Business Ethics Decision-Making Cases Write-ups Arthur Andersen: Questionable Accounting Practices Name: Wen Jiangshan Student ID:2011008274 Part I. Summary of the case Case 2 mainly introduces how Arthur Andersen‚ who used to be one of the “Big Five” largest accounting firms in the United States‚ strayed away from accepted policies and stuck in a string of accounting scandals‚ finally closed its doors after 90 years of business. The firm’s name was synonymous with
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1. What did Arthur Anderson contribute to the Enron disaster? Arthur Andersen (AA) contributed to the Enron disaster when AA consulting became its own separate entity‚ named Accenture. Revenues from consulting services surpassed revenue from auditing services. A natural competitiveness grew between the two rivals and this is where the problems began to start. Management held maximinizing revenues as their primary focus of success and promotions/bonuses were based on this factor. The CEO of AA‚ Joe
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Arthur Andersen The name Arthur Andersen is a very well known name among households in the world today. At one time‚ the reputation of Arthur Andersen was very positive. However‚ the risky and unethical decisions that were made over the ending years by top management‚ gave Arthur Andersen a famous name with not such a positive reputation. Arthur Andersen became involved in many scandals with the largest being that of Enron Incorporated. Poor decision making by upper management and issues with
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Overview In order “to offer high-quality accounting services”‚ Arthur Andersen (AA)‚ a Northwestern accounting professor started a business to offer services to clients promoting “integrity and sound audit opinions over higher short-run profits”. The company’s “four cornerstones” was good service‚ quality audits‚ well-managed staff‚ and profits for the firm. Their strategy was to focus on quality and high standards of audits rather than profits‚ a very successful strategy that led to consistent
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led to non-existent company profits; ultimately misleading investors to become shareholders of what they thought were “good companies”. Arthur Andersen LLP was one of the “Big Five” accounting firms before having to surrender its licenses to practice as Certified Public Accountants in 2002; due to an accumulation of criminal charges (CNN Money). Arthur Andersen was in charge for the accounting records of several companies including Enron‚ WorldCom‚ and Waste Management. By early 2002‚ they had been
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Valentina Nozdrina COM 3150 Prof. S. Reynolds December 10‚ 2012 Arthur Andersen LLP case study The case “Arthur Andersen‚ LLP: An Accounting Firm in Crisis” explains the failure of Arthur Andersen‚ one of the leading auditing and consulting firms in the world‚ known for professionalism in its field‚ ethical values‚ honest accounting and the elimination of conflicts. Andersen was always focused on creating a firm with its own set of business standards. For many years‚ Andersen’s slogan was
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1. For nearly 90 years‚ Andersen had a culture of doing the right thing. Moral courage defined the organization. However‚ there was a gradual erosion of the culture. Name three cultural changes that contributed to Andersen’s problems and defend your position. The first cultural change was that Andersen embarked on a path that valued consulting service which charged hefty fees ahead of auditing in 1990s. Compared to its original major service‚ auditing that required accountants to insist independence
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ARTHUR ANDERSEN LLP CASE STUDY DUE: Sunday‚ May 12‚ 11:59pm 1. Discuss the environment‚ strategic‚ and organizational changes that occurred over the life of Andersen in the context of figure 11.1. 2. Evaluate Andersen’s claim that their problems on the Enron audit were due to a few “bad partners” in the organization. If you disagree with this claim‚ discuss what you think were the root causes of the problem. 3. Suppose you were Andersen’s managing partner in the early 1990s. Would
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Unethical Practices of Arthur Andersen - Week 2 - CheckPoint: 1. What did Arthur Andersen contribute to the Enron Disaster? Arthur Andersen contributed a lot to the Enron Disaster. Arthur Andersen approved the structure of man Special Purpose Entities (SPE) that were used to generate false profits‚ hide losses‚ and to keep financing off Enron’s consolidated financial statements. Also‚ AA failed to abide by the Generally Accepted Accounting Principle (GAAP). In addition‚ AA did not
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Individual Project Capstone Case Study – Arthur Andersen LLP Bus 680 – Economics for Business Decisions Summer 2013 1. Discuss the environmental‚ strategic and organizational changes that occurred over the life of Andersen in the context of figure 11.1. While Andersen started off as a stable environment‚ once changes started being made to the main focus of the company many changes were expedited. While still successful in it’s auditing business‚ other opportunities arose that allowed for quicker
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