Should Worldcom Ceo Bernard Ebbers Been Sentenced to 25 Years in Prison free essay sample

The WorldCom fraud that came to light in 2002 was an example of many things that went wrong within the organization. Unethical conduct by its senior leadership beginning with Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Bernard Ebbers was certainly at the forefront of these problems. The question is should a CEO like Ebbers have been sentenced to prison for his liability in the WorldCom scandal? My answer is yes, he should’ve gone to prison as well as other CEOs who engage in unethical conduct that results in laws being violated. I will support my answer by aking a look at the duties of a CEO, focusing on leadership responsibilities and accountability. I will discuss causes of ethical problems in CEOs and finish by discussing utilitarian and deontological ethical issues as they pertained to Ebbers. Background As the telecommunications industry slowed in the late 1990s, WorldCom’s stock price began to decrease. Ebbers came under pressure from financial institutions to cover margin calls on WorldCom stock he used to finance other businesses (Vasatka, 2007). We will write a custom essay sample on Should Worldcom Ceo Bernard Ebbers Been Sentenced to 25 Years in Prison? or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page From 1999 to 2002, a few WorldCom senior executives engaged in fraudulent accounting practices. These practices were esigned to portray losses as growth to the public. Ebbers resigned as CEO under pressure for several reasons unrelated to the accounting fraud on April 29, 2002 (Beresford, Katzenbach Rogers, 2003). Cynthia Cooper led an internal audit investigation of suspected accounting irregularities in May-June 2002. According to Ms. Cooper’s statement, she discussed the investigation with WorldCom Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Scott Sullivan on June 12, 2002. She then discussed her investigation with two others on June 13, 2002. They were Max E. Bobbitt, Chairman of the Audit Committee, WorldCom Board of Directors and Mr.Farrell Malone, engagement partner of KMPG, LLP, an external audit agency. The Board of Directors met on June 25, 2002 and decided to publish a revised financial statement for 2001 and first quarter 2002. They also decided to report this action to the U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the events leading up to it (WorldCom, 2002). The SEC launched its own investigation into the matter (Vasatka, 2007) and brought civil action against a number of WorldCom executives in June 2002 (SEC, 2002). WorldCom filed for bankruptcy protection on July 21, 2002. The U. S. Justice Department rought criminal charges against Ebbers and several other WorldCom executives. For his role in the scandal, Ebbers was convicted in Federal court on March 15, 2005 and then on July 13, 2005 sentenced to 25 years in prison. The CEO as a Leader To examine the issues in this case from a normative ethics viewpoint, I believe that we should see what a CEO does in performing the leadership functions of their job as they relate to ethical issues. A good description of the CEO’s leadership role can be found in The Duties of a Chief Executive Officer (Wibowo Kleiner, 2005). The authors cite information in CEO Causes of Ethical Problems in CEOs The position of CEO is one that has a great deal of power. There is a quote from British historian Lord Acton (1834-1902): â€Å"Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men† (Lewis, n. d. ). In the article No Fair Shake for Shareholders, the author discusses the CEO personality as possibly contributing to the ethical problems that arise with some CEOs. Traits such as a strong ego, left unchecked can turn into bad behavior. CEOs normally are good salesmen and they often sell themselves on how good they are which inflates their egos. A weak board of directors can fail to hold a CEO accountable. He stresses board responsibilities relative to CEO accountability (Wilson, 1989). In the article The Responsibility of the CEO Providing Ethical and Moral Leadership, Lewis says that there is a difference between what is legal and what is ethical. He stresses the need for a culture of ethics within an organization where all team players practice good ethics, including the CEO. He says laws only deal with part of the ethical issues faced by businesses. He cites heavy competition and pressure many employees feel to engage in unethical behavior as some of the keys to the problem. Good corporate governance, beginning with the CEO, is very important to building a good ethical culture within the organization (Lewis, 2002). Discussion of Ethical Issues Pertaining to Ebbers Ebbers had a responsibility to the employees of the company, investors, and the public to report WorldCom’s finances accurately and honestly. He was accountable to the board of directors for his actions as CEO – both good and bad. Ebbers should’ve had loyalty to these people to help them avoid the monetary losses resulting from WorldCom’s shaky financial situation. This is an example of a utilitarian ethics issue. Due to his position, he should’ve had the greater good of all these people in mind as he ran WorldCom. However, Ebbers allowed unethical practices to continue with his knowledge, with the consequence that many people lost money when WorldCom went bankrupt. Ebbers had an obligation to provide honest financial statements in order to not to violate the rights of others. He failed in this obligation, violating the rights of many people in the process. This is an example of deontological ethics. Continuing on this track, investors also have a right to know the truth about companies that they are investing in or may invest in. They also have an obligation to learn as much about the companies they are investing in or planning to invest in. Due to the fraud committed by senior executives and allowed by Ebbers, WorldCom’s public financial statements made it difficult for investors to know the truth about its financial health. Even with the fraudulent statements, some investors were able to learn of some of the irregularities in WorldCom. Shareholders filed a lawsuit against WorldCom in June 2001 alleging widespread fraudulent accounting practices. The case was subsequently thrown out by a judge in Mississippi (Weinberg, 2002). In this example of deontological ethics shareholders acted to protect their rights. Also by learning the truth about WorldCom they fulfilled their obligation to gain as much knowledge about the company as they could. In addition to Ebbers’ failings, there are others that should be mentioned in this discussion of ethics. First, WorldCom documents and testimony of employees revealed that some employees discovered problems as far back as 2000, tried to do something to correct them, and failed (Waggoner, 2002). The question is how hard did these people try to correct what they saw that was wrong? From a utilitarian ethics perspective, they had to know many people could get hurt if this continued. Secondly, regarding the shareholder lawsuit previously mentioned why didn’t the board of directors or the SEC act when these allegations were made? The board failed to hold Ebbers accountable for the accounting fraud that was being uncovered nearly two years from the time it went public in 2000. From a deontological ethics viewpoint, they had an obligation to look into these allegations so that the rights of others wouldn’t be violated. Conclusion Ebbers’ conviction and prison sentence were justified. From a utilitarian ethics perspective, he was responsible and accountable to serve the greater good of others and failed in that capacity. From a deontological viewpoint, he also had an obligation to ensure the rights of others associated with WorldCom wouldn’t be violated and he failed to meet this obligation as well. Contributing factors to the WorldCom fiasco were poor corporate governance and a corporate culture where some employees were aware of problems but failed to get corrective action taken.

Les Miserables essays

Les Miserables essays Many beliefs exist about redemption and the pursuit of such a divine principle. In Victor Hugos Les Miserables, JeanValjean seeks redemption and deliverance from his past sins by acting as a savior of underprivileged citizens in Paris. However, one must also explore the character of Javert, for these men ultimately pursue redemption. Both men obey the duties of their conscience, and both must make sacrifices, yet one man receives deliverance from his sins, and the latter, Javert, is overcome by them. These two men differ only in their interpretation of duty, demonstrating that merely abiding by ones conscience cannot always equal redemption. While seemingly good, Javerts actions spur from motives of none but Javert, and as such, render the foundation for greater injustices. The scruple of Javerts actions early became duty alone, and late into Javerts life duty remains his only dictator. Javerts ideal was not to be humane, not to be great, it was to be reproachable, and perform a duty to society that involves ridding the Parisian world of scum, or what he denounces as such (1324). The fact of the matter remains that with every hour and every action encompassed in this mans life, duty never exists as his primary concern, it exists as his only concern. Furthermore, when confronting the first and only dilemma of his conscience, Javert questions, Is there anything in the world besides tribunals, sentences, police, and authority? (1321). Such extreme moral conformity to the dictates of ones chosen conscience shields the beholder from all truths but ones own, and in the case of Javert, this singular conformity becomes the g reatest source of the purest selfishness known to man. Javert dutifully follows his conscience, which has impurities of great consequence, therefore all actions of Javerts doing have great consequence. This cause-effect reaction ma...

Concept Paper Research Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Concept - Research Paper Example Running head: Signature Assignment Concept Paper Submitted to Northcentral University Graduate Faculty of the School of Business and Technology Management in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION By Felix J. ... Introduction Dynamism in management that has led to environmental features such as globalization, flattened hierarchy, increased regulatory scrutiny, and fragmented enterprises identifies the importance of Virtual management tools in any business organization. An insight into virtual management tools and their significance therefore facilitates an understanding of the current and future state of project management. Team players can for example use several collaboration tools to overcome decentralization challenges and to support team collaboration and sharing of ideas towards ensuring successful project implementation. The use of virtual management tools, in addition to creating a contemporary type of project management, identifies potential challenges that may arise during project implementation especially in an oil-producing environment. Applied tools in an oil-producing environment should for instance aid development of exceptional leadership qualities, highly performing team play ers, clarity of methodology and knowledge at the point of exploit. A good example is the installation and use of real time sensors that offers a proactive approach to asset management in an oil producing company. Literature Review Virtual management tools play important roles in coordinating virtual teams towards a cohesive environment. This is because virtual management tools initiates attachment among team members that can either between the members themselves or between a member and the organization. The association among team members is however identified to be more significant in developing cohesion among virtual team members (Ren, et al, 2012). The significance of such a developed level of cohesion among virtual team

Ideal Sampling Frame in Marketing Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 4

Ideal Sampling Frame in Marketing - Assignment Example The scale is mostly used by marketers when previous information about a particular product is not available. If the marketer simply base his decision of manufacturing a product on the basis of the results that state that more consumer has selected the probably will buy and definitely will buy the product, then he may end up making a mistake because usually very low number of consumers who state that definitely will buy might not actually buy the product. Â  The ideal sampling frame is a term used to denote a sample frame in which the entire population is accessible and no one is missing, this does not take place in the real world. In the absence of such frame, an alternate way called representative sampling can be utilized to determining the same sample frame may be used with aid of characteristics of the sample that need to be tested. Â  Probability sampling is referred to the selection of samples that are selected on a random basis and not in accordance with the convenience of the researcher. Non-probability sampling arises when samples are selected in a random manner in accordance with convenience. Example: Conducting a survey of the school you study and selecting school students as sample. Â  

Literature - Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, The Picture of Dorian Gray and The Essay

Literature - Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, The Picture of Dorian Gray and The Time Machine - Essay Example In describing the human experience during the fin de seicle era, sociologist Marshall Berman says â€Å"they are moved at once by a will to change – to transform both themselves and their world – and by a terror of disorientation and disintegration, of life falling apart† (Berman, 1982). Through this statement, it is easy to see the conflicting emotions of an individual experiencing the type of rapid change that has characterized society since this period. As the people living during this period became more familiar with the concepts of Sigmund Freud and the hidden recesses of the mind and the ideas of Charles Darwin and the processes of natural selection and evolution, it became a necessity to examine the beliefs and customs of their inner selves. No longer was the world considered stable so the only center of gravity had to be found within, yet the world within was even more threatening. Many of the old values were shifting as factories rose and cities were bui lt. Women were gaining new freedoms and the old aristocracy, with its life of leisure and waste, was slowly falling into disrepute as enterprising and hard-working individuals from the lower classes began to make names for themselves, building up a middle class that valued work above play and based wealth upon monetary measures rather than the size of one’s property holdings. The resulting clash of values also constituted a meeting between the self and the other, as landed gentry struggled to come to grips with the new boldness of the rising middle class. It was during the fin de seicle era in particular that the question of the inner nature of man and his ultimate direction in life were made the focus of scientific study at the same time that the pace and direction of life were thrown into chaos, explaining this period’s fascination with the concept of the monstrous. The novel The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, written by Robert Louis Stevenson in 1886, presents the ultimate

Curcumin as an Antioxidant and Anti-inflammatory Agent

Curcumin as an Antioxidant and Anti-inflammatory Agent Several studies in recent years have demonstrated curcumin as an antioxidant and anti-inflammatory agent  the presence of persistent inflammatory stimuli, which interrupt the physiological healing mechanisms. An ideal biomedical device for wound care should promote the complete regeneration of the injured tissue, effectively restore its  biological activity and aesthetic aspect, while reducing inflammation and preventing microbial invasion.1,2 Efforts for achieving this goal are leading to the replacement of traditional passive products with advanced ones.3 Among these, alginate-based dressings are attractive for their capability to release bioactive compounds and to maintain a moist environment around the wound, promoting tissue granulation and re-epithelialization.4-8Typically they are available in form of freeze-dried foams  or non-woven microfibers, though great research interest is nowadays devoted towards nanofibrous matrices. Inflammation is a physiological response to wounding and is required for wound healing to progress. However, excessive or inappropriate inflammation provides an ideal environment for bacterial infiltration and proliferation and may cause serious health problems. So, the prolonged inflammation characterizing the chronic wounds is a promising target for therapeutic interventions Active agents have been loaded in various of form of carriers such as foams,4 hydrogels,5 films,6 sponges,7 etc., and more recently in the form of polymeric nanofibers.3,8 These polymeric nanofibers have attracted special attention for use in wound dressings due to their very fine diameter, highly porous structure, and so on.1,9 A popular and inexpensive technique for fabricating polymeric nanofibers is electrospinning (ES).3 In particular, nanofibers produced by electrostatic spinning have high potentiality in the wound healing field because their porosity promotes nutrient transport and gas permeation, their morphological organization mimics the native tissue, and their mechanical properties can be engineered.5,9-11 The intrinsic high surface area of nanofibers is also attractive for the delivery of drugs and active agents.2,1 The large surface area of the fiber matrix allow for increased interaction with the tissue,  thereby serves as a substrate for the sustained delivery of bioactive molecules as well as to  modulate cellular functions during regeneration Nanofibers fabricated by ES have an extremely large specific surface area, high porosity, and good pore interconnectivity.10,11 These properties are very similar to the natural extracellular matrix structure that supports cell attachment and proliferation.12 It was found that active ingredients can be encapsulated directly into nanofibers by electrospinning a mixture solution containing an agent and a polymer.9,13 Because of their unique properties, the electrospun nanofibers can meet the ideal equirements for wound dressing in that they (1) promote a hemostatic phase, (2) provide a moist environment that stimulates wound healing, (3) protect the wound from bacterial penetration, (4) functionalize dressings by incorporating therapeutic agents, and (5) potentially leave no scars.1,14 The use of biopolymers capable of ES for wound dressing is becoming inevitable because they can generate safe environmental products and easily be washed of the wound surface.1,3 A variety of biopolymers such as PVA,3PLA,11poly(urethane),14  gelatin,15 chitosan,16 polycaprolactone (PCL),17 and some blends of these biopolymers have been electrospun and evaluated  for wound dressing. PCL is a semi-crystalline polymer well known for its nonimmunogenicity, slow biodegradability, and high  biocompatibility.17,18 Due to its non-toxic in nature and flexible mechanical properties, PCL is ideal material for wound dressing and tissue engineering.18,19 Although PCL nanofiber mat closely mimics the natural extracellular matrix, its hydrophobicity reduces cell attachment. addition of PEG in PCL result in   high cell affinity and porous surface of the nanofiber mats   and support cell  proliferation. Chrysin (5,7-dihydroxyflavone) is a natural flavonoid contained in many plant extracts [1]. Many polyphenolic compounds, including chrysin, are known to have multiple biological activities, such as anti-inflammation [2,3], anti-cancer [4,5], anti-oxidation [6,7], and estrogenic effects [6] Chrysin (5,7-dihydroxyflavone structure shown in Fig. 1), a flavonoid, is the main component of Oroxylum indicum ( Sun et al., 2006), which is one herbal medicine commonly used in China and other East Asian countries, and has been officially listed in the Chinese Pharmacopoeia for a long time (Editorial committee, 1999). Like other flavonoids, chrysin exhibits many biological activities and pharmacological effects, including antioxidant (Chaudhuri et al., 2007), anti-inflammatory (Fishkin and Winslow, 1997), anticancer (Habtemariam, 1997) and antihypertension (Villar et al., 2002). Chrysin also has the potential for clinical and therapeutic applications against the physiological and biochemical effects of aging (Chakraborty et al., 2009). In spite of these unique biological activities of curcumin, the in vivo stability and  bioavailablity of the molecule is very low Here we show that dressings constituted by electrospun nanofibers of sodium alginate containing lavender essential  oil are effective for the treatment of UVB-induced skin injuries. In vitro studies revealed that these entirely natural systems were  highly biocompatible and able to inhibit the proliferation of S. aureus. Together with antibacterial activity, the produced alginate based nanofibers expressed a remarkable anti-inflammatory efficacy that was demonstrated in vitro on lipopolysaccharide stimulated human foreskin fibroblasts, and in vivo on rodent model of UVB burns. In particular, a significant decrement of the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines was observed for both cells and animals. Interestingly, no marks of erythema were detected on the skin of the injured animals that were treated with the electrospun dressings, indicating that the treatment promptly stopped the inflammatory response. Differently from other topical preparations for the management of burn wo unds, the here described biomedical devices perform dual functions (antibacterial and anti-inflammatory) and, thus, have potentialities to fill the void of multifunctional dressings that the market is still facing The objective of this study was to develop curcumin loaded PCL nanofibers by the process of electrospinning and to evaluate  the biological activity of the curcumin loaded fibers using in vitro and in vivo methods. We investigated the feasibility of developing bead free curcumin loaded PCL nanofibers by controlling the elecrospinning parameters. The bioactivity of encapsulated curcumin in the nanofibers was investigated using various in vitro methods and comparisons were made against the corresponding PCL nanofibers. Finally, the in vivo efficacy of the curcumin loaded PCL fibers vs PCL fibers was evaluated using healing impaired diabetic mouse model. in view of the high level of oxidative stress and persistent inflammation associated with delayed  healing in diabetic wounds, the present study was conducted to investigate the temporal wound healing potential of topically applied curcuminin diabetic rats The increased oxidative stress is one of the most common complications for the delayed wound healing in diabetics [3]. Therefore, reduction/ termination of the persistent inflammation and elimination of free radicals by the introduction of an anti-inflammatory agent and antioxidant into the treatment of wounds could be an important strategy to improvehealing of diabetic wounds.

Custom Essays: Claudius the Beast in Shakespeares Hamlet

Claudius the Beast in Hamlet      Ã‚  Ã‚   Philip Burton in â€Å"Hamlet† discusses Claudius’ sudden rise to the Danish throne upon the death of King Hamlet I in Shakespeare’s tragedy, Hamlet:    The fact that Claudius has become king is not really surprising. Only late in the play does Hamlet complain that his uncle had "popped in between the election and my hopes." The country had been in a nervous state expecting an invasion by young Fortinbras, at the head of a lawless band of adventurers, in revenge for his father’s death at the hands of King Hamlet. A strong new king was immediately needed; the election of Claudius, particularly in the absence of Hamlet, was inevitable. What is more, it was immediately justified, because Claudius manages to dispel the threat of invasion by appealing to the King of Norway to curb his nephew, Fortinbras; the ambitious young soldier was the more ready to cancel the projected invasion because the object of his revenge, Hamlet’s father, was now dead, and in return he received free passage through Denmark to fight against Poland. (Burton)    This essay will thoroughly delineate the character of King Claudius, show his place in the drama, and interpret his character -- with the assistance of literary critics.    The drama opens after Hamlet has just returned from Wittenberg, England, where he has been a student. What brought him home was the news of his father’s death and his father’s brother’s accession to the throne of Denmark. Hamlet has also learned of the disturbing news of the new king’s â€Å"o’erhasty marriage† to Hamlet I’s wife less than two month’s after the funeral of Hamlet’s father (Gordon 128). It would seem initially that Gertrude, â€Å"kindly, slow witted† (Pitt 47), rather th... ...e Tragedies. Ed. Clarice Swisher. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1996. Rpt. of Shakespeare’s Women. N.p.: n.p., 1981.    Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 1995. http://www.chemicool.com/Shakespeare/hamlet/full.html    Ward & Trent, et al. The Cambridge History of English and American Literature. New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1907–21; New York: Bartleby.com, 2000 http://www.bartleby.com/215/0816.html    West, Rebecca. â€Å"A Court and World Infected by the Disease of Corruption.† Readings on Hamlet. Ed. Don Nardo. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1999. Rpt. from The Court and the Castle. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1957.    Wilkie, Brian and James Hurt. â€Å"Shakespeare.† Literature of the Western World. Ed. Brian Wilkie and James Hurt. New York: Macmillan Publishing Co., 1992.