Case Teaching Note Arthur Andersen: Shredding the Reputation and Viability of a Once Venerable Accounting Firm |CASE SUMMARY | Four days before the high-flying‚ energy-trading giant‚ Enron‚ disclosed a $618 million loss for the third quarter of 2001‚ an attorney for Arthur Andersen‚ the accounting firm that audited Enron’s books‚ wrote a memo to Andersen
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Case 5: Arthur Andersen: Questionable Accounting Practices April 28‚ 2012 Case 5: Arthur Andersen: Questionable Accounting Practices Describe the legal and ethical issues surrounding Andersen’s auditing of companies accused of accounting improprieties. Arthur Andersen LLP (Andersen) was involved with several legal and ethical issues regarding several of their clients being accused of accounting improprieties. Andersen may not have been directly involved with most of these improprieties;
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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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1913‚ Arthur Andersen LLP was found in Chicago‚ developed to become one of the “big five” largest accounting firm in the US. In 2003‚ after 90 years of business‚ the Chicago-based accounting firm was forced to close its doors because of accounting scandal I. The advent of consulting In the 1950s‚ Andersen began providing consulting services and over the next 30 years‚ Andersen’s consulting business became more profitable. With quick development of consulting sector‚ in 1999‚ Andersen separated
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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: Questionable Accounting Practices Arthur Andersen LLP was founded in Chicago in 1913 by Arthur Andersen and partner Clarence DeLany. After 90 years of hard work‚ this accounting firm we become known as one of the Big Five largest accounting firms in the United States. Andersen set standards for the accounting profession and advanced new initiatives on the strength of its then undeniable integrity. By the 1980s‚ standards throughout the industry fell as accountancy firms struggled
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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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related to accounting frauds; mostly falsifying records on the accounting books such as unrecorded debts and higher assets. These actions 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
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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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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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