World Com free essay sample

WorldCom focused on shareholder value through stock appreciation (not profits or dividends) and the shareholders were highly valued. WorldCom employees performance evaluations werealmost entirely based on right results. (jobsite . com) They created an environment and had the departments and individuals competing with each other. Employees and divisions were constantly under pressure to deliver the required results, at times at each others expense. Since a persons job was at risk if he didnt deliver, there was often the temptation to lie and deceive in order to meet the requirements and stay employed. Since all of this flowed down from, and then bubbled back up to the very top of the company to the executives who had set expectations with investors, the same temptations and the same behaviors existed at all levels within the company. Each department within the company had firm financial goals to meet. Whenever possible, individuals had specific financial goals. We will write a custom essay sample on World Com or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page This behavior created a culture of selfishness, greed, and results at all costs. In the end, it bred lies and deception. This culture resulted in the massive accounting fraud that has been uncovered. Sarno) At the very top of the company you had some executives where pride came into play. These guys were used to winning, they were used to being praised on Wall Street, and didnt want the company to fail on their watch. With some of the midlevel managers, youll read that they became complicit because of pressure from superiors, and they were afraid of losing their jobs and having no way to support their families. (Wnd. com) I think a misguided loyalty was also another reason that people became complicit with this fraud. (Interview) Conclusion The Mission statement of WorldCom should be defined as creating value to their shareholders because this is what they seemed to do very well and at all cost. The WorldCom disaster is not only about greed but the corporate culture that fostered dependent workers low self esteem, who could not exercise free will and who performed for external rewards. Corporate fraud is the results of how a corporation is managed and how the employees value the work they do and their jobs. Ethics training wouldnt work in this corporation because of the environment. The employees were focusing on monetary values and ethics went out the window. It took a lot of strength for Cynthia Cooper to stand up against such a large corporation and blow the whistle on fraudulent accounting practices. She should be admired and respected for doing the ethical and right thing. People should not view her as a snitch she should be viewed as a person that values honesty and integrity over their own personal wealth. She could have stayed at the company and continued to get a salary and never said a thing and the company still would have suffered financially and went bankrupt.