Ethics in Business
In a recent MGMT 250 session, we discussed ethics and corporate governance in business. This topic was also the focus of my SAGES seminar last semester. What angers me the most about instances of fraud and deception in corporations is not the fact that they occur, but the fact that it is possible for them to occur. People are greedy and are always looking to get more money. When companies are struggling, many executives do not want to accept failure, so they alter financials to mask the truth. I believe that those are the two most frequent reasons for fraud in corporations. Recent years have seen attempts to improve corporate governance through the SEC, the PCAOB, the FASB, and acts of congress, such as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Hopefully new regulations and procedures will continue to be established to reduce the ability of individuals to commit acts of fraud in businesses, since they always result in such terrible losses for everyone with any ties to the company.
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