...deter corporate crime, the law should impose criminal sanctions on individuals rather than on corporations.” Introduction The purpose of this research report is to discuss whether criminal sanctions should be brought upon individuals or on corporations when corporate crime is committed. In determining out who should criminal sanctions be imposed on, a key factor to consider back on is the purpose of imposing criminal sanctions, which is to ‘effectively punish and deter corporate crime’ as stated in the proposition. Corporate Crime Firstly, corporate crime can be defined as the conduct of a corporation, or of employees acting on behalf of a corporation, which is illegal and punishable by law including those that violate criminal, civil or administrative law (New South Wales Law Reform Commission [NSW LRC], 2003). This means that corporations ‘themselves’ can be punished for crimes ‘they’ committed, as corporations are separate and legal entities from its shareholders and directors or other officers. Secondly, employees who act on behalf of the organisation, usually those in high or managerial positions such as directors can be punished. There are some existing laws that impose criminal punishments upon individuals, for example breaches in directors’ duties can lead to criminal consequences under section 184 of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) (Sweeney, O’Reilly, & Coleman, 2010). Individual criminal punishment however does not always occur when corporate crime is committed...
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...Corporate crime is carried out all over the globe and there are many aspects to the crime. This paper only focused on three reasons why an offender might commit a white collar crime. CEO is the person with power and if he appoints this executive team, hence his team will feel obligated to be loyal to him. The loyalty created strong connectedness between the CEO and the executives, as this bond can be misused by the CEO. David and his manager were able to perform a corporate crime with the help of their team. An offender rationalizes its choice to commit a crime and that rational decisions can be affected by self interest. The paper explained self interest comes from materialistic needs of a person. When individuals need to fulfill their materialistic...
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...Corporate Crime Involving the Internet, Whom Fought to Recoup Losses Wendy Nash LEG200 White-Collar Crime Professor Miriam Altman 26, July 26, 2015 Introduction The increase in white collar financial, political and cybercrime is observed. The extensive usage of technology for trading and business has also instigated the escalation of cybercrime activities. The business and individuals are prone to numerous risks of financial losses through white-collar crimes. The laws and regulation to reduce white-collar internet crime should be improved and implemented. The process of recoup of losses for victims of cybercrime is complicated and could be very time consuming, not to mention very costly. Although, after winning the lawsuit, lawyer fees can be asked to be compensated, but in the beginning, the lawyer fees are the company’s or individual’s responsibility. It requires adequate measures for dressing of the grievances. The involvement of political parties in personal and political white-collar crimes are challenges for an effective legal system. The economic conditions and lack of jobs lead to vocational crimes. White-collar legislation: There are multiple types of white-collar crime and the case law has recognized several types. It is evident that insider trading has been recognized well before other cybercrimes as an important type of white-collar crime. The provisions of law as well as the remedies available for white-collar crime are developed and...
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...the trickery behind the manipulation of financial statements. When we get right down to it playing games is what happens. Someone comes along and they think they know something the rest of us are too dumb to know. They think they are special and that God bestowed upon them special powers to get away with something no one else has been able to get away with in the entire history of mankind. I am intrigued with the thought process behind the faces of these people who think they have what it takes to trick the rest of us. I can only think of a few words; hubris, vanity, ego, arrogance and delusional. I do not believe it is truly possible to ever get away with anything. No man has a good enough memory to be a successful liar. Given the corporate ethical breaches in recent times, I will assess whether or not I believe that the current business and regulatory environment is more conducive to ethical behavior. I will say up front that as I start this paper I do not believe anything has improved in America or in the world ethically speaking. I say this with confidence but not with pride. After all we are all human and we all have a sin nature. I do not care if a person tells me they do not believe in God or if they tell me they do believe in God. Research has proven conclusively that all of us cheat. We essentially weigh everything based upon...
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...The Causes and Effects of Corporate Scandals Makenzie Derby ENG121 Lesa Hadley July 16, 2007 The Causes and Effects of Corporate Scandal In this day and age, there seem to be an overwhelming amount of company executives violating ethical standards. The question on many people’s minds is, “Why?” Everyone is familiar with Enron filing bankruptcy in December of 2001. The company “covered a wide array of activities, including accounting regularities, the defrauding of investors and employees, and the attempted cover-up, which involved the destruction of documents and the deletion of computer files” (Callan, 2003, p. 126). People joke around in their careers everyday, saying to other associates, “Could you imagine what would happen if I did this?” Of course, nobody ever means it. People are in shock when they hear about company scandals on the news. Who could commit such crimes and for what reason(s)? There were many companies throughout the year 2002 which were involved in scandals. “Scandals involved such US based companies as Worldcom, AOL, Tyco, and several others” (Callan, 2003, p. 126). It seems to be an international disease among large corporations. The pressure on corporations to succeed is tremendous. People care more about their own success than the affects on the people around them such as colleagues, friends, and family. Callan (2003) states, “It is not the achievement of a high status position or salary that determines career success, but rather...
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...Business ethics has been in the spotlight because of past corporate scandals such as Enron. Companies in an attempt to prevent such scandals and fraudulent behavior have intertwined ethics with the company’s management and core values. Companies have put in place ethics committees, ethics audits, ethics training, and even designate someone to oversee ethics such an Ethics Officer (Carroll & Buchholtz, 2012). With business ethics being a hot topic, is it wise to employ ex-cons to teach business ethics? Is this a resource that should be used? After reading Pavlo’s story, I’m still on the fence about employing ex-cons to speak about white-collar crime and business ethics. On the positive side, companies and business schools can learn from the vantage point of the person that committed the fraud and acted unethically. Hiring an ex-con can provide useful information on how companies can prevent fraud from occurring and tips on how to monitor and control areas that are susceptible to crime. Businesses can gain insight and be aware of what to watch for to keep the investments of all stakeholders safe. On the other hand, there are risks to hiring an ex-con. By hiring an ex-con to teach about ethics, aren’t we being hypocritical? When we pay them to share the story about their crimes, it seems like we are rewarding them for their unethical behavior. Also, can we trust the story of an ex-con to be truthful or is it just another story to engage the audience and make money...
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...Official statistics are a secondary source of quantitative data favoured by Positivist (structuralist) researchers. Official Crime Statistics (OCS) are collected on regular intervals. Many sociologists use this data to explore many areas of crime such as property, street, and white collar crimes. In regards to researching white collar crime, it is argued by many sociologists (such as Realists and Marxists) that OCS do not uncover a true rate of this type of crime, and call the hidden cases the “Dark Figure of Crime”. As referenced in the Item there are a myriad of techniques to conceal white collar and business crime, for instance the perpetrator's technology skills. The Item explicitly references the complex business systems, so to detect white collar crime there must be a well trained team with the resources, specialities, and time. Furthermore, When a white collar crime has been detected, it may be internally processed by a committee, where instead of being charged, the perpetrator may be sacked or asked to pay a fine. In addition. Therefore the crime, no matter the scale (white collar crimes can spread across many countries) is omitted from OCS as there is no public prosecution. The Item states a reason why: to save the company’s reputation from a scandal. In addition, if there is a public prosecution, the perpetrator could afford a well-trained solicitor to defend him and negotiate a light charge. These are of course practical limitations. Another criticism of using OCS...
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...wages coupled with a work force that is considered corrupt at times makes for a very hostile work environment for the foreign labor force. Within the United States that are Child Labor Laws in place to protect young children from being forced into a work situation that could be considered unsafe as well as protects these children in making sure they are working a reasonable amount of hours, depending on the occupation. While in the United States these labor laws are in place, in other foreign countries they may not. Another ethical issue that can arise when taking a business global is the breakdown of the authority within the business. Is the chain on command being followed in the manner it should be. Is everyone aware of how the corporate ladder works? Is the powers that be being distributed throughout the organization to create balance or is all falling within certain divisions of the company? As within most cultures being in a position where you are considered a supervisor or manager brings a certain sense of power and authority and in some countries this power and authority can be considered almost...
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...Faculty of Law & Management Graduate School of Management CORPORATE GOVERNANCE Lecturer: Richard Underwood Individual essay Bribery, giving and taking, is an unfortunate consequence of engaging in international trade but is necessary to pursue an organization’s objective of maximizing return on investment. Student name: Vu Thi Hoang Yen Student ID: 15994331 Bribery in international trade has become increasingly popular all over the world. When engaging in international trade, many businesses have to concern about whether bribery is an effective way to reach their target of profits maximization. This essay will discuss about the impact of bribery on organizations’ profits in international trade. The first part will explain the definition of bribery in international trade and provide some fact and figures about the popularity of bribery in business today. The second part will investigate how bribery helps organizations to maximize return on investment. The final part will look at negative influences of bribery on the performance of the business According to The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) (2009), bribery is a specific form of corruption that can be defined as the voluntary giving of something of value to influence performance of official duty either by doing something improper or failing to do something they should do within the authority of their position. In the international business, bribery...
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...Global Business and Ethics MGT/216 July 7, 2011 Global Business and Ethics I. The United States has the luxury of an administration that protects citizens from dangerous foods, medicines and toxins that may enter Americans food supply. II. The Food and Drug Administration was established to, “protect the physical health of American consumers, but also to help safeguard their peace of mind about the quality of products that are vital for human well-being and survival (Crawford, 2004)”. A. Peace of mind for food grown in the United States. B. Regulations on Drugs produced in the United States. C. Food and Drugs that are imported to the United States not regulated. III. “The FDA has opened two offices in India, part of an overseas expansion aimed to keeping unsafe drugs out of the United States (Walker, 2009).” D. FDA offices are going to dealing with India’s government in making sure that sub-standard food and drugs do not enter the United States. E. Employees at the FDA offices are going to have to deal with bribery and blackmail by shady businesses in order to get their products sold in the United States. IV. The United States does not look kindly on bribery and blackmail as normal business practices, unlike other countries. F. Blackmail and bribery are normal business practices in other countries and are not hesitant to use these practices. G. Employees of the FDA need to be aware of these practices...
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...Summary: Corporations Can Behave Ethically and Thrive In the article, “Corporations Can Behave Ethically and Thrive”, important points are stated about the corruption and unethical behavior in corporations. It is said that the only way to succeed in business is engaging in unethical behavior, although numerous corporations such as IKEA, Reebok, and Google, have prospered without resorting to these practices. In combating these corrupt practices, America and Britain are leading worldwide efforts to give corporations the idea that they will be best served to forgo the short-term benefits of corruption and focus on building a morally righteous business to prosper in the long run. Although America’s Department of Justice, is investigating over 150 companies, there is little sign of this “corruption eruption” is dying down. Corporations started doing this because the chances of being caught were small, while the rewards for going against the grain were big and immediate. Bribery isn’t necessary nor is it effective in the long run. IKEA is one of the many corporations to not conduct unethical business practices and to go to great lengths to fight interval corruption and even fight in different countries. The “efficient grease” hypothesis, of bribery speeding up the snail pace of bureaucracy, is believed to dismiss entire countries as corrupt, when in fact these countries have laws against this concept and combat against it. This hypothesis has actually been found to slow...
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...1. Historical background of the collapsed Enron corporation • How the corporate was founded and its growth • The corporate culture of the collapsed corporation. 2. What caused the collapse of Enron • How bonuses to the executives lead to their financial misreporting. • How greedy auditors colluded to misrepresent financial statements. 3. How collapse of Enron could have been prevented. • Did the relevant act negligently abetting in the corporate collapse. • How loopholes in financial laws can be exploited • How the investors were blinded by quick gains preventing them being cautious when investing. • How over speculation can lead to huge loses. 4. Lessons from the collapsed corporation. • Lesson that were taught to the policy makers and the investing public from the collapse. • Lessons that the collapse taught other corporations. 5. Conclusions and recommendations. 1. Historical background of the collapsed Enron corporation • How the corporate was founded and its growth • The corporate culture of the collapsed corporation. 2. What caused the collapse of Enron • How bonuses to the executives lead to their financial misreporting. • How greedy auditors colluded to misrepresent financial statements. 3. How collapse of Enron could have been prevented. • Did the relevant act negligently abetting in the corporate collapse. • How loopholes in financial laws can be exploited • How the investors...
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...CASE PAPER: Enron, WorldCom, Tyco Enron, 2001 Enron, a Houston-based energy trading company, was the seventh largest company in the U.S before it filed for bankruptcy in 2001. It employed over 25,000 people, and paid its tops executives a sum of $1.4 billion in 2000. According to Fortune magazine, it was one of the “most admired companies” in the U.S. at the time. The reason Enron was so successful was that it kept hundreds of millions worth of debt off its books through the use of some unethical accounting practices called “shell companies”. “Shell companies” used to record fictitious revenues, that essentially record one dollar of revenue multiples times, thus creating the appearance of high income. As a result, the company’s stock value decreased from $90 to less than .70 cents a share. By continuing to use “shell companies” to hide Enron’s debt, the company demonstrated “the means-ends ethic” and “the might-equals-right ethic“. Enron went to extreme and illegal acts to hide their business practices, and seized the opportunity to grow richer as a result. WorldCom, 2002 WorldCom, a telecommunications giant, grew to be the second largest telecommunications carrier in the U.S. until it filed for bankruptcy in 2002. Tens of thousands of employees lost their jobs, as investors watched WorldCom’s stock price plummet from $60 to less than .03 cents a share. While Enron hid debt, WorldCom hid operating expenses. From 2001 through 2002, a total of $3.8 billion worth...
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...Business Research Ethics RES/351 Business Research Business Research Ethics The trust instilled in a company that is being considered to provide support is immense. There are key factors that a company looks for when choosing. These factors could include integrity, reliability, honesty, responsibility, and prestige just to name a few. Enron and Arthur Andersen auditors had such a partnership where Arthur Andersen auditors provided accounting support. There were unethical practices that lead to the collapse of both companies. Arthur Andersen Auditors Arthur Andersen the founder of the company began his career at a young age. Mr. Andersen first partnered with another accountant to build an accounting firm. This partnership only lasted a few years. After the slip Mr. Andersen made it his mission to have his company do extremely well while having integrity in the accounting field. The company was taken internationally around the 1950’s. These years were very profitable for the company. There were known internationally and became very credible. In 1986 Arthur Andersen auditors began business with Enron. Enron Arthur Andersen auditors provided Enron with internal and external auditing for the business. Enron had a sizeable debt when it opens for business. The plans for the company was to purchase gas put it in a bank and then sell it to consumers. This was working well, however the debt was still noticeable. The problems arose when Enron began to lie on transactions...
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...Bribery Scandal Case Summary This case covers the scandal at Siemens AG in 2006, 2007 which consisted of employees bribing foreign officials. Siemens employees made slush funds specifically for the purpose of gaining an unfair advantage to win contracts. They also were accused of bribing officials of the labor board in return they would give support for Siemen’s policies. Siemens office in Germany was raided and an official investigation was started. In other countries they were investigated subsequently following the raid in Germany. The CEO resigned regardless of not being found responsible though the scandal was under his watch. This scandal set off a chain reaction to questioning the other companies in competition and the laws in Germany made to deter this behavior. Labor representatives who had been possibly bribed held the board, which governed the laws. This created an element of people responsible of making sure this type of thing did not happen, by letting it happen for personal gain. All along critics of this type of management feared this to be a potential issue. This shed light upon the challenges that the new management would encounter after the scandal occurred. In your opinion, is “bribing” unethical & illegal or just a cost of doing business? Discuss this in light of Siemens’ bribery scandal. Bribing is unethical and it takes the level playing arena away from business and all that compete within it. Oligopolies and monopolies arise from this type...
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