Integrity in business is often questioned, as money is typically the driving force of why establishments prevail in the market. This fact, was especially intriguing in Bowie Ko’s blog, commenting on the Shanghai Hsui Scandal in which the Shanghai Hsui Food Co. supplied Mcdonald’s with expired meat. This naturally developed into a controversial issue, as Shanghai Food Co. is potentially responsible for peoples’ health, in that their product is quite literally, consumed.

As a reader, I paralleled this idea of deception with that of the CGA Article on Financial Statement Fraud.  It was particularly interesting that the three factors that outline the crime committed are applicable to a variety of instances.

To reiterate the CGA article, the three main factors of financial fraud are, “situational pressure…, a perceived opportunity to commit and conceal the dishonest act…, and some way to rationalize the act as justifiable.” (Colby, Everett pg 2)

For the Shanghai Hsui Food Co., I found that all these elements have relevance, and Mcdonald’s, obviously being the more prominent corporation, was forced to clean up their image and “[reposition] their market stance and [create] an anonymous for reports on unethical practices.” (Ko, Bowie UBC Blogs)

A few questions were not answered in both the blog and article, that I found, were integral to the investigation. Did Mcdonald’s establish a relationship with Shanghai Hsui Food Co. not knowing about their practices? Or, was this act only considered wrong to Mcdonald’s because they were caught?

Sources: 

https://www.cga-pdnet.org/Non_VerifiableProducts/ArticlePublication/FinStatFraud/FinStatFraud_p1.pdf

https://blogs.ubc.ca/bowieko/

http://online.wsj.com/articles/mcdonalds-sales-woes-continue-in-august-1410265182

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