Business Ethics and Social Responsibility - Assignment Example

Business Ethics and Social ResponsibilityMs. Betty Vinson was a low-level accountant at the now collapsed WorldCom. She turned from being a good cooperate soldier to being a criminal and got to fraud and conspiracy. According to the prosecutor, she was among those who followed the instructions Scott Sullivan who was the company’s from Chief Financial Officer by then. This saw the company inflate earnings. They hid expenses from $5 billion between the years 2000 and 2002 (Backover & Jelveh, 2002).

The former Chief Financial Officer, Scott Sullivan, insist he is innocent. Others, as the company’s Chief Executive Officer, Bernie Ebbers, still maintain they are innocent. The forty seven year old Betty Vinson together with the 35-year-old Normand would face a sentence of fifteen maximum years, in jail. The sentence, however, can reduce to become years less than fifteen. Also among those who admitted the guilt, according to reports by the US TODAY, are Buford Yates and David Myers. The former was a former accounting director and the latter a former controller.

The two pleaded guilty during the case of the government against WorldCom. The two were former low-level accountants at the collapsed firm. The sentence was not just. Ms. Vinson made the ethical decision as a way of cooperating with the prosecutor. The confession of guilt was a way of cooperation with the prosecutors. This was in exchange for possible leniency. The prosecutor, therefore, should leave Ms. Betty Vinson without putting then to sentence. The two ex-WorldCom accountants were following the orders of the Chief Financial Officer, Scott Sullivan.

Madoff was a Wall Street cognoscente and led the Nasdaq Stock Market. He also was a money manager that many sought-after. Clients believed to have the secret to investment success. He logged 10 percent of the yearly returns and set little down month. He got returns, in the end. He exploited three things. He took advantage of the fact that a significant number of investors sophisticated funds of hedge funds as well as advisers on investment issues. He exploited the fact that a considerable portion of the investors forgot that if something looks too good, then it is questionable.

Madoff also took advantage of regulators’ failure to view his real image. The regulators considered Madoff an influential investment advisor as well as a broker. The discovery of Madoff’s dealings came long after he practiced them for a considerable period. This came with the collapse of markets and a stagnating economy. The resultant seizure of credit rendered Madoff no longer able to continue with the illusion (Goldman, 2009). He admitted the fraud he was running to a Federal Bureau of Investigation agent.

Madoff’s clients had their reasons for their decisions. They received steady returns, Madoff was not stopped by any authority and no one in the business proved to outdo Madoff. Ethics in business and the law show relationships as well as differences. In the two, there is an element of following the order. In the case of the law, ex-WorldCom accountants followed the order of the Chief Financial Officer. In the case of ethics in business, the clients followed the order of the conduct of other investors who invested with Madoff.

They are different since, in law, the victim receives punishment, while in business, the victim does not undergo punishment for following orders. Ethical behavior has an impact on the development of social responsibility for businesses. Madoff did not harness ethical behavior and, therefore, did not take social responsibility for business.ReferencesBackover, A. & Jelveh, Z.  (2002). Two Former WorldCom Accountants Plead Guilty, Will Cooperate. USA Today, Money 2(11) p. 5b. Goldman, M. (2009).

 What Were They Thinking?  Institutional Investor, 43(1), p. 50-53.