outlines a broad strategy for how policies and businesses can begin to support global human rights efforts. She specifically points to measurement and transparency as powerful tools that can be used to change behavior and eradicate trafficking, slavery and forced labor.  

On this episode of There Has to Be a Better Way?, co-hosts Zach Coseglia and Hui Chen speak with Kevin Espinoza, a former collegiate coach who moved into compliance from sales and marketing. He talks about how this unique perspective has informed his approach to build compliance programs that embed compliance within the business, with compliance professionals focused on the same business goals as their colleagues. 

On this episode of There Has to Be a Better Way?, co-hosts Zach Coseglia and Hui Chen talk to Dr. Rumman Chowdhury, a pioneer in the field of responsible AI. Currently a Responsible AI Fellow at Harvard, with prior leadership roles at Twitter and Accenture, Rumman has first-hand insight into the real harms of AI, including algorithmic bias. She discusses how data scientists seek to understand these problems, and the importance of trustworthiness in the future of AI development. Having recently testified before Congress about AI governance, she shares her thoughts about building a governance ecosystem where human ingenuity can flourish.  

On this episode of There Has to Be a Better Way?, co-hosts Zach Coseglia and Hui Chen speak with researchers at Indiana University's Kelley School of Business about the value of corporate compliance programs. Compliance can be (inaccurately) perceived as a “cost center” or an “enabling function,” supporting rather than contributing to product development and business strategy. But business law and ethics professors Todd Haugh and Suneal Bedi tested this idea by assessing the role of compliance in value creation. They discuss findings from their recent study, which explores how consumers value compliance—as a unique product feature—using a statistical technique called conjoint analysis.

On this episode of There Has to Be a Better Way?, co-hosts Zach Coseglia and Hui Chen talk to Antoine Ferrère, global head of behavioral and data science in the ethics, risk and compliance department at Novartis. With master’s degrees in both management and behavioral science, Antoine discusses how his multidisciplinary team at Novartis applies behavioral and data science at scale to drive ethical behaviors, reduce risks and ensure compliance across all areas of the company. He also discusses the multi-year studies his team has implemented to better understand the role of psychological safety in both speaking up and “listening up.”

On this episode of There Has to Be a Better Way?, co-hosts Zach Coseglia and Hui Chen reflect on the last six months of insights and “better ways” from the podcast. From looking outside of your normal environment for better ways, to leaning into the importance of precision, to thinking like a scientist and drawing on radical creativity, this episode adds new dimensions to key topics with additional perspective and curiosity.