1.4. Parallels between the Swaziland Railway Scandal, the CTA scandal and the Enron Scandal
Lack of sound leadership by the boards of directors. According to the King code 111 and the Sarnanese Oxley there is a need for Ethical leadership and corporate citizenship by a company. Also 1) the board should provide effective leadership based on ethical foundation according to Jackson and Stent (2010) the board of directors is prepared to implement the above mentioned principle, it must direct the strategy and operations of the business towards creating a business that is sustainable. Furthermore, according to Jackson and Stent such a strategy should take into cognisance the long-terms and short-terms impact of the strategy on three key aspects,
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Ineffective audit committee in the Enron and case and no audit committees in the Swaziland railway case and CTA case. According to the King 111 report and the Sarbanese Oxley Act 1) The board should ensure that the company has an effective and independent audit committee The (IOD: 2009) stressed that good corporate governance best practices dictate that a company should have an audit committee. Thus, in line with this principle, the board should approve the terms of reference of the audit committee. 2) The audit committee members should be suitably skilled and experienced non-executive directors Furthermore, the (IOD: 2009) contends that all members of the audit committee should be independent non-executive directors and there should be at least three members. The audit committee should collectively have sufficient financial knowledge of financial risks, financial sustainability reporting and internal controls. 3) The audit committee should oversee integrated reporting. The board of a company may delegate its responsibility for reporting and internal controls to the audit committee. Jackson and Stent (2010) noted that the audit committee will make recommendations to the board which will, after evaluating such recommendations, approve or reject them. One of the responsibilities of the audit committee is to monitor the integrity and completeness of the company’s financial reporting. This includes evaluating judgements and reporting decisions, such as changes in accounting …show more content…
Lack of truthfulness by managements on all sides. According to the King 111 report and the Sarbanese Oxley Act, 1) the board should ensure that the company is, and is seen to be a responsible corporate citizen. According to the (IOD: 2009) the success of the company can be measured using various yardsticks that include financial performance as well as the impact of the company on the economy, society and the environment. Thus, according to the King III the company should protect, enhance and, invest in the welfare of the economy, society and the environment. The King III emphasised the fact that being a good citizen for the company imply formulation of an ethical relationship of responsibility between the company and the society within which it operates. Thus while it can be argued that companies have rights, they have legal and moral obligations to with regards to their social and natural
In this paper, I am going to discuss and explain my opinions on why company Q is or is not socially responsible. Company Q recently closed a couple of stores in high crime areas. Company Q also started offering very limited health conscious and organic products. The local food bank has contacted Company Q requesting day old food for donations. Company Q has declined the donation request due to possible fraud by its employees and has started throwing the food away.
A financial audit is an independent, objective evaluation of an organization 's financial reports and financial reporting processes. The primary purpose for financial audits is to give stakeholders reasonable assurance that financial statements are accurate and complete. Most internal audits are not adding value. One reason is that “ongoing compliance burdens and pressure to do more with less” is contributing to the decline in perceived internal audit value.
The Corporate Social Responsibility of the company is responsible for the welfare of society. The company did not think about the community. Thus, the company had to face the title of being unethical resulting in losing its
Verizon’s Board of Directors oversees all auditing activities and they implement the code of ethics for all financial officers. Verizon has at least three members for their Audit Committee, which includes independent Directors who need to be financially literate. Also, the Committee Chair must have accounting or financial management expertise and at least one member of the committee must be a financial expert. The Board of Directors will choose the Committee members by their qualifications and are appointed annually by the Board of Directors. The purpose of the Ethics Audit Committee is to assist the Board of Directors in monitoring the integrity of the Verizon’s accounting and financial reporting and its internal controls, the performance
Legitimacy theory is a “positive theory” that asserts that businesses are bound by the implicit “social contract” that the corporation agrees to perform that are specifically relating to social and environmental issues (Rankin, et al. 2012, 142). To remain congruent with societal values in which it operates, a corporation can address attributes that relate to this theory through voluntary social and environmental disclosures made on platforms like its annual report (Coebergh 2011, 65). Virgin Australia has various groups of important stakeholders who can affect or is affected by both the actions and activities of the corporation (Laasch and Conaway 2014, 97). They are namely, guests, employees, investor groups and shareholders, unions, non-government
In my opinion, businesses have a tremendous responsibility because they are the ones that are producing the most
The primary purpose of a government should be to protect and serve its people, right? Not always. Consider this; what if the governments top priority is really itself? In Arthur Millers The Crucible, their government becomes selfish and exhibits corruption, argues evidence, and is unfair to its people. Governments tend to move away from the best interest of the people and only serve the agendas of a few to preserve their own reputation. One example of government only looking to preserve its reputation is exhibited in Act I when Parris attempts to save face.
Sir John A. Macdonald and the Canadian Government realized that it was necessary to build a railway for several governmental administrative reasons, such as enhancing the simplicity of travel and trade between provinces. As a result, the Dominion of Canada began manufacturing the Canadian Pacific Railway, which stretched from the Atlantic coast all the way across the continent to the Pacific. Furthermore, the Canadian Pacific Railway Company was established in early 1881 and instantaneously signed a contract with the Government to complete the construction of the line entirely within 10 years (Leary 8). During this tedious process, rails were progressing and advancing at a rapid speed, and by November 7, 1885, the final railing in the central
He mentioned that just individuals have responsibility and a corporation is an artificial person and so it has artificial responsibilities, however the similar situation cannot be obtained for whole business. He says that, firstly, we should ask what it refers for whom to examine the doctrine of social responsibility of business. He believes that a corporate executive is an employee of the business in a private property sys¬tem and his employers are his re¬sponsibility and says “That responsi¬bility is to conduct the business in accordance with their desires, which generally will be to make as much money as possible while con¬forming to the basic rules of the society, both those embodied in law and those embodied in ethical custom.” The primary responsibility of corporate executive is as an agent for owners of corporation or individuals who constitute charity
A) Introduction Unethical behaviors in business affect everyone since you either work in the field or are a consumer of its services. Unfortunately, almost every company usually has individuals who act unethically whether it is for their personal benefit or for the sake of the company they work for. Unethical behaviors in business might be as simple as using company property or funds for personal gain to inside trading and financial fraud. According to The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, nearly one third of business professionals feel pressured to compromise their ethical standards and are increasingly pushed towards unethical behavior. Moreover, “misconduct is common and accepted by business services professionals, the integrity of entire economic systems is at risk”, states Jordan A. Thomas, partner and chair of the Whistleblower Representation Practice at Labaton Sucharow law firm.
In this Enron Scandal ,several moral issues and values are being discussed .The moral issues is the misconduct of code of ethics by management level of a corporation , violation of code of professional ,ethical dilemma that faced by a management level when involved own interest . The first moral issues that discussed in Enron Scandal is misconduct code of ethics by management level of a corporation .In this case ,the mastermind of this scandal is the company CEO , Mr .
All other functions are underpinned by the economic role of business in society. •Legal responsibilities - Although companies have their economical fundamental role they are expected to comply with the laws and regulations of the country they operate in. The legal expectations apply to companies, as juristic entities that can act as persons, and the employees they employ regardless of their responsibility. •Ethical responsibilities - Companies are also expected to comply with the ethical norms of a society. Because these are normally not written in law and are therefore not a legal requirement it is difficult for companies to behave and follow it.
The audit reports are usually used by shareholders, as they would want to check if the money they have invested is put to good use and also to calculate the amount of dividend they would get if the company were doing well. The management and the board of directors as well would use the information to see how well the company is doing and to know if the firm is free from fraud and is assessed properly. The fourth key committee, which helps the board reach targets, is the remuneration committee, which is headed by Deanna Oppenheimer who is the chair of the remuneration
Here you look on the difference between benefits and harms for the society and if the benefits are greater than the decision or an action is considered as ethical, if lower – unethical. Here it is important to identify the stakeholders and an effects on them from actions or decisions of a company. “You can think of a stakeholder as a person or organization that can affect or be affected by your organization. Stakeholders can come from inside or outside of the organization. Examples of stakeholders of a business include customers, employees, stockholders, suppliers, non-profit community organizations, government, and the local community among many others.”
As stated in Principle 1, The Board of Directors directs the Group’s risk assessment, strategic planning, succession planning and financial and operational management to ensure that obligations to shareholders and other stakeholders are understood and met. The board of directors has a collective responsibility for the management of the group to make sure the group is on the way to approach to their objectives while the non-Executive Directors are responsible for bringing independent judgment and scrutiny to decisions taken by the Board of Directors and providing objective challenges to management. Besides, the board of directors also function as formalising and adopting a set of Code of Ethics through the Code of Conduct as Recommendation 1.3 as stated in the Malaysian Code on Corporate Governance 2012 to make sure its compliance, establishing an appropriate set of corporate disclosure policies and procedures and ensuring a whistleblowing mechanism is in place. The Board of Directors recognizes the importance of independence and objectivity in its decision making process. The Directors are professionals of high calibre and integrity and possess in-depth knowledge and experience of the business to enable them to discharge their duties effectively.