Preview

Adelphia Communications Corporation Scandal

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1071 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Adelphia Communications Corporation Scandal
Adelphia Communications Corporation Scandal
Unethical Business Practices Research Assignment

Abstract Historically, ethical values, relating to professional business practice, continually raises controversy for business owners/founders, shareholders and consumers. Ethical standards perpetually change because personal and societal values evolve, and adapt accordingly to modern day lifestyle. It is as essential to adhere to your profession’s ethics, as it is to denounce questionable conduct within your work place. Some unethical practices are difficult to identify because companies can justifiably defend its actions. For instance, media outlets recently publicized that in an effort to buy Time Warner Cable, Comcast paid millions of dollars to the House and Senate Judiciary Committees assigned to oversee the hearings associated with the deal. Some people question the effect these sizable “donations” have on the lawmakers’ ability to procure a fair transaction. Comcast defended its actions in a statement, “It is important for our customers, our employees and our shareholders that we participate in the political process. The majority of our PAC contributions are to the senators and members who represent our employees and customers.” (2014, March 10). Seemingly more evident, Adelphia Communications Corporation committed illegal activity and violated distinct unethical standards by suspicious recordkeeping.

Adelphia Communications Corporation Scandal
Unethical Business Practices Research Assignment – PHI 301 In the late 1990’s, Adelphia Communications Corporation became the 6th largest telephone and cable television providers in the United States. The company’s founder and CEO John J. Rigas and his sons, Timothy, Michael and James, were charged with several white-collar crimes related to financial and securities fraud, in 2002. Adelphia Communications was headquartered in Coudersport, Pennsylvania, and was designated the parent



References: Encyclopedia.com. (2003) "International Directory of Company Histories.” Retrieved on February 24, 2015 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2 United States Security and Exchange Commission. (2002). “Accounting and Auditing Enforcement Release No. 1599 / July 24, 2002”. Retrieved on February 24, 2015 from http://www.sec.gov/litigation/litreleases/lr17627.htm Kaiser, Tiffany. (2014) “Comcast Paying Millions to Solidify Time Warner Cable Acquisition” Retrieved from: http://www.dailytech.com/article34489.htm

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Ethics play a role in everyday business. Many company executives in an attempt to build a profitable organization and build individual wealth are confronted with ethical decisions daily. Penn Square Bank and Dow Corning have both made decisions in their business that started out making millions of dollars but ultimately cost them more than could have been imagined. Unethical decisions cause more than just cash to an organization, the loss of reputation could be even more detrimental.…

    • 850 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Eth316 - Wk3 Assignment

    • 814 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Many organizations and companies are or have been highlighted negatively in the media for their greed and unethical behaviors. “In recent years, the media spotlight has focused on serious ethical lapses in every type of organization—business, government, educational, religious, sports, and others. We’ve all heard about senior managers who line their pockets at employees’ expense, auditors who overlook serious accounting problems, investment analysts who sell stocks they know to be in trouble, insider traders, businesses that overcharge the government, government employees who steal or misuse funds, academics who falsify their research results,…

    • 814 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Res 351 Ethiics Doc

    • 764 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Ethics are important for a multitude of reasons in organizations. Many organizations follow ethical protocols as a way of showing exceptional business practice. Ethics are important in relation to business research. This paper will evaluate a case where unethical business research took place in an organization. The objective is to discuss this case and various key points where some ethical issues were taken into consideration. This article analyzes how an organizations ethics are tested, as they strive for notoriety, and money while making decisions.…

    • 764 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    You currently have completed and/ or are registered for 3 credits, you Unmet conditions for this set of requirements: still need 42 more credits. Accounting and Finance Managerial Accounting Intermediate Accounting I Intermediate Accounting II Federal Taxes and Management Decisions Intermediate Accounting III EMPHASIS ACCT 504 Still Needed: Still Needed: Still Needed: Still Needed: Still Needed: Still Needed: Acct Fin: Managerial Use,Anlys 3 Credits in ACCT 505 3 Credits in ACCT 550 3 Credits in ACCT 551 3 Credits in ACCT 553 3 Credits in ACCT 557 See Emphasis Certified Public Accountant section…

    • 844 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    It's difficult not to be cynical about how “big business” treats the subject of ethics in today's world. In many corporations, where the only important value is the bottom line, most executives merely give lip service to living and operating their corporations ethically.…

    • 1294 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Are businesses in corporate America making it harder for the American public to trust them with all the recent scandals going on? Corruptions are everywhere and especially in businesses, but are these legal or are they ethical problems corporate America has? Bruce Frohnen, Leo Clarke, and Jeffrey L. Seglin believe it may just be a little bit of both. Frohnen and Clarke represent their belief that the scandals in corporate America are ethical problems. On the other hand, Jeffrey L. Seglin argues that the problems in American businesses are a combination of ethical and legal problems. The ideas of ethical problems in corporate America are illustrated differently in both Frohnen and Clarke’s essay and Seglin’s essay.…

    • 952 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Just for Feet

    • 1316 Words
    • 6 Pages

    1. Discuss three management events that occurred that should have been a “red flag” to the auditing firm.…

    • 1316 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    In July of 2002, five officials of the Adelphia cable-television company were arrested on the charge of gross corporate fraud conducted by members of the Rigas family. The events which transpired during the Adelphia scandal were some of the most egregious to date with an estimated "$100 million, hiding more than $2 billion in debt the family incured, and lying to the public about Adelphia 's operations and financial condition (Grant and Nuzum, 2004, p. A1)." During the course of the proceedings it was determined that the Rigas family had been plundering corporate funds in a manner very reminiscent of the Enron accounting scandal one year prior. Both of these companies acted in a decidedly un-deontological manner raising the needs of the self-interested few over the desire to act in a fair and equitable manner. It is their decision to act in this egotistical manner which ultimately brought them to this unfortunate outcome. Before analyzing what the Adelphia officers had done wrong, we should first define the boundaries with which we are judging them by.…

    • 1542 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Blaw Paper

    • 935 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Ethical dilemmas face many companies who are in business to provide services, sell goods or those that do both. Such dilemmas occur when a company has decided to go against the rules and regulations set out to govern their activities. They usually prove costly and the affected companies have to find ways to correct their mistakes. During this correction of mistakes, organizations tend to be sly as they only seek out ways in which they can benefit from such calamities without taking full responsibilities for their actions. This research evaluates the ethical dilemmas facing the Jackson-Miller Corporation.…

    • 935 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Cited: Donaldson, Thomas, Patricia H. Werhane, and Margaret Cording. Ethical Issues in Business. 7th ed. Upper Saddle Rivery: Pearson Education, Inc, 2002.…

    • 1179 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Ethics Program Design

    • 664 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Ethical problems are inevitable at all levels of business and this means that it’s simply makes good sense for companies to take seriously the task of institutionalizing ethics in their company. Accordingly, an important segment of corporate America has begun relying on such tools as, statements of corporate values, codes of conduct, ethic workshops, and hotlines for whistleblowers. In this paper I am outlining an ethics program for a new company. Starting a company with an ethics program already in place will deter unethical behavior by mangers and staff members.…

    • 664 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Jack Ryan

    • 838 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The workplace is littered with ethical dilemmas no matter where you work. For Pacific Trust the primary ethical issues that need attention are Jack Ryan’s negligent behavior toward his work with the Palisades Produce contract. His negligence caused him to be faced with lying to his superior or taking responsibility for his mistakes. The necessity for a course of action to help Jack comes partly from the underlying issue of Stephen Wood’s misconduct within the Middle-market Group.…

    • 838 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Most of that stems from the guidance of a company’s leadership, whether they set unrealistic goals, implement faulty work processes, or set the precedent to hire those who don’t value business ethics as much as they should. In the cost of doing business the unethical way, JPMorgan lost 920 million from the London Whale legal settlements, not including lawyer fees and lost 6.2 billion from making the trades in the first place (1). While the losses are more than survivable for JPMorgan, it hurts their reputation and only further encourages government presence in their industry. When the banking industry finds itself in the negative light much of the time, this incident only threw dirt in the eyes of the public. Now as Chase finds itself in another scandal after being alleged of bribing Chinese officials by hiring their children for contracts, the time for changes in their ethical structure has never been more crucial…

    • 1554 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    Organizational Ethics

    • 8003 Words
    • 33 Pages

    From debates over drug-testing to analyses of scandals on Wall Street, attention to ethics in business organizations has never been greater. Yet, much of the attention given to ethics in the workplace overlooks some critical aspects of organizational ethics.…

    • 8003 Words
    • 33 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Ethics During Change

    • 869 Words
    • 3 Pages

    References: Belcher, l. (2014). Two Challenges That Many Companies Face in the Area of Ethics. Retrieved…

    • 869 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays