Everybody does it. This is a refrain you will hear often in the coming days as people pick over the latest CV-padding scandal – the resignation of Patrick Imbardelli, the chief executive of InterContinental Hotel Group’s Asia-Pacific region after he turned out to have claimed three qualifications from colleges where he had attended classes, but not graduated.

Mr Imbardelli was a well-liked, effective, and award-winning hotelier, set to go even higher – he had just been appointed to IHG’s main board. His resignation must be viewed as a loss to IHG, however deep its pool of replacement talent. 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.