Evaluating Unethical Decision Consequences Of An Organization

In the past few years, enterprise integrity has come up on a regular subject of conversation. In the past ten years only, we have seen numerous situations associated with collaborative scams which have shaken the people 's trust in businesses and also the general economic climate. A few of the many salient frauds are the WorldCom and Enron 's scams, the ponzi scheme perpetrated by Bernard Madoff 's, the latest accusations of Goldman Sachs tricking option traders to guarantee the company 's personal profit. Incidents such as these designed us all, as upcoming corporation professionals as well as market leaders, think about ethics and its particular function in the commercial world (Gross, 2010.)

Internal fraud consists in “a type of fraud that is committed by an individual against an organization. [Furthermore], a perpetrator of fraud engages in activities that are designed to defraud, misappropriate property, or circumvent the regulations, law, or policies of a company”[8]. Not only has the incidence of internal fraud increased in frequency because of the availability of sensitive information such as client details or confidential business documents; moreover, this type of fraud is found in various types of organizations, ranging from corporations, public service institutions and financial institutions. Our analysis will concentrate on the most common and prolific types of internal fraud, namely identity theft, insider trading, loan fraud and wire fraud. Interestingly, PriceWaterhouseCooper conducted a survey that revealed that the “demographics of a typical fraudster are as follows: males (85% of cases), 31-50 years (72% of cases), reached high-school level (50%), Bachelor’s or post graduate degree (50%) and middle or senior management (52%)”[9].

It is important to first gain an understanding of the various types of fraud, in order to aid understanding in regards to the prevention of fraudulent activity. This paper begins with a review of the definition of financial fraud, and identification of the different fraud types. Further, included is an examination of what motivates individuals to commit fraud, including an identification of some of the method in which people commit fraud. A discussion of the importance of the fraud triangle, and how rationalization contributes to fraud is a key area of focus. Finally, there is an examination of some controls that prevent and detect fraudulent behavior, including the value and importance of understanding the nature of fraud for

Highly publicized incidents such as the federal government purchasing at $500 hammer or $2,500 toilet seat continue to capture headlines as examples of a federal procurement process gone awry, but these notorious examples have become few and far between in recent years, due in large part to significant reforms such as the Federal Acquisition Streamlining Act of 1994 that minimized some of these problems. Despite these substantive reforms, the federal government continues to receive criticisms concerning the manner in which it administers the procurement process. In order to gain new insights in this area, this paper provides a review of the relevant literature to describe the legal and administrative framework and socio-economic considerations of the federal procurement process. A summary of the research and important findings are presented in the conclusion.

Today, executives are having a rough time juggling between the demands of the workplace and those of their families and other personal responsibilities. In a bid to meet targets and other organizational goals and objectives, business executives in addition to traveling extensively also tend to dedicate long hours to office work.

The best theoretical model of fraud to describe why HealthSouth committed fraud is the fraud diamond not the fraud triangle. Both methods require that these three elements are present for committing fraud: perceived pressure, perceived opportunity, and rationalization. Understanding what motivated HealthSouth’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Richard Scrushy to commit fraud, how the accounting staff committed and concealed the fraud, and how the staff justified their participation are crucial. However, anti-fraud professionals believe that changes in social behavior require the addition of a fourth element called capability. Capability includes “personal traits and abilities that play a major role in whether fraud will actually occur” (Fighting Fraud in the Government n.d.). For example, Scrushy’s persuasiveness and Cathy Edward’s position as Michael Vines’ boss increased their capabilities to commit fraud. If capable employees refused to participate, fraud occurrences decrease (Fighting Fraud in the Government n.d.) (Hamilton n.d.).

Impact of mood on ethical decision-making. Few studies have looked at the various effects of mood ethical decision-making. Most have focused on the differences between positive and negative mood or affective states. It is often unclear whether different emotions will promote or discourage ethical decision making in an organization (Gaudine & Thorne, 2001). Gaudine and Thorne developed a model in order to attempt to understand how emotions affect individual's ability to make ethical decisions in an organization. The authors attempt to use a cognitive-developmental foundation to create a model of emotion and ethical decision making. Cognitive developmental theory posits that people's perception of morality progresses as they develop. People's

Countless companies from the smallest to the largest are losing billions every year to fraud and theft. A few types of thefts are:

Discuss the impact to the company or brand as a result of the fraudulent activity.

The traps I am most likely to fall into when evaluating something or someone are trusting too

Saiz, Thomas J. "FRAUD IS A MAJOR SECURITY ISSUE FOR BUSINESSES." San Diego Business Journal, vol. 20, no. 15, 12 Apr. 1999, p. 19. Learning Resource Center, t7lrcproxy.iccms.edu:2129/sbrc/detail/detail?vid=0&sid=9b7a4376-1cc6-48ea-8008-4ece1e694af8%40sessionmgr4008&bdata=JnNpdGU9c2JyYy1saXZl##AN=1805123&db=b9h.

Fraudulent, erroneous, and illegal acts committed by a public company, usually at a managerial or executive level, have been a very serious problem for many years and have prompted development of strict and updated regulations, such as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, in an attempt to prevent these occurrences. Unfortunately, these new or updated regulations are not enough to prevent these acts from happening, thus not alleviating the auditors of their responsibility to detect fraud. Some methods that management and auditors can employ to prevent and detect fraud, errors, and illegal acts are: improving knowledge, improving skills,

Traits associated to a psychopath include irresponsibility, manipulation, grandioseness, lack of empathy, asocial tendencies, inability to feel remorse, refusal to take responsibility for one's actions and superficial relations with others. Modern day corporations display every one of the previously listed characteristics. Is it right that an institution, whose power now rivals that of the State that once created it to seek the better welfare of its citizens, display the psychological traits of a dangerous personality disorder? Many say no: there is a rising discomfort with the corporation and its pervasion into every sphere of human life and it is this uneasiness that has prompted many academics to further study the corporation and its

Ethics is something that is very important to have especially in the business world. Ethics is the unwritten laws or rules defined by human nature; ethics is something people encounter as a child learning the differences between right and wrong. In 2001, Enron was the fifth largest company on the Fortune 500. Enron was also the market leader in energy production, distribution, and trading. However, Enron 's unethical accounting practices have left the company in joint chapter 11 bankruptcy. This bankruptcy has caused many problems among many individuals. Enron 's employees and retirees are suffering because of the bankruptcy. Wall Street and investors have taken a major downturn do to the company 's unethical practices. Enron 's

In this case, a firm only has one purchasing agent who is also responsible for a vendor’s account. Because of this weak internal control system, the opportunities are ceased by the perpetrator (Purchasing agent) to fraud the company. The lack of proper segregation of duties led to the misappropriation of the company’s assets and distorts accounting records as a direct result of insufficient employees. Although a small firm may not be able to pay for the cost of proper segregation of duties, but such firm should think of its benefits and at least get a less expensive segregation of duties that can still prevent