...1) Throughout this class we have discussed the conduct of the major players at financial institutions and their role in leading their companies to the brink of failure, and in some cases have been successful (Bear Stearns, Lehman & AIG). With that as a starting point how important is character and ethics? What role(s) do you think boards of directors should play and did they exercise their fiduciary responsibilities to the shareholders and employees? Money is an important character in various financial institutions, but by itself is not necessarily evil. Rather, it is something that is used to trade goods and services. We call it "currency", and it allows us to do business between organizations. Unfortunately, that is the sterile dictionary-type definition but it does not capture all the issues that are involved with finances. In corporate life, just like in many other realms, money causes all sorts of problems. People make incredibly bad decisions because of money, and plenty of people have gone to prison because of their money-related behavior. This is why people always approach money with a certain amount of uneasiness. Here are a few thoughts on why financial management ethics are important. The numbers do not have a soul, so they cannot govern themselves. They must be managed by people. Ethics are important because finances make people do some strange things. The spreadsheet does not have a conscience, and the goal of working with spreadsheets is to make numbers add...
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...INTRODUCTION AIGFP was founded in 1987. Henry Sosin and two others persuaded CEO Hank Greenberg to create a division focused on investments that fed on AIG’s AAA rating. AIGFP had made more than $60 million in the first six months. Sosin left in 1993 and was replaced as CEO by Tom Savage. In 1998, AIGFP had revenue of $500 million and had yet to divulge in credit-default swaps. However, later that year, with the backing of Joe Cassano, who was at the time COO, Savage signed off on the backing of JP Morgan’s complex debt. This is where credit-default swaps were first acted on. These credit-default swaps were a series of payments made to a buyer in which the seller would compensate the buyer if the buyer defaulted on the loan. In 2000, Cassano took over as CEO. According to the numbers, the company had brought in over $1 billion that year. In 2002, it came out that AIGFP had helped conceal the bad assets of PNC Financial services by setting up a “special purpose entity” to undertake the assets. By 2004, AIG had paid an $80 million fine for helping conceal these bad assets. Later in 2005, rumors about bad accounting practices were going around and Hank Greenberg stepped down as his role of CEO. When he did this, credit-rating agencies dropped AIG’s credit rating from AAA to AA. This required AIGFP to have over $1 billion in collateral for their credit default swaps. After taking a second look at the portfolio, it became alarming that many of the credit-default swaps...
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...Fraud: Causes, Prevention, and Notable Cases Kristin A. Kennedy University of New Hampshire - Main Campus, kaj79@wildcats.unh.edu Follow this and additional works at: http://scholars.unh.edu/honors Part of the Accounting Commons Recommended Citation Kennedy, Kristin A., "An Analysis of Fraud: Causes, Prevention, and Notable Cases" (2012). Honors Theses. Paper 100. This Senior Honors Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Scholarship at University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Honors Theses by an authorized administrator of University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository. For more information, please contact scholarly.communication@unh.edu. An Analysis of Fraud: Causes, Prevention, and Notable Cases University of New Hampshire Honors Thesis in Accounting Kristin Kennedy ADMN 799 Professor Le (Emily) Xu Fall 2012 Table of Contents I. II. III. IV. V. VI. VII. Background……………………………………………………………........1 a. What is accounting and what role does financial reporting serve?..........1 b. History of accounting standards………………………………………..2 c. Role of auditing………………………………………………………...5 Fraud……………………………………………………………………….6 a. Two types of fraud……………………………………………………..6 i. Misappropriation of Assets…………………………………….7 ii. Misrepresentation of Financial Statements…………………….7 b. Fraud Triangle………………………………………………………….8 c. What to look for in a fraudster…………………………………………9 Past Cases of Fraud……………………………………………………….10 a. WorldCom……………………………………………………………...
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...Handbook of Business Strategy Emerald Article: The ethics of business strategy Fred Hansen, Michele Smith Article information: To cite this document: Fred Hansen, Michele Smith, (2006),"The ethics of business strategy", Handbook of Business Strategy, Vol. 7 Iss: 1 pp. 201 - 206 Permanent link to this document: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/10775730610618828 Downloaded on: 09-04-2012 References: This document contains references to 16 other documents To copy this document: permissions@emeraldinsight.com This document has been downloaded 5650 times. Access to this document was granted through an Emerald subscription provided by UNIVERSITY OF HERTFORDSHIRE For Authors: If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service. Information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Additional help for authors is available for Emerald subscribers. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.com With over forty years' experience, Emerald Group Publishing is a leading independent publisher of global research with impact in business, society, public policy and education. In total, Emerald publishes over 275 journals and more than 130 book series, as well as an extensive range of online products and services. Emerald is both COUNTER 3 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the...
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...Chapter Four Professional Accounting in the Public Interest, Post-Enron Purpose of the Chapter When the Enron, Arthur Andersen, and WorldCom debacles triggered the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX), a new era of stakeholder expectations was crystallized for the business world and particularly for the professional accountants that serve in it. The drift away from the professional accountant’s role as a fiduciary to that of a businessperson was called into question and reversed. The principles that the new expectations spawned and renewed resulted in changes in how the professional accountants are to behave, what services are to be offered, and what performance standards are to be met. These standards have been embedded in a new governance structure and in guidance mechanisms, which have domestic and international components. The influence of the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) and the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) will be as important as that of SOX in the long run. This chapter examines each of these developments and provides insights into important areas of current and future practice. Building upon the understanding of the new stakeholder accountability framework facing clients and employers developed in earlier chapters, this chapter explores public expectations for the role of the professional accountant and the principles that should be observed in discharging that role. This leads to consideration of the implications for services to be...
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...REGULATION FOR CONSERVATIVES: BEHAVIORAL ECONOMICS AND THE CASE FOR “ASYMMETRIC PATERNALISM” COLIN CAMERER, SAMUEL ISSACHAROFF, GEORGE LOEWENSTEIN, † TED O’DONOGHUE, AND MATTHEW RABIN INTRODUCTION Regulation by the state can take a variety of forms. Some regulations are aimed entirely at redistribution, such as when we tax the rich and give to the poor. Other regulations seek to counteract externalities by restricting behavior in a way that imposes harm on an individual basis but yields net societal benefits. A good example is taxation to fund public goods such as roads. In such situations, an individual would be better off if she alone were exempt from the tax; she benefits when everyone (including herself) must pay the tax. In this paper, we are concerned with a third form of regulation: paternalistic regulations that are designed to help on an individual basis. Paternalism treads on consumer sovereignty by forcing, or preventing, choices for the individual’s own good, much as when parents limit their child’s freedom to skip school or eat candy for dinner. Recent research in behavioral economics has identified a variety of decision-making errors that may expand the scope of paternalistic regula- Professor Camerer is the Rea and Lela Axline Professor of Business Economics, California Institute of Technology; Professor Issacharoff is the Harold R. Medina Professor of Procedural Jurisprudence, Columbia Law School; Professor Loewenstein is a Professor of Economics and Psychology...
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...Professional Development Plan by DBA Student A Project Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for DDBA 8005 Foundations for Doctoral Business Administration Studies Instructor September 2009 Professional Development Plan Part IA: Description of Personal and Professional Goals From a very early age, I was encouraged to attend college by my parents, my grandparents, and a beloved uncle. They all taught me that obtaining an education, particularly a college education, was a privilege that had not always been afforded to people of color and that it should not be taken for granted. They also taught me that education was the best way to attain great success, no matter how I chose to define success. It did, however, take some time before I fully understood what they so passionately attempted to instill in me. It was not until I began working at Johnson C. Smith University (JCSU), in an environment of academia, that I understood the value and importance of education, and the incredible impact that being part of a learning environment has on a young mind. I have been fortunate to be able to utilize the management skills I learned from my undergraduate studies and through various employment opportunities after obtaining a master’s degree in business administration. I have enjoyed my experiences working in the business field, as diverse as they have been, and would love to teach business administration at the university level. I would like to pursue a Doctor...
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...Potential Leaders Within the Company ...... 7 3. Identify Leadership Gaps ......................................................... 11 4. Develop Succession Plans for Critical Roles ........................... 12 5. Develop Career Planning Goals for Potential Leaders ............. 14 6. Develop a Skills Roadmap for Future Leaders ......................... 15 7. Develop Retention Programs for Current and Future Leaders . 18 Conclusion ...................................................................................... 19 Seven Steps for Effective Leadership Development Introduction The importance of business leadership is well articulated by this observation: A good leader can make a success of a weak business plan, but a poor leader can ruin even the best plan. That’s why developing effective leadership by using a consistent talent management program at all levels across the organization can return significant business value. To identify, attract, fill, and retain corporate leadership talent, companies need leadership development programs focused on hiring strategies, employee development, and career and succession planning. Currently companies are not well prepared to fill vacancies in their leadership roles. A 2008 study found that only 36 percent of the surveyed companies felt prepared to immediately fill leadership positions, as shown in Figure 1. Figure 1. Companies...
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...Stock Investing FOR DUMmIES 2ND by Paul Mladjenovic ‰ EDITION Stock Investing FOR DUMmIES 2ND ‰ EDITION Stock Investing FOR DUMmIES 2ND by Paul Mladjenovic ‰ EDITION Stock Investing For Dummies® 2nd Edition , Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc. 111 River St. Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774 www.wiley.com Copyright © 2006 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana Published simultaneously in Canada No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, 978-750-8400, fax 978-646-8600. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Legal Department, Wiley Publishing, Inc., 10475 Crosspoint Blvd., Indianapolis, IN 46256, 317-572-3447, fax 317-572-4355, or online at http://www.wiley.com/go/permissions. Trademarks: Wiley, the Wiley Publishing logo, For Dummies, the Dummies Man logo, A Reference for the Rest of Us!, The Dummies Way, Dummies Daily, The Fun and Easy Way, Dummies.com and related trade dress are trademarks or registered trademarks of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the...
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...Learning with Cases INTRODUCTION The case study method of teaching used in management education is quite different from most of the methods of teaching used at the school and undergraduate course levels. Unlike traditional lecture-based teaching where student participation in the classroom is minimal, the case method is an active learning method, which requires participation and involvement from the student in the classroom. For students who have been exposed only to the traditional teaching methods, this calls for a major change in their approach to learning. This introduction is intended to provide students with some basic information about the case method, and guidelines about what they must do to gain the maximum benefit from the method. We begin by taking a brief look at what case studies are, and how they are used in the classroom. Then we discuss what the student needs to do to prepare for a class, and what she can expect during the case discussion. We also explain how student performance is evaluated in a case study based course. Finally, we describe the benefits a student of management can expect to gain through the use of the case method. WHAT IS A CASE STUDY? There is no universally accepted definition for a case study, and the case method means different things to different people. Consequently, all case studies are not structured similarly, and variations abound in terms of style, structure and approach. Case material ranges from small caselets (a few paragraphs...
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...Chapter 1 Strategic Leadership: Managing the Strategy-Making Process for Competitive Advantage Opening Case Wal-Mart Wal-Mart is one of the most extraordinary success stories in business history. Started in 1962 by Sam Walton, Wal-Mart has grown to become the world’s largest corporation. In the financial year ending January 31, 2004, the discount retailer whose mantra is “every day low prices” had sales of nearly $256 billion, five thousand stores in ten countries (almost three thousand are in the United States), and 1.3 million employees. Some 8 percent of all retail sales in the United States are made at a Wal-Mart store. Wal-Mart is not only large but also very profitable. In 2003, the company earned a return on invested capital of 14.7 percent, significantly better than rivals Costco and Target, which earned 9.4 percent and 10 percent, respectively (another major rival, Kmart, emerged from bankruptcy protection in 2004). As shown in the accompanying figure, Wal-Mart has been consistently more profitable than its rivals for years. Wal-Mart’s superior profitability reflects a competitive advantage that is based on the successful implementation of a number of strategies. In 1962 Wal-Mart was one of the first companies to apply the self-service supermarket business model developed by grocery chains to general merchandise (two of its rivals, Kmart and Target, were established in the same year). Unlike its rivals, who focused on urban and suburban locations, Sam Walton’s Wal-Mart...
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...COPYRIGHT ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior written permission of the copyright owner. This publication may not be lent, resold, hired or otherwise disposed of by any way of trade without the prior written consent of the copyright owner. ABOUT MUA MUA is a premier University in management, governance and leadership sponsored by The Kenya Institute of Management (KIM). The University was established on 2nd September 2011. Since then the University has established itself as a leader and local hub for Management, Leadership and Governance training in the Higher Education sector. The University offers market driven courses to spur economic growth and produce dynamic Managers and Leaders for Africa and the World. This module has been developed for use in the Management University of Africa ODEL Programme by Isabella Sile. She is a lecturer at the Management University of Africa, School of Management and Leadership. Ms. Sile is currently pursuing her PhD in Business Administration –Finance at The University of Nairobi. MODULE OVERVIEW. This module is developed for student taking the course unit “Risk and Insurance Management” in the Bachelor of Management and Leadership Programme. The module follows the outline given below. (Note: Assignments are issued...
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...Manual brings together a set of completely integrated support materials designed to save instructors the trouble of finding and assembling the resources available for each chapter of the text. 1. Course Planning Guide Included in the guide are suggestions for course design, classroom activities, and supplemental teaching aids. 2. Learning Objectives and Summary of Learning Objectives For each chapter, learning objectives and the summary of the learning objectives are listed. 3. Brief Chapter Outlines For each chapter, a brief chapter outline is provided. 4. Lecture Notes and Chapter Outlines For each chapter, a comprehensive outline is provided, as well as a variety of stimulating lecture enrichment materials. 5. Real-World Cases At least two real-world cases related to chapter material are included for each chapter. 6. Answers to End-of-Chapter Questions Answers to the end-of-chapter questions are provided, as well as suggested teaching tips when appropriate. 7. Answers to See It on the Web Exercises Following the end-of-chapter questions, answers to the See It on the Web Exercises can be found, along with tips for the instructor. Answers to Boxed Features In each chapter, students are presented with at least two supplemental “boxes,” both containing questions about the material discussed. Answers to these questions can be found following the answers to See It on the Web exercises. 8. 9. Pop Quiz A pop quiz consisting of 10 questions is placed at the end of each chapter....
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...Ivy League Admission: 180 Successful Business School (MBA) Essays Nancy L. Nolan, Ph.D. Ivy League Admission: 180 Successful Business School (MBA) Essays Nancy L. Nolan, Ph.D. First Edition Magnificent Milestones, Inc., Florida Copyright 2006. Nancy L. Nolan, Ph.D. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system without written permission from the author, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review. Electronic and CD-ROM versions published by: Magnificent Milestones, Inc. Post Office Box 100582 Palm Bay, Florida 32910 www.ivyleagueadmission.com CD ROM Edition 10-digit ISBN 0977376443 13-digit ISBN 9780977376445 PDF Version 10-digit ISBN 0977376494 13-digit ISBN 9780977376490 Printed in the United States of America Disclaimers: (1) This book is a compilation of successful admission essays; it does not claim to be the definitive word on the subject of MBA admission. The opinions expressed are the personal observations of the author based on her own experiences. They are not intended to prejudice any party. Accordingly, the author and publisher do not accept any liability or responsibility for any loss or damage that have been caused, or alleged to have been caused, through the use of information in this book. (2) Admission to business school depends on several factors in...
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...FINANCIAL ACCOUNTING INFORMATION AND THE RELEVANCE/IRRELEVANCE ISSUE (Global Business & Economics Review Volume 5 No.2 December 2003 pp:140-175) Stanley C. W. Salvary, Canisius College ABSTRACT Some current research conclude that the numbers in financial statements are not relevant for three basic reasons. The numbers: (1) are not isomorphic with capital market values, (2) do not have a future orientation, and (3) are un-interpretable since they are based upon five different measurement attributes. The lack of isomorphism argument is invalid since actual current performance is not identical with the capital market expectations of future performance. The lack of a future orientation argument is invalid since financial statements capture what has happened and not what is expected to happen. Since a single measurement attribute is required to produce meaningful measures, the un-interpretability argument holds. A unique measurement attribute is identified in this paper to address this problem I. INTRODUCTION In Statement of Financial Accounting Concepts No. 1: Objectives of Financial Reporting by Business Enterprises (SFAC1) [1978], the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) maintains that the function of financial accounting is to generate information useful to a group of users (investors and creditors) for decision-making. The focus on that specific function (decision-making) leads to a concern for predictive value, as opposed to feedback value, in financial statements...
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