unethical acts. They also include the communication of entity values and behavioral standards to personnel through policy statements, codes of conduct, and by example. In WorldCom, integrity and ethical values are absolutely abused. Specifically, Ebbers created a culture in which the legal function was less influential and less welcome than in a healthy corporate environment. He even did not include the company’s lawyers in his inner circle and appears to have dealt with them only when he felt it
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The Enron and WorldCom Scandals Case: Enron 1. Which segment of its operations got Enron into difficulties? The segment of its operations that got Enron into trouble was Kopper and Dodson creating a series of limited partnerships and limited companies through which to operate their interests, but Kopper had no outside investor at risk. 3. Did Enron’s directors understand how profits were being made in this segment? Why or why not? I do not think Enron’s directors understood how profits were
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Introduction WorldCom is a telecommunications company which was lead by CEO, Bernard Ebbers and CFO, Scott Sullivan. In 1999, WorldCom was not melting Wall Street’s revenue and earnings expectations, and it appeared that the coming year would produce more bad news. The CFO argued for setting realistic targets. However the CEO insisted that the company needed double digit growth, and pushed for aggressive targets. These aggressive targets were not supported by historical data or strategic assessments
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these companies WorldCom made themselves a favorite on Wall Street and to numerous investment bankers. Management didn’t know the complications that would arise when trying to integrate several different billing systems. Chief Executive Officer Mr. Ebbers kept the Board of Directors in the dark about the financial standings of the company. They led them to believe that everything was running smoothly. Chief Financial Officer Mr. Sullivan forced his staff to enter fictitious entries without any back
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dates back in 1983 which started as a partnership between a former basketball coach Bernard Ebbers. This company was established at Mississippi as a coffee shop, which later developed to long distance Telephone Company. The company’s name initially was Long Distance Discount Service whose operations began on 1984. After several years in operation, the company became public in August 1989 with Bernard Ebbers as the company’s CEO (Moberg 4). Over the years, the company developed through mergers and
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Abstract Over the past years, and as a result of high profile firm failures, the economic crisis, and increased regulatory pressure, many organizations have placed a large emphasis on financial risk assessments. The risk assessment process is needed to identify risks that need to be treated within an organization, as well as to provide strategies and methods that are most appropriate to treat these risks. Because many organizations are poorly aligned between their risk exposure and their risk
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as Long Distance Discount Services (“LDDS”) that grew to become the third largest telecommunications company in the United States due to the management of Chief Executive Officer (“CEO”) Bernie Ebbers. It consisted of an employee base of 85,000 workers at its peak with a presence in more than 65 countries. Ebbers helped grow the small investment into a $30 billion revenue producing company characterized by sixty acquisitions of other telecomm businesses in less than a decade. From the outside, WorldCom
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4. Martha Stewart’s Lost Reputation Discussion of ethical issues 1. What was the basis of Martha Stewart’s reputation? 2. Why did MSO’s stock price decline due to Martha Stewart’s loss of reputation? 3. Who is Martha Stewart’s target market? 4. What qualities were associated with the Martha Stewart brand, before the controversy? Which of these were affected by the accusations of insider trading, and how? How would you find out for sure? 5. What level of sales and profits would MSO have
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WorldCom’s origin can be traced to the 1983 breakup of AT&T. Small, regional companies could now gain acces to AT&T’s long distance handphone lines at deeply discounted rates. The companies turn to Bernard J (Bernei) Ebbers, one of its original nine investors, to run things. Ebbers had previously been employed as a milkman, bartender, bar bouncer, car salesman, truck driver, garment factory foreman, high school basketball coach, and hotelier. Eventhough he is lacked technology experience. In 1996
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WorldCom to appear more favorable on Wall Street, and many banks, brokers, and investors gave strong buy recommendations. This was not unethical; however, what investors and others were to uncover in the coming years, was. Chief Executive Officer Bernie Ebbers led the company’s stock to increase from pennies, to more than $60 per share. Where the unethical
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