Should Worldcom Ceo Bernard Ebbers Been Sentenced to 25 Years in Prison free essay sample

The WorldCom fraud that came to light in 2002 was an example of many things that went wrong within the organization. Unethical conduct by its senior leadership beginning with Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Bernard Ebbers was certainly at the forefront of these problems. The question is should a CEO like Ebbers have been sentenced to prison for his liability in the WorldCom scandal? My answer is yes, he should’ve gone to prison as well as other CEOs who engage in unethical conduct that results in laws being violated. I will support my answer by aking a look at the duties of a CEO, focusing on leadership responsibilities and accountability. I will discuss causes of ethical problems in CEOs and finish by discussing utilitarian and deontological ethical issues as they pertained to Ebbers. Background As the telecommunications industry slowed in the late 1990s, WorldCom’s stock price began to decrease. Ebbers came under pressure from financial institutions to cover margin calls on WorldCom stock he used to finance other businesses (Vasatka, 2007). We will write a custom essay sample on Should Worldcom Ceo Bernard Ebbers Been Sentenced to 25 Years in Prison? or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page From 1999 to 2002, a few WorldCom senior executives engaged in fraudulent accounting practices. These practices were esigned to portray losses as growth to the public. Ebbers resigned as CEO under pressure for several reasons unrelated to the accounting fraud on April 29, 2002 (Beresford, Katzenbach Rogers, 2003). Cynthia Cooper led an internal audit investigation of suspected accounting irregularities in May-June 2002. According to Ms. Cooper’s statement, she discussed the investigation with WorldCom Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Scott Sullivan on June 12, 2002. She then discussed her investigation with two others on June 13, 2002. They were Max E. Bobbitt, Chairman of the Audit Committee, WorldCom Board of Directors and Mr.Farrell Malone, engagement partner of KMPG, LLP, an external audit agency. The Board of Directors met on June 25, 2002 and decided to publish a revised financial statement for 2001 and first quarter 2002. They also decided to report this action to the U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the events leading up to it (WorldCom, 2002). The SEC launched its own investigation into the matter (Vasatka, 2007) and brought civil action against a number of WorldCom executives in June 2002 (SEC, 2002). WorldCom filed for bankruptcy protection on July 21, 2002. The U. S. Justice Department rought criminal charges against Ebbers and several other WorldCom executives. For his role in the scandal, Ebbers was convicted in Federal court on March 15, 2005 and then on July 13, 2005 sentenced to 25 years in prison. The CEO as a Leader To examine the issues in this case from a normative ethics viewpoint, I believe that we should see what a CEO does in performing the leadership functions of their job as they relate to ethical issues. A good description of the CEO’s leadership role can be found in The Duties of a Chief Executive Officer (Wibowo Kleiner, 2005). The authors cite information in CEO Causes of Ethical Problems in CEOs The position of CEO is one that has a great deal of power. There is a quote from British historian Lord Acton (1834-1902): â€Å"Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men† (Lewis, n. d. ). In the article No Fair Shake for Shareholders, the author discusses the CEO personality as possibly contributing to the ethical problems that arise with some CEOs. Traits such as a strong ego, left unchecked can turn into bad behavior. CEOs normally are good salesmen and they often sell themselves on how good they are which inflates their egos. A weak board of directors can fail to hold a CEO accountable. He stresses board responsibilities relative to CEO accountability (Wilson, 1989). In the article The Responsibility of the CEO Providing Ethical and Moral Leadership, Lewis says that there is a difference between what is legal and what is ethical. He stresses the need for a culture of ethics within an organization where all team players practice good ethics, including the CEO. He says laws only deal with part of the ethical issues faced by businesses. He cites heavy competition and pressure many employees feel to engage in unethical behavior as some of the keys to the problem. Good corporate governance, beginning with the CEO, is very important to building a good ethical culture within the organization (Lewis, 2002). Discussion of Ethical Issues Pertaining to Ebbers Ebbers had a responsibility to the employees of the company, investors, and the public to report WorldCom’s finances accurately and honestly. He was accountable to the board of directors for his actions as CEO – both good and bad. Ebbers should’ve had loyalty to these people to help them avoid the monetary losses resulting from WorldCom’s shaky financial situation. This is an example of a utilitarian ethics issue. Due to his position, he should’ve had the greater good of all these people in mind as he ran WorldCom. However, Ebbers allowed unethical practices to continue with his knowledge, with the consequence that many people lost money when WorldCom went bankrupt. Ebbers had an obligation to provide honest financial statements in order to not to violate the rights of others. He failed in this obligation, violating the rights of many people in the process. This is an example of deontological ethics. Continuing on this track, investors also have a right to know the truth about companies that they are investing in or may invest in. They also have an obligation to learn as much about the companies they are investing in or planning to invest in. Due to the fraud committed by senior executives and allowed by Ebbers, WorldCom’s public financial statements made it difficult for investors to know the truth about its financial health. Even with the fraudulent statements, some investors were able to learn of some of the irregularities in WorldCom. Shareholders filed a lawsuit against WorldCom in June 2001 alleging widespread fraudulent accounting practices. The case was subsequently thrown out by a judge in Mississippi (Weinberg, 2002). In this example of deontological ethics shareholders acted to protect their rights. Also by learning the truth about WorldCom they fulfilled their obligation to gain as much knowledge about the company as they could. In addition to Ebbers’ failings, there are others that should be mentioned in this discussion of ethics. First, WorldCom documents and testimony of employees revealed that some employees discovered problems as far back as 2000, tried to do something to correct them, and failed (Waggoner, 2002). The question is how hard did these people try to correct what they saw that was wrong? From a utilitarian ethics perspective, they had to know many people could get hurt if this continued. Secondly, regarding the shareholder lawsuit previously mentioned why didn’t the board of directors or the SEC act when these allegations were made? The board failed to hold Ebbers accountable for the accounting fraud that was being uncovered nearly two years from the time it went public in 2000. From a deontological ethics viewpoint, they had an obligation to look into these allegations so that the rights of others wouldn’t be violated. Conclusion Ebbers’ conviction and prison sentence were justified. From a utilitarian ethics perspective, he was responsible and accountable to serve the greater good of others and failed in that capacity. From a deontological viewpoint, he also had an obligation to ensure the rights of others associated with WorldCom wouldn’t be violated and he failed to meet this obligation as well. Contributing factors to the WorldCom fiasco were poor corporate governance and a corporate culture where some employees were aware of problems but failed to get corrective action taken.

Organ Trafficking Speech Essay Example

Organ Trafficking Speech Essay Example Organ Trafficking Speech Essay Organ Trafficking Speech Essay Good afternoon, my name is __________ and I’m here to talk to you about a massive problem. A massive problem which unfortunately we’re still letting this happen. While listening to this speech, you might think this is the typical speech anyone who really didn’t care about this matter, could give, but I believe this matter concerns everyone, and that I’ve got the enough reasons to convince you about that, to change your mind. Do you want to take part in changing this horrible matter into something far more pleasant? Do you want to stop this horrible, apalling and terrifying illegal business? You, the great United Nations, still live without knowing the other dangerous and critical part of organ trafficking? Hearts, lungs, kidneys, livers; the great demand for organs is starting to increase very rapidly. People need quick transplants, and this is what black market can offer. There are plenty of reasons why people have to sell their own organs. The principal reason that would come to your mind, is money. Yes, organ trafficking keeps on a great amount of money moving. Kidneys can vary from $25,000 to $60,000, and lungs and hearts can provide the people who sell them over $150,000. But when they do not follow through with their promises on payment, which happens often, they leave paid donors far less than they promised. This completely destroys these people’s lifes, leaving them not only without a kidney, but without an appropiate life condition. Not even half of the 7,000 people who require a simple organ transplant are attended. Do you think this is what people want? Wouldn’t you also trade for illegal organs? Changing this situation it’s just your decision, improve the organ donotation, make the difference! But there are many other reasons why people sell their organs. People who arrive illegally into a country, need as well as money, a new identity to stay into that country. They would exchange anything, including their organs, to keep away from judicial problems. But where does all this happen? China and India are among those countries where maximum illegal sale of human organs happen. This is mostly because these countries are the ones that have the less legal vigilance, this is precisely the reason that they are also the ones who need the most help, when changing this situation. There is one rule in China that if no one claims the dead body then the organs of the person can be used for transplantation purpose. Poor communities, and poor people, are the ones most affected by this problem. They are the ones who are sometimes manipulated to offer their organs to the rich people, that can easily buy them. They are the ones who have no other option than risking their lives for an amount of money, which is unfortunatedly not enough for all of their needs. These sugeries, take part in unsanitary unhealthy and unclean conditions, where an infection can easily be caught. But lets stop for a minute. You might think that their lives can improve a bit after taking part in this horrible risky market, but impossible as it seems, sometimes it gets even worse. Many residents unable to work with pain in their sides, fell back into debt as post-sugery costs absorbed their kidney profits-contrary to the promises of their brokers. And sometimes they don’t even ask the donor’s permission. The case of Mohammad Salim is one of the terrific cases related to organ trafficking. He was lied to, and then escorted into a dark, paint-chipped room with gunmen who gave him an injection. He fainted, and then woke up with a pain in his side. His kidney had been removed. There are thousands of cases like the one of Mohammad Salim, and sometimes these people find themselves in terrible situations such as death. I’m truly sure that these kind of things are not appealing to anyone, and especially they’re not appealing to you all. And I’m also sure you’re not going to let this happen, because you are part of the United Nations for some reason, mostly, for trying to resolve each problem that crosses your path. You are now the only people who can solve this problem, you are the only people who are going to solve this problem. What about tougher laws? People’s lifes in these countries are completely ruined, do you think they would also deal with bills, with jail? And what about sending doctors, who really know what they’re doing? They’re so many doctors in our country without any job, that a great percentage of them would do anything to get one. But in my opinion what would really stop this black dangerous and painful market, would be to set up a legal regulated market. Lets follow Iran’s example. They can tout the world’s only regulated transplant market and abundant organ supply, with the goverment offering donors $1,200 and free health unsurance. People wouldn’t feel scared of their actions, people would feel safe, safe and happy, as they haven’t felt for a really long period of time. They would also earn money, apart from life quality, you don’t want to take that from their lives do you? During their lives, they’ve just had problems, followed by even worse problems. Their time has come for their lives to change in a positive way. So what do I really want to achieve by giving this speech? Well, I need your help, they need your help. So act now! Don’t let this repeat one more time! Their safety it’s just in your hands.

The origins of the Arab-Israeli conflict Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The origins of the Arab-Israeli conflict - Essay Example The essay establishes the basis and as well discusses the Arab-Israeli conflict and investigates basics involved in the Arab-Israeli conflict. At the core, the conflict is based on disagreement over the land of Palestine which characterised by irresolvable strive between competing nationalisms. Even though, the issue is complicated by religious and political diversity the dispute between the Arab-Israeli conflicts primarily involves competing claims to land. The essay establishes that resolve of competing claims to Palestine are complicated and reflect the complexities of Arab-Israeli history in the region (Shackelford 2012). The Israeli-Arab or the Middle East conflict can be delineated into three distinct phases with the initial conflict between Arabs and Jews being, that which began as part of the Arab conquest of the 7th century. In this aspect of the conflict, Arabs conquered the land that previously was known by Romans as Judea and Palestina by Christian Byzantines. Later on, a fter hundreds of years beginning in the 1880s, the Jews mainly from Eastern Europe began streaming back to reclaim the land hence, the conflict resumed. The second phase of the conflict was internationalized to involve the proximal Arab states that include Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon as well as Saudi Arabia and Iraq. Even though, these states nominally supported the Palestinian Arab inhabitants of the land, there is little doubt that the states too had their own state interests. (Allain 2010). For instance, Transjordan occupied what is currently known as west bank and annexed it, although the annexation was not internationally recognised and changed its name to Jordan. Subsequently, in the further unsuccessful attempts in each decade from 1948 to 1982 by the Arab states to defeat the nascent State of Israel, in addition to, international involvement of the USSR and USA further internationalised the conflict. The last phase to the origin of the Arab-Israeli followed the defeat o f the Arab states by Israel in the six-day war in 1967 resulting in the emergence of a militant Palestinian party, the PLO that sought to wage war on Israel without involvement of other states (Cohen 2011). The Arab-Israeli conflict emerged from the rise of Jewish nationalism that did not exist in the region prior to Zionist activism. The Zionist objective in Palestine had a colonialist element one that the Palestinian Arabs recognised and opposed throughout the manoeuvring of international law and political negotiations. As the great powers (US and other allies) put in place the governing structures that enabled transformations in the region, they systematically ignored the rights of indigenous Arabs under international law. The resulting disparity in rights during the decision-making process in Palestine produced an environment that resulted in the current configuration, putting the interests of the Israeli state against those of Palestinian Arabs (Cohen 2011). As British administ ration began its Mandate in 1922, the question of whom to vest finally the Palestinian sovereignty persistently lingered, since England was purely an occupying power. However, the continued Jewish immigration and the presence of a British policy that was favourable Zionists resulted in Arab riots (Schiff 2011). England promised Palestine to the Arabs through diplomatic communications that rose to a secret treaty; however, this did not happen therefore resulting to difficulty in combining concurrent but opposing national aspirations of Palestinian Arabs and Zionists into a single Palestinian state. The lack of political equality in British decisions made Arabs lose faith in the political process and the England’s Peel commission recommend partition of Palestine in response to the escalating violence. The Arabs were in opposition of the

Expectation Interest Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Expectation Interest - Coursework Example Usually, the defendant would be awarded damages that equal to the cost of cure. For most defective goods, that equals to the diminution in their value. But for some defective goods, the diminution in value is not equal to the cost of cure (Ruxley Electronics v Forsyth (1996)). In those instances, the courts would ascertain damages that are just and fair pertaining to the merits of the case. These are called ‘loss of amenity’ damages (see Ruxley).   Where the breach is caused by non-delivery, the buyer may also sue for damages which would be calculated by the difference between the market value and the contracted value of the good (s. 51 SGA 1979). If, on the contrary, the buyer refuses to pay, the seller can claim for the loss of profits on the good (Charter v Sullivan [1957]).Reliance loss  This seeks to put the claimant into the position as if he never entered into contract (McRae v Commonwealth Disposals [1950]). Often, the reliance interest is already covered by the expectation interest.Restitution Interest   In this claim, the contract is set aside and the claimant seeks to obtain the price paid for goods that were not delivered (Whincup v Hughes [1871]). This claim may also be used to recover profits that the defendant made as a result of the breach (Attorney-General), though it is only allowed when other forms of remedies are exhausted and even then, the courts may order the defendant to award the claimant a share of the profit instead of the entire sum. The claimant is also under a duty to mitigate losses.... Thus, if both parties knew that the claimant was going to use the goods to make a profit, he is entitled to recover those lost profits (Victoria Laundry (Windsor) Ltd v. Newman Industries Ltd (1949)). Damages for pain and suffering may also be awarded where the claimant has expressly stated his concerns (such as presence of aircraft noise before buying a new property close to the airport) at the time of contract (Farley v Skinner [2001]) A claim for damages will fail if the damages are too remote. It will also fail if there is no causal link between breach and damage, and independent third party acts (London Joint Stock Bank v. Macmillan [1918]), natural events (see Monarch Steamship v Karlshamns [1949]) and claimant’s own unreasonable acts (Lambert v. Lewis [1982]) will keep the claim from succeeding. Word Count: 510 Q.2 Becka would be looking to pursue her remedies for breach of contract, as there is a possible breach of s. 14 of the SGA 1979. On the facts, she is a consumer , which brings in operation s. 15 conferring on her a right to reject the goods and be awarded damages at the same time at the discretion of the courts. The car was described in the ad as â€Å"regularly serviced, 2007 model†¦Ã¢â‚¬  along with other traits. S.14(2) of the SGA requires the car to be of satisfactory quality and s.14(3) requires it to be fit for purpose. Since Tower Hill is a business, these two are conditions. However, these conditions do not apply where the buyer has inspected the goods before purchasing or defects have been specifically brought to her attention before buying. Becka’s test drive may bar her from claiming on faults that she ought to have noticed. However, the facts are

The Most Disturbing Place I Have Ever Been to Essay Example for Free

The Most Disturbing Place I Have Ever Been to Essay Going to jail was no fun. It started off with a police officer placing me in handcuffs. The handcuffs were so tight that my hands went numb. Then I took a long ride in the back of a police car. I had to lean to the side so that I could ease the pressure of the handcuffs on my wrists. Next I arrived at the inmate-processing center. From the moment the door closed behind me, I was treated like inventory. I was photographed. I was fingerprinted. My money and car keys were taken. I was assigned a number so that I could be tracked and identified. I was placed in a cold cell made of concrete. I sat and waited for hours. I didn’t know what was going to happen next. I lost track of time because there were no clocks on the wall. I couldn’t tell if it was day or night. Jail is the most disturbing place I have ever been to. Then my name was called. An officer ordered me to line up against a wall along with eight other inmates. This became one of the worst times in my life. I was strip-searched. A group of officers ordered all inmates on the wall to get completely naked. One officer approached me and searched my clothes and shoes. Then he looked in my mouth and ears. He made me lift my private parts so that he could see down there. He ordered me to turn around and bend over. He took a quick look at my anal area. It seemed like minutes to me. I was totally embarrassed. Next I had to go through the rest of the inmate processing procedure. I was taken to a medical room to talk to a nurse and inform her of any problems I had. Then I was moved to a room where I could be classified according to my charge. Next I had to go to the shower room to clean up. I was only allowed a two minute shower. My clothes, including underwear, were taken. My underwear had color in them. I was not allowed to have colored underwear or colored socks. I was given a jail uniform that was too small. Then I was given one bologna and cheese sandwich. The guards didn’t care. Finally I was assigned to a permanent floor and tank. The tank held about twenty-five inmates. There was no privacy. It was overcrowded. Some inmates had to sleep on the floor, including me. There was one pay phone. Inmates argued over phone time. There were three toilets sitting out in the open. If I had to use the restroom, I had to use it in front of the other inmates. There was only one television. The guards controlled what I watched on television and when I watched it. I didnt get to make any decisions at all. Absolutely everything was decided for me. The guards told me when to get up, when to eat, when to exercise, when to shower, and when to sleep. I was in jail for three days. Jail is still the most disturbing place I have ever been to.

Enigma :: history

Enigma What is an Enigma? Enigma â€Å"means a mystery† (Guynn). Although there are several alternative meanings, to the Germans this meant a thin line between victory and defeat. During World War II the allies not only intercepted encrypted messages, they broke them but not without the help of A.M. Turing. â€Å"In the early years of World War II,† (Sales), the airways in Poland were flooded with coded messages that created confusion with the â€Å"cryptanalyst working in the cipher bureau† (Maziakowski). Over a several years over Poland received thousands of messages but still hadn’t any luck. In 1930 they had found the source of their problem. Germany had hired, â€Å"Hans Schmidt, who invented the enigma machine†, (Sales). This machine enabled Germany to send messages effortlessly with the security of knowing the codes could not be broken. Initially there was only one machine that was to be used as a public machine, but soon the German military contracted Schmidt to build a machine that the German Military could only use. It wasn’t until 1932 that â€Å"the enigma code was broken by Marian Rejewski† (Maziakowski) that Poland started to feel the fear of an oncoming invasion by Germany. Without the knowledge of the break in security, Germany sent out a machine to every military outpost in preparations for war. The Polish government then listened closely to the airways, trying to pick up any information they could. They sent spies out to intercept messages in hopes of learning more about their neighbor’s plans. It was only by chance that the polish government was able to break the enigma code the first time. A man working at the Head Quarters in Berlin contacted a French operative in hopes of exchanging sensitive information for money. The French agreed and after exchanging money and information several times they found it of little use and then forwarded it to the Polish who you might say found the Holy Grail of information. Nearing the end of the exchanges between the French operative and the inside man, there was a particular document that was passed, its value would cost the French one hundred thousands dollars, an equivalent of 1 million dollars in today’s market, for a complete diagram of the enigma machine. This did little to help France and they once again sent the information right to the Poles. With this â€Å"Marian Rejewski† to â€Å"mathematically determine the wiring of one of the three routers† (Maziakowski).

Demand difference/ focus of a business Essay

Methods: cause, solution(s), ED ( Elasticity of Demand), challenges, effects. Cause The main cause would be origin, LUMOS is based in the UK, has an British founder and aims on the British public. However this does not mean that all the marketing they produce is reaching British people. Since the fund is all about helping children in poor European countries and not aimed to only help British people, they receive a high percentage contribution from other counties as well. Solution(s) More attention can be received by using J.K Rowling giving a message, I think LUMOS can use het in their advantage compared, especially to other non-profit organisation. The message will be received worldwide since her books are an universal best- seller and not just in England. Another solution to make the international public more appealed to contribution to LUMOS is by starting to focus on other languages as well, like a Dutch website with a euro system ( they use pounds ) this makes it more complicated for people who have a basic or lower level English. Money available should go to promotions in the Netherlands, LUMOS is very unheard of in the Netherlands. PED The demand in the Netherlands is less than in the UK because the advertisements and promotion is kept in the UK. The demand to donate to LUMOS is 70% less from Holland compared to the UK. Percentage change of price has been replace by percentage change in advertising. % advertising PEA= x 100 % in demand Advertising There is 100% in the U.K % A = 20% There is 80% in The Netherlands There are  £9.834.037,- donations made in the UK. There are  £3.947.394 donations made by Holland. The change 5.886.643 % =x100x 100 = 149% Original figure 3.947.394 % QD = 149 % 13.4 Challenges: Making LUMOS well known and accepted in the Netherlands by making promotion and other communication tools Dutch. Effects on the business: There will be more contributors both from Holland as well as other parts of the word (note world-wide message for J.K Rowling) Environment 1B Business: Mc Donalds Environment difference: Demand difference Counties: Netherlands – UK Methods: cause, solution(s), PED ( Price Elasticity of Demand), challenges, effects. Cause The cause of a demand fall in the U.K compared to the Netherlands is because of the *1 difference in target tastes in both counties and *2 because of the prices in pounds ( inflation) Solution(s) To cause *1 -Get to know the (target) audienc(es) better so they can adapt their products to the consumers tastes. – offer more options in the menu to choose from. To cause *2 – lower the prices by finding cheaper suppliers or lower them and make less profit calculating from the same amount of Demand, however this might be a very good idea. (See PED) PED ( Price Elasticity of Demand) The following formula can be used to measure exactly how responsive demand is to a given price change: ( ceterus paribus ) Ed = The price elasticity of demand Δ = ‘change in’ Qd = Quantity demanded P = Price A Prices from mc Donald’s fall 17.8% Demand rise with 23.4% B Prices from mc Donald’s fall 10% Demand rise with 3% ( nobody really notice) This means that Price and Demand are inversely related ( Ceterus Paribus) Calculation: A -17.8:23.3= -.763 -10:3:3= -3.4 = elastic, or A is the best option. Challenges. Disequilibrium: since Mc Donald’s sells consumables the products have to be sold quickly otherwise it would creating a surplus in stock. But if either the prices are lowered or the food adapted to a more university liked taste the position would be equilibrium which in turn would create a shortage or an equal position. So the challenge is to estimate the higher number of sales so they can calculate the right stock and amount to purchase at the supplier. Effects There will be more or an equal number of consumers at the Mc donald’s in the UK compared to Holland. Some things are going to have to be changed, like I mentioned the purchases in stock.