Paper Summary:

This paper describes the contrast between WorldCom's mission to provide outstanding telecommunications services and the ensuing corporate fraud which was eventually revealed. According to the paper, the company was focused on increasing shareholder value, a short-term benefit rather than committing to the creation of a strong working environment and a dedication to innovation. Various members of the WorldCom Board of Directors are named and held responsible for scandal. The paper also considers the difficulty faced by the auditor who revealed the fraud, describing her decision as hones and showing integrity. Finally, the paper explores the nature of WorldCom's corporate culture and how decisions were made. The paper concludes with a reference to the book that was written by the auditor who exposed the scandal.

From the Paper:

"The principle of honesty was broken long before the scandal was made public. The examples in this instance are numerous, but probably the most relevant one, which reveals both the lie as well as the immoral conduct, is the offering of false inside information to the telecom analyst, who would use the data to stimulate purchase of the WorldCom stock and its increase in value. The CEO and the CFO secretly communicated with Grubman, but as the company was falling, they argued that it was flourishing, in order to determine the analyst to stimulate additional purchases of WorldCom shares and capital increases. This example also reveals the lack of integrity and fidelity on the part of the company's executive and financial officers, who, despite of their knowledge of financial problems, were two-faced with the telecom analyst."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Cooper, C., Extraordinary Circumstances: The Journey of a Corporate Whistleblower, 2008, John Wiley and Sons Inc.
• McGuire, R., WorldCom's Deadly Culture, World Net Daily, 2003, http://wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=33111 last accessed on February 24, 2009
• Moberg, D., Romar, E., WorldCom, Markkula Center for Applied Ethics, 2002, http://www.scu.edu/ethics/dialogue/candc/cases/worldcom.html last accessed on November 5, 2008
• Reaves, G., Accounting for Anguish, Fort Worth Weekly, May 16, 2002
• Romero, S., Atlas, R.D., WorldCom's Collapse: The Overview; WorldCom Files for Bankruptcy; Largest U.S. Case, New York Times, July 22, 2002

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