Ethics - Bernard Ebbers Conviction - 1394 Words

Initially, my personal values distracted from my ability to sympathize with Bernard Ebbers conviction. His defense team argued that the trial judge wrongly instructed the jury that it could convict Mr. Ebbers on the basis that he engaged in â€Å"conscious avoidance† of the fraud at WorldCom. It is evident that Ebbers took a blind eye to any consideration to analyze the good stuff from the bad stuff in this situation. He failed to calculate the considerations of utility and as a result he is paying the consequences through a substantial decrease in his quality of life. Currently he is serving a 25 year sentence as inmate #56022-054 for 25 years in the Oakdale Federal Correctional Complex in Louisiana. His earliest date to be considered for good†¦show more content†¦Deception, whether intentional or not, did occur. The shareholders had a right to know the financial state of WorldCom. In Ebber’s defense, he had unscrupulous bed fellows on this board. Their intent ions are also at question especially regarding their eagerness to grant Mr. Ebbers a breathtaking loan for $341 million dollar at an interest rate of 2% to shield the instability of the company’s financial situation from shareholders. There were also some concerns whether such loans were ethical from the Security Exchange Commission Enforcement official Seth Taube. He stated that large loans to senior executives are commonly sweetheart deals involving interest rates that constitute a poor return on company assets. Federal prosecutors in New York cited Ebbers s expensive lifestyle, and his overspending, as a motive to hide WorldCom s mounting financial troubles. The impropriety associated with the largest loan any publicly traded company has lent to one of its officers in recent memory is evident. Unfortunately, if Ebbers had pressed the matter and sold his stock, he would have escaped the bankruptcy financially whole, but Ebbers honestly thought WorldCom would recover.† The series of clever manipulations to bury almost $4 billion in misallocated expenses and phony account entries discovered by Cynthia Copper’s team threw open Pandora’s box. Ms. Cooper, a senior line manger, who worked for the WorldCom, CFO,Show MoreRelatedThe Price of Unethical Behavior: A Case Study of Tyco International1932 Words   |  8 Pageshis misdeeds under cover, Kozlowski also bought the silence of corporate executives who happened to be in the know (Geis, 2011). This in some instances he did by organizing for compensation that was significantly oversized. Outcome of Events The conviction of Kozlowski came on the basis that over a period of ten years, he presided over the looting of more than $600 million from Tyco International (Hellriegel and Slocum, 2007). Most of this money was used to fund his lavish lifestyle including butRead MoreWorldcom Case Study16775 Words   |  68 Pagesvalues would they have found themselves in this dilemma or would those values have prevented the situation from happening? In conclusion, the paper will summarize lessons learned by the participants and lessons that the reader can apply to business ethics. Sources of Information At a time when business scandals such as Enron seemed to be at the forefront of the media, Cynthia Cooper and her team took their responsibility for financial reporting to great lengths. The team of three, which consisted ofRead MorePrinciples of Management: MCQ31501 Words   |  127 Pagesmoderate; p. 36) 23. Hugo Munsterberg created the field of social psychology. (True; moderate; p. 36) 24. Mary Parker Follett was the first advocate of the human resources approach to management. (False; moderate; p. 36) 25. Chester Bernard was the first to argue that organizations are open systems. (True; moderate; p. 36) 26. The most important contribution to the field of organizational behavior came from studies conducted by the University of Michigan. (False; moderate;