AVOIDING INVESTMENTS IN FRAUDULENT COMPANIES: THE WORLDCOM FRAUD Introduction The purpose of this report is to investigate and discuss the accounting fraud that occurred at WorldCom in order to recommend improved strategies to Berkshire Hathaway’s management for avoiding investments in companies with fraudulent financials. Accounting fraud is a crime committed by high level employees at an organization to manipulate the organization’s financial statements and intentionally disguise company
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involved a partnership called Southampton Place. A group of Enron insiders‚ including its former CFO‚ Andrew S. Fastow‚ used it to turn a profit of millions of dollars through an investment in a transaction involving the company. None of those executives were authorized by the company to make the investment‚ according to a report of the special committee of
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WorldCom Scandal Formerly known as WorldCom‚ now known as MCI‚ this U.S.-based telecommunications company was at one time the second-largest long distance phone company in the U.S. Today‚ it is perhaps best known for a massive accounting scandal that led to the company filing for bankruptcy protection in 2002. In 1998‚ the telecommunications industry began to slow down and WorldCom’s stock was declining. CEO Bernard Ebbers came under increasing pressure from banks to cover margin calls on
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The WorldCom Accounting Scandal WorldCom was started in Mississippi as a long distance telephone service provider in 1983 (Lyke and Jickling‚ 2). Over the next decade and a half‚ the company expanded to offer a whole range of telecommunication services through a series of mergers and acquisitions (Lyke and Jickling‚ 2). At its height‚ WorldCom was the largest long distance phone company in the United States and was one of the leading companies in the telecommunication market in the world‚ providing
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WorldCom Scandal A summary of WorldCom fraud would include having to describe the greed that would eventually destroy one of the largest communications companies in the United States and world. A humble motel owner‚ Bernard Ebbers took a small long distance company in 1983 and turned it into one of the most successful businesses in the country. It was not so much the business operations that caused the company to grow but the aggressive acquisitions that made the company grow. In its day‚ CEO Bernard
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added to food‚ water‚ or the air supply. Individuals who become sick from the toxin develop progressive paralysis that is fatal 60% of the time if left untreated. But if a patient receives treatment in time‚ the likelihood of death falls to less than 5%. Unfortunately‚ the current standard blood test for detecting the botulinum toxin in adults is slow—and gruesome. Blood from the patient is injected into mice; if the rodents develop symptoms of botulism and die‚ the test is positive. But it can take
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WorldCom Failure in relation to its Organizational Behavior LDR/531 - Organizational Leadership October 7‚ 2010 WorldCom Failure in relation to its Organizational Behavior INTRODUCTION Year 2002 saw an unprecedented number of corporate scandals: Enron‚ Tyco‚ Global Crossing‚ etc. In many ways‚ WorldCom is just another case of failed corporate governance‚ accounting abuses‚ and outright greed. Many people may question if there is a secret to operating a successful business in modern times.
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Accounting Fraud at WorldCom 1) What are the pressures that lead executives and managers to “cook the books?” After the rapid evolution of the telecommunication industry in the 1990s‚ WorldCom shifted its strategy to focus on building revenues and acquiring capacity sufficient to handle expected growth. Their biggest goal was to be the No. 1 stock on Wall Street rather than capturing the market share. As a result‚ their Expense-to-Revenue (E/R) Ratio was their measurement for their main objective
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5 Qualities of a Good Manager 2/14/2006 When I think of pioneers in management history that set the bar for good managers Dr. W. Edwards Deming is the first person that comes to mind. It is difficult to limit his 14 points of quality management down to 5‚ but for the assignment’s sake I will choose 5 of my favorite. Maybe I am biased towards his management obligations because he is an Iowa native‚ but Deming’s quality teachings used in Japan after 1950‚ while the country was rebuilding after
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Though Kenneth played a smaller role in management‚ following the takeover‚ he soon became chief executive officer (CEO) and moved the headquarters from Omaha to Houston. During 2001‚ it had become apparent that a number of special purpose entities were not consolidated in the balance sheet and the company admitted that there had been a number of financial reporting irregularities over the period 1997 to 2000. This made a lot of people suspicious about the company when they heard about it. One of
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