Table of ContentsIntroductionPage 3EthicsCorruption in the United StatesPage 3Corruption and the OlympicsPage 6Corruption AbroadPage 7Affects of CorruptionPage 8Anti-Corruption Strategies Page 10ConclusionPage 11Back Up MaterialsTransparency International, Global Corruption Report 2001Tab 1Time Trail Article: Italy, The Mani Pulite ScandalTab 2Economic Perspectives 1998, View from Stuart EizenstatTab 3Promoting the Rule of Law and Anti-Corruption in a Globalized EconomyForeign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977Tab 4Transition: The Newsletter about Reforming EconomiesTab 5Ethical Issues in Global BusinessNavigating the boundaries between right and wrong can prove tricky for companies that oper ...view middle of the document...
The free enterprise system is based on transparency and integrity. Transparency is being open to public scrutiny, even for a private company. Integrity is about keeping promises, telling the truth and acting fairly and responsibly.Enron is the story of the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history that has cost thousands of employees their jobs and their retirement. Enron, through a variety of accounting tricks relating to partnerships, inflated their profits and lowered their debt. They misled their employees, investors and the general public about the company's financial condition. Once those off-the-book partnerships were exposed, the bottom dropped out, with Enron's stock plummeting from almost $80 to less than $1 a share. Enron executives reaped millions through these partnerships and by selling off stock before the demise, while Enron employees lost much of their retirement and investors lost millions. info@alternet.orgArthur Anderson a firm that once stood for trust and accountability ended 90 years as an auditor of publicly traded companies under a cloud of scandal and shame. Its felony conviction for obstructing a federal investigation into Enron Corp., its now notorious client, cost Andersen the heart of its practice. It will continue with a tiny fraction of the 85,000 employees it spread across the globe just months ago. In the 1990s, the firm embarked on a path that valued hefty fees ahead of bluntly honest bookkeeping, eroding Andersen's good name. Andersen shunted aside accountants who failed to adapt to the firm's new direction. In their place, Andersen promoted a slicker breed who could turn modestly profitable auditing assignments into consulting gold mines.In the years before WorldCom Inc. announced the $3.9 billion in improper accounting that led to its bankruptcy this summer, the telecommunications giant was plagued by loose business practices, inadequate financial disclosure, and widespread internal chicanery and corruption. Salespeople and managers boosted their commissions by manipulating the company's billing systems. Orders for services or equipment were booked even if they were not provided, so that departments could meet revenue targets. Outside contractors billed for hours they could not have worked, and some equipment was purchased without anyone checking to see whether it was already in inventory. The documents also show that a small group of WorldCom executives, knowing that their business was eroding rapidly, discussed various accounting maneuvers that would help prop up the company's bottom line.A majority of top corporate ethics officers predict at least a half dozen more major business ethics scandals will be revealed during the next 12 months, and some of these executives expect more than 20 such cases, The Conference Board reported in a recent survey. A majority of these corporate ethics officers say that even ethics training wouldn't have prevented the collapse of Enron. About 54% of those surveyed say that even...
