BROKEN BUSINESS
SEVEN STEPS TO REFORM
GOOD COMPANIES GONE BAD
OUT NOW FROM WILEY BUSINESS
Available in English, German, Korean, and Dutch editions
José R. Hernandez
"A compelling and authoritative account of the landmark crises that have shaken global businesses, and of the strategies that have helped them recover. This is an essential read for all corporate leaders."
– LOUIS J. FREEH
Former Director of the FBI
VIDEO
José Hernandez speaks about Broken Business, shortlisted for Management Book of the Year in The Netherlands
Appearance on CNN International with Richard Quest, from the floor of the NYSE, November 26, 2018
CPA Canada Profile, "José Hernandez: A Global Leader in Ethics"
Interview with Alberto Arene on Focos TV (in Spanish)
Video review of Broken Business by Roseanna Sunley
Appearance on CNBC, December 19, 2018 (link opens in new window)
"Business leaders who take up Hernandez’s challenge and adopt the Empowering Integrity framework will be reshaping their organizations in ways that generate real, sustainable and positive benefits for employees, stakeholders, and society."
– JOY THOMAS
President and CEO, Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada
ABOUT THE BOOK
The media is replete with stories of corporate ethical scandals. But the seeds of ethical crises are sown long before they hit the headlines, and the scars they leave persist long after the media firestorm has subsided. Drawing on a decade's experience helping global companies respond to such catastrophic situations, José Hernandez tells the compelling story of how corporate scandals happen and shares insight on how corporate leaders can prevent them in the first place.
Offering real-world case studies of corporate failure, reckoning, and renewal, Broken Business details how corporate leaders can learn from past scandals to mitigate key risks, protect their reputations, and ultimately build more ethical and profitable companies. The book dispels common misconceptions about the causes of corporate misconduct, bringing together research on organizational psychology and compelling firsthand accounts from Fortune Global 500 c-suites and boardrooms.
This book allows you to:
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Understand recent cases of corporate misconduct and their long-term impact
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Prevent, manage, and recover from serious ethical crises
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Implement managerial frameworks to quickly address cases of misconduct
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Build a sustainable culture of integrity in your organization
At its core, this book is an engaging guide that offers practical advice on institutionalizing integrity in any organization. Broken Business: Seven Steps to Reform Good Companies Gone Bad is an essential text for leaders seeking to understand the causes of crises so they can ultimately avoid them.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
José R. Hernandez, CPA, CA, Ph.D., is an internationally recognized expert on crisis management, business integrity, and corporate misconduct. He is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Ortus Strategies, a firm dedicated to addressing the strategic needs of organizations faced with complex legal, regulatory, and reputational challenges.
Hernandez served as CEO of FGI Europe AG from 2008 until launching Ortus in 2016. He was formerly a partner in a Big Four firm and co-founded that firm’s European Securities Litigation practice. He remains a Senior Advisor to Freeh Group International Solutions, a U.S.-based consulting firm established by former FBI director, Judge Louis J. Freeh. He has served as Deputy Independent Corporate Monitor and Independent Compliance Advisor to several leading global organizations based in North America and Europe.
He completed his Ph.D. in Economics and Business Administration at VU University Amsterdam, where he is a guest faculty member; his doctoral dissertation is titled “Principles, Processes, and Practices of Fraud Prevention.”
Hernandez also holds degrees in Mathematics and Accounting from the University of Waterloo (Canada). He is a Chartered Professional Accountant (Ontario), Certified Public Accountant (Delaware), and Chartered Financial Analyst. He serves on the Advisory Council of the School of Accounting and Finance at the University of Waterloo. He also serves on Canada’s Advisory Committee on Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing, representing CPA Canada.
"From a European perspective, Broken Business is an extremely important resource for boards, especially in the context of today's global regulatory environment. It provides invaluable lessons learned about how to uphold your governance duties in the face of a major crisis arising from misconduct, and how to mitigate the risks to your organization."
– PETER WAKKIE
Former Executive Board member of Royal Ahold; Partner, Spinath + Wakkie
ACCLAIM FOR THE BOOK
“I recommend this book to all corporate directors and executives. It provides a concise look at how things can go wrong, how to deal with the fallout and how to ultimately become a better company. More importantly, Broken Business provides insights to those who have not had to experience an ethics crisis and therefore hopefully will not have to!”
– IAN BOURNE
Former Chairman, SNC-Lavalin Group Inc.
“The Empowering Integrity process illustrated in Broken Business properly describes the steps a company must take to master the journey from crisis to successful transformation. I got to know José Hernandez in 2005 as part of his work for Daimler. I appreciate him as a person and value his convincing professional work and competence, as well as his understanding of business.”
– BODO UEBBER
Chief Financial Officer, Daimler AG
"Broken Business is a current and compelling treatise on how to prevent, detect, and fix corporate mismanagement, the condition precedent to corruption, fraud, waste of shareholder property, reputational harm and costly enforcement action. Infused and instilled throughout this corporate governance failure ‘post mortem,’ Hernandez drives home the core lesson for corporate managers that ‘integrity’ is the sine qua non of business success and sustainability. Beyond a good product or service, good business strategy and leadership, a strong commitment to integrity is critical in making a company strong and profitable in the long run. Every CEO, board member, CFO, general counsel and business manager should read and embrace Broken Business.”
– LOUIS J. FREEH
Former FBI Director; Chairman of Freeh Sporkin & Sullivan LLP
“Excellent reading: very clear and to the point, lively through real-life examples, and ready to implement with practical recommendations based on deep corporate experiences. Broken Business underlines the importance of culture and tone from the top, and how crises are opportunities to make the company stronger and more valuable for society.”
– KLAUS PATZAK
CFO, Bilfinger SE; Former Corporate Vice President, Siemens AG
“Every current and aspiring business leader should read Broken Business. This foundational work shines a much-needed light on the murky business systems failures that lead to corruption and wrong-doing. It provides business professionals with a practical and clear seven-step-road map to fix the inherent problems within their organizations. Author José Hernandez conveys critical insights through compelling stories illustrating how leaders can take action to strengthen their organizations. Broken Business is an easy yet inspirational read. Business leaders who take up Hernandez’s challenge and adopt the Empowering Integrity framework will be reshaping their organizations in ways that generate real, sustainable and positive benefits for employees, stakeholders, and society."
– JOY THOMAS
President and CEO, Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada
“This book brings together key insights from José Hernandez's career working with business leaders to navigate high-profile corporate crises. In Broken Business, Hernandez shows how to identify and address the root causes of such crises, which very often lie in systemic failures of a company's ethical leadership and culture.”
– ROGER DASSEN
Former Global Vice Chairman of Deloitte; CFO of ASML
"From a European perspective, Broken Business is an extremely important resource for boards, especially in the context of today's global regulatory environment. It provides invaluable lessons learned about how to uphold your governance duties in the face of a major crisis arising from misconduct, and how to mitigate the risks to your organization. I would recommend it to all corporate leaders, directors, and prospective directors.”
– PETER WAKKIE
Former Executive Board member of Royal Ahold NV; Partner, Spinath + Wakkie
“Sadly, we too often hear about organizations in crisis who have lost their way ethically. Had they embraced the seven steps to Empowering Integrity discussed in Broken Business their missteps might have been avoided. In his engaging book Hernandez synthesizes the lessons learned from his years of consulting to organizations faced with ethical dilemmas.”
– LINDA ROBINSON
Director, Centre for Accounting Ethics, University of Waterloo
"As an ethics and compliance professional, I have been fortunate to work closely with José Hernandez and benefit from his guidance and support over several years. He possesses a deep understanding of corporate misconduct and the subsequent crises that so often follow it. I recommend this book to all ethics and compliance professionals: I am confident you will enjoy the read and find yourself empowered, encouraged, and enlightened."
– MICHAELA AHLBERG
Ethics and Compliance Professional
"With Broken Business, José Hernandez has written a permanently urgent book full of experience and wisdom. His motto is: misconduct is inevitable, scandal is not. The book is stacked with real-life examples and a manual for everyone who dares to embrace this reality and effectively wants to deal with it. So read the book and get to work with it."
– DR. MARTIN VAN STAVEREN
Author of Risk Leadership
“José Hernandez, crisis management expert and guru, has written books on the subject ... [His] fundamental tenet [or] point is that scandals will happen, misdeeds will take place, but they don't need to wreck your business.”
– RICHARD QUEST, CNN International
Interview from NYSE, November 26, 2018
The Dutch version of Broken Business has made the Short List for Dutch-language Management Book of the Year 2019.
MEDIA COVERAGE
José Hernandez provided commentary to Raconteur for their "Future of HR" report, included in The Times on October 21, 2019. José's remarks appear in the article "Shaping the Conscience of Business" by Cathy Everett.
Download a digital copy of Raconteur's "Future of HR" report here.
"What sleeping with a machete by my pillow taught me about people management"
Article in Management Today, March 6, 2019
"What Can Companies Learn from Infamous Corporate Scandals?"
Article in People Management, February 15, 2019
"Corporate Corruption Exposes Underlying Business Issues, Author Says"
Appearance on CNBC, December 19, 2018
"Seven Steps to Reform Good Businesses Gone Bad"
Article in Irish Tech News, January 15, 2019
"Five Lessons Business Leaders Can Take From 2018’s High-Profile Scandals"
Article in MinuteHack, December 21, 2018
"CEO heads that rolled in 2018 – and what we can learn from them"
Article in Real Business, December 20, 2018
"Breaking Down Five 2018 Breaches -- And What They Mean For Security In 2019"
Comments by José Hernandez in Forbes, December 19, 2018
"Crisismanagement: Wat je níét moet doen als de bom barst"
Article in Management Impact, November 22, 2018 (in Dutch)