Ethics and accountability

From the three corporate scandals listed below, prepare a report suitable for submission to a board of directors that discusses:

a. the facts relating to the corporate scandal and how the scandal occurred. Identify any similarities between the three scandals (3 marks);

b. the stakeholders involved in the scandal with explanations of how they were affected by the scandal (3 marks);

c. the ethical, legal, accounting and/or corporate governance issues involved in the scandal including how the issues were able to occur. Identify any similarities

between the three scandals (6 marks);

d. a comparison between Enron and each of the corporate scandals you have selected, identifying any similarities or differences between the corporate scandals and

Enron (8 marks); and

e. Suggest improvements and changes, based on theories of utilitarianism and deontology. Also suggest any new or adjusted regulations and codes of conduct etc (if

any), that you would like to introduce (if it was possible) so corporate scandals such as Enron and the scandals you have selected do not happen in the future. If you

do not suggest any changes please justify using appropriate ethical theories. (5 marks).

Recent Corporate Scandals
1. Olympus Corporation
2. Australian Wheat Board (AWB)
3. Lehman Brothers

Sources of information:
Newspapers, journals, media releases, bulletins, court judgments, accounting magazines etc.

Report Format:

1. Cover Page

2. Letter of Transmittal: The letter of transmittal is used to provide a brief insight about the context of the report, and highlight specific sections which should be

studied properly by the reader.

3. Title Page

4. Table of Content

5. Abstract: The abstract or summary is basically a brief insight about the entire report. Hence, it should include points like the objective of the report, procedure,

results, and conclusion. The information should be clear and precise, and should not be very long. It can be just 1 or 2 paragraphs in length.

6. Introduction

7. Body of Report: The above discussion a to e

8. Conclusion

9. Recommendations

10. Reference

11. Appendix