AFFYMETRIX, INC.: USING CORPORATE ETHICS ADVICE

The chapter discusses the role of Thane Kreiner, Senior Vice President of Corporate Affairs at Affymetrix Inc., in inculcating business ethics in the company's day-to-day affairs. He was responsible for forming the company ethics committee, which has influenced some highly important corporate decisions. The relevance of ethics to Affymetrix's business has much to do with the technology that the company is commercializing. The DNA chips can perform massively parallel, miniature bio-analyses that allow scientists to carry out huge numbers of biology experiments. The first task of the new committee was to set up ground rules and operating guidelines. The topics included meeting frequency, operations, attendance, and the manner of decision making. The members decided that they would not have set terms, and that the nomination of new members would be an informal process, mutually agreed upon. All members agreed that committee deliberations were confidential unless disclosure was authorized by the company, and so a nondisclosure agreement was signed to this effect. Most Affymetrix customers use the chips for research, and each contract agreement with these researchers contains a clause stating that the chip cannot be used for clinical purposes because of Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulations.