My favourite iclicker question up to date: What is the appropriate amount of ethics needed in business. Seeing the class dynamic was interesting, but also slightly discouraging. I understand the importance of being a profitable company- as I am someone who wants to succeed in business, but what I cannot wrap my head around is how there are people in my class who believe that profit is more important than ethics completely. The best way to understand, obviously is to research and learn more about who “cooks their books”, what companies have done so and the success as well as punishments they were given for doing so. Doing my research what I came to understand was that maybe the issue weren’t people and companies themselves, but how easy, and tempting it was to “cook the books.” An interesting article I came across by Investopedia, was literally called “Top 8 Ways Companies Cook the Books.” Looking at companies like Enron, Aldelphia and Worldcom, the quick article goes through accelerating revenues, delaying expenses and other tricks multi-billion dollar companies have used in the past. I understand that governments around the world are attempting to sweep away white collar crime, but with it being so easy how can you blame people in these companies for letting the glitz and the glam of greed get to them?
