Why Didn’t KPMG’s “Speak-Up” Culture Work? The recent scandal between KPMG and the Australian government centers around the firm’s solicitation of audit clients subsequent to receiving insider information about the bids from other firms to gain audit contracts. KPMG violated independence because of the conflict of interest emanating from ties of firm partners to board […]
KPMG-Australia Scandal: A Case of Decision Drift Read More »
Introduction The recent scandal between Big-Four firm KPMG and the Australian government centers around the firm’s solicitation of audit clients subsequent to receiving insider information about the bids from other firms to gain audit contracts. KPMG violated independence because of the conflict of interest emanating from ties of firm partners to board members at the
KPMG-Australia Scandal: A Cautionary Scandal Read More »
Beware of Rationalizations for Unethical Behavior Why Do Good People Sometimes do bad things, in general? In the past, I have blogged about this issue. I have explored, “What Does “Doing good by being good” mean? Simply stated, it highlights the idea that when one acts with kindness and compassion (being good) it will lead to
Why Do Good People Compromise Their Ethical Values? Read More »
Do Whistleblower Awards Lead to More Whistleblowing? The ethics of whistleblowing is a tricky matter. Whistle-blowing brings two moral values, fairness and loyalty, into conflict. Doing what is fair or just (e.g., promoting an employee based on talent alone) often conflicts with showing loyalty (e.g., promoting a longstanding but unskilled employee). Taken to its extreme
What Motivates Someone to Blow the Whistle? Read More »
Things to Think About Before Deciding Whether to Blow the Whistle Have you ever wondered when, how, and why whistleblowing first began? I did during the time that I researched whistleblowing cases for a paper that I wrote. I believe you will find the following interesting and instructive. Background The first reported case of whistleblowing
What Have We Learned from Whistleblowing Cases? Read More »
How Corporate Culture Drove Decision-Making The story of Boeing is it placed profits ahead of safety and the result has been a series of crashes/mechanical problems that have led to inspections by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and litigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). In this blog I will address the culture
Boeing: Putting Profits Ahead of Safety Read More »
02/29/2024A Cautionary TaleI’ve always been intrigued by the philosophy of whistleblowing. It is an act of conscience and notmotivated by self-interest.A broad view of whistleblowing is the disclosure by organization members (former or current) of illegal,immoral, or illegitimate practices under the control of their employers, to persons or organizations thatmay be able to affect action.
When Should You Blow the Whistle? Read More »
Is Whistleblowing a Moral Act? Whistleblowers can be seen as heroes, disloyal, or even selfish if, in the latter case, the motivation for blowing the whistle is to gain a financial award, as is available under the Commodities Future Trading Commission (CFTC), Federal False Claims Act, IRS, SEC and the Dodd-Frank Financial Reform Act. Whistleblowers
Considerations in Deciding Whether to Blow the Whistle Read More »
An Example of Hubris, Incompetence, and Greed I always tell my students that the best way to learn about ethics, or the lack thereof, is through a case study. What follows is a mini-case study of the FTX fraud. Last week Sam Bankman-Fried was found guilty of misappropriating and embezzling billions of dollars of his
The Story of FTX and Sam Bankman-Fried Read More »
Do Whistleblower Awards Lead to More Whistleblowing? The ethics of whistleblowing is a tricky matter. Whistle-blowing brings two moral values, fairness and loyalty, into conflict. Doing what is fair or just (e.g., promoting an employee based on talent alone) often conflicts with showing loyalty (e.g., promoting a longstanding but unskilled employee). Taken to its extreme
What Motivates Someone to Blow the Whistle? Read More »