Consider the following:
If we’re all ethical people and we know the difference between right and wrong, why does fraud occur in the business world? What motivates people to commit it?
Activity
There have been many high-profile accounting scandals in the last decade. You will be assigned to a group and will be responsible for researching one of these scandals. Your group will become the “experts” in the details of your assigned scandal.
Each group will summarize the following information about its scandal:
- the facts of the situation
- the name of the company involved
- the stakeholders impacted
- a summary of the problem or ethical dilemma
- the amount of money involved
- the resolution of the issue, e.g. is the company still in business? Did anyone go to jail?
Each group will summarize its information in the appropriate Forum.
Accounting Scandals to Research
- Bernie Madoff’s pyramid scheme
- Enron accounting fraud
- World Com accounting fraud
- Tyco – inflation of income
- AIG – improper accounting practices
- Waste Management – false earnings
After all summaries have been posted to the Forum, everyone will return to their case study groups to share information about their assigned scandal. As a group, you will complete the following:
- develop a list of three common stakeholders impacted by a scandal
- the main reason or motivation for the scandal
When your group has finished compiling its information, post it to the Forum in the appropriate area