An Ethical Dilemma at WorldCom: A case study of Cynthia Cooper The Scenario One May afternoon‚ while sitting in his cubicle at WorldCom Inc. headquarters located in Clinton‚ Mississippi‚ Gene Morse was stunned to find an accounting entry for $500 million in expenses‚ which was not accounted for with any invoices. He immediately reported this entry to his boss‚ vice president of internal audit Cynthia Cooper (Pulliam & Solomon‚ 2002). Little did they know at the time that this discovery would begin
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Accounting Fraud at WorldCom LDDS began operations in 1984 offering services to local retail and commercial customers in the southern states. It was initially a loss making enterprise‚ and thus hired Bernie J. (Bernie) Ebbers to run things. It took him less than a year to make the company profitable. By the end of 1993‚ LDDS was the fourth largest long distance carrier in the United States. After a shareholder vote in May 1995‚ the company officially came to be known as WorldCom. WorldCom culture was
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Case study on WorldCom THE WORLDCOM FRAUD:- Presented By: Pratik WorldCom’s Background • Awoke the sleeping giant by leading the telecom industry into profitability in the 90’s. • During the 1990’s‚ WorldCom was deeply involved in acquisitions and completed several “mega-deals” • Purchased over 60 firms in 2nd half of the 90’s • WorldCom moved into Internet and data traffic • Handled 50% of US Internet traffic • Handled 50% of e-mails worldwide WorldCom’s Background (cont.) • Purchased MCI for
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first thing that got them into trouble. Another reason was that over 11 million was invested and it ended up not being invested at all. I believe these two situations ended up being the start of Enron’s problems. Enron also was not reporting the revenue for service correctly and his stock was paid by promissory notes and not by cash like most business operates. 3. Did Enron’s directors understand how profits were being made in this segment? Why or Why not? * No‚ I don’t think they knew
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In 1998‚ Betty Vinson was promoted to a senior manager in the firm’s corporate accounting division. Two years later in her position she experienced a major ethical dilemma. The company WorldCom was a very successful company up until the middle of 2000 when the telecommunication industry entered a protracted slump. The company’s earnings were not Wall Street expectations‚ and it was saddled with unpaid bills. Vinson’s job was to repair the problem by doing some wrong accounting practices. The ethical
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KAPLAN DAVID KIRON Accounting Fraud at WorldCom WorldCom could not have failed as a result of the actions of a limited number of individuals. Rather‚ there was a broad breakdown of the system of internal controls‚ corporate governance and individual responsibility‚ all of which worked together to create a culture in which few persons took responsibility until it was too late. — Richard Thornburgh‚ former U.S. attorney general1 On July 21‚ 2002‚ WorldCom Group‚ a telecommunications company with
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Ananya Chandra * Niteesh Chinta * Shraddha Rane * Swathi Punreddy The Rise and fall of WorldCom This case study WorldCom is a telecommunications company which was led by CEO‚ Bernard Ebbers‚ and CFO‚ Scott Sullivan. In 1999‚ WorldCom was not meeting Wall Street’s revenue and earnings expectations‚ and it appeared that the coming year would produce more bad news. The CFO argued for setting realistic targets. However‚ the CEO insisted
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loan‚ but by treating it as a sale‚ Enron benefited in two ways: firstly‚ by increasing its revenues and
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WorldCom Case Study: Lack of Leadership‚ Lack of Ethics Emily Fearnow ORG 500- Foundations of Effective Management Colorado State University – Global Campus Dr. Cheryl Lentz May 15‚ 2011 WorldCom Case Study: Lack of Leadership‚ Lack of Ethics A multitude of choices made by executives at WorldCom led to the ultimate demise of the company as it was previously known‚ the employees and their livelihoods’‚ and the trust of the American people. In a time when corporations
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WorldCom Case Study Update 20061 by Edward J. Romar‚ University of Massachusetts-Boston‚ and Martin Calkins‚ University of Massachusetts-Boston Read the original case. In December 2005‚ two years after this case was written‚ the telecommunications industry consolidated further. Verizon Communications acquired MCI/WorldCom and SBC Communications acquired AT&T Corporation‚ which had been in business since the 19th Century. The acquisition of MCI/WorldCom was the direct result of the behavior
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