Anyone searching for some broader context to understand how Tyco International lurched into yet another bribery scandal—the third major misconduct meltdown to hit Tyco or one of its spin-off companies since 2002—would do well to ponder one of the most famous lines from The Godfather.

Jaclyn Jaeger is a freelance contributor to Compliance Week after working for the company for 15 years. She writes on a wide variety of topics, including ethics and compliance, risk management, legal,...