It is one of those stories bound to cause discomfort in business circles around the world: A top executive at InterContinental Hotels has resigned following a review of his academic qualifications “as previously presented to the company.” Patrick Imbardelli, chief executive of IHG’s Asia Pacific region, announced his resignation Thursday, just a month after his appointment as an executive director. “Everybody does it”, says Lombard. You will hear this refrain in coming days as people pick over the Imbardelli CV-padding scandal. He was a well-liked, effective and award-winning hotelier, set to go even higher. His resignation must be viewed as a loss to IHG. So why not fight to keep him, explain the waiver of the ethics policy in a regulatory filing and continue to benefit from his undoubted talents? For two main reasons: principle and precedent, concludes Lombard. Separately, the FT examines the growing use of those “little white lies”.

This entry was posted by Gwen Robinson on Friday, June 15th, 2007 at 5:33 and is filed under Capital markets, People. Tagged with ihg, patrick imbardelli. Edit this entry.