Accounting Scandal - Publications - Faculty & Research

2015
Article

Approach, Ability, Aftermath: A Psychological Framework of Unethical Behavior at Work

By: C. Moore and F. Gino

Many of the scandalous organizational practices that have come to light in the last decade—rigging LIBOR, misselling payment protection insurance, rampant Wall Street insider trading, large-scale bribery of foreign officials, and the packaging and sale of toxic... View Details

Keywords: Working Conditions; Ethics; Decision Making

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05 Mar 2008
Working Paper Summaries

Board of Directors’ Responsiveness to Shareholders: Evidence from Shareholder Proposals

Keywords: by Yonca Ertimur, Fabrizio Ferri & Stephen R. Stubben

31 Jan 2007
Working Paper Summaries

Behavioral Decision Research, Legislation, and Society: Three Cases

Keywords: by Max H. Bazerman

02 Mar 2010
First Look

First Look: March 2

accountable? Nonprofit leaders tend to pay attention to accountability once a problem of trust arises-a scandal in the sector or in their own organization, questions from citizens or donors who want to know... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

October 2010 (Revised October 2011)
Case

Ken Langone: Member, GE Compensation Committee

By: Suraj Srinivasan and Lizzie Gomez

On September 2003, Richard Grasso stepped down as chairman and CEO of the New York Stock Exchange, following weeks of intense public criticism over the size of his $190 million compensation package. As chairman of the committee that oversaw Grasso's payout, Ken Langone... View Details

Keywords: Accounting; Corporate Governance; Governing and Advisory Boards; Employee Stock Ownership Plan; Executive Compensation; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Labor and Management Relations; Wages; Change Management; Energy Industry; New York (city, NY)

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19 Jan 2016
First Look

January 19, 2016

changing external conditions, especially reduced experimentation costs. Publisher's link: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=49008 forthcoming Accounting Review Corporate Sustainability: First Evidence on Materiality By: Khan,... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

29 Oct 2013
First Look

First Look: October 29

and analyzes a novel data set consisting of a 1% sample of all outward-facing web servers used in the United States. We find that use of Apache potentially accounts for a mismeasurement of somewhere between $2 billion and $12 billion,... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

30 Apr 2024
Book

When Managers Set Unrealistic Expectations, Employees Cut Ethical Corners

Reagan had appointed the commission to study defence procurement following a series of scandals involving fraud, waste, and abuse in the industry. Chaired by Hewlett-Packard co-founder David Packard, the commission had recommended, among... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

12 Apr 2022
Book

Racism, Colonialism, and Britain's Legacy of Violence

Britain’s 20th century empire was the largest in human history, with a quarter of the world’s land and nearly 700 million people. Yet the empire drew its strength from violence. That’s the conclusion Harvard Business School Professor Caroline Elkins draws in her new... View Details

Keywords: by Avery Forman

28 May 2019
Research & Ideas

Investor Lawsuits Against Auditors Are Falling, and That's Bad News for Capital Markets

Investors rely on corporate auditors to keep impartial watch on the accounting practices of the companies they invest in. Historically, investors have not been shy about launching litigation when they believed auditors did not do enough... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Accounting; Accounting

10 Feb 2021
Research & Ideas

Has #MeToo Changed How Hollywood Hires?

After sexual abuse allegations against Harvey Weinstein ignited the #MeToo movement on social media, Hollywood producers began hiring more female film writers than they did before the scandal, new research finds. What's more, producers who had collaborated with... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Media & Broadcasting

13 Feb 2020
Book

Open Your Organization to Honest Conversations

start with boards of directors. They must hold CEOs accountable for honest conversations and learning, not only to avoid Wells Fargo–level scandals but also, more importantly, to be long-term stewards of the... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

13 May 2022
Research & Ideas

Company Reviews on Glassdoor: Petty Complaints or Signs of Potential Misconduct?

Corporate scandals often follow a pattern: Whether it’s Theranos and its fraudulent blood testing technology, Wells Fargo and its fake financial accounts, or Volkswagen and its bogus emissions data, a whistleblower eventually comes... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Technology

27 Jan 2023
Op-Ed

Have We Lost Sight of Integrity?

means “telling the truth.” Santos has since admitted the lies he told during his campaign but has repeatedly refused to take accountability for his actions, referring to them as merely “embellishments” of his resume. Integrity is not the... View Details

Keywords: by Bill George

Web

1929: The Great Crash - Bubbles, Panics & Crashes – Historical Collections – Harvard Business School

Accountants initially viewed the new agency with suspicion. To gain their cooperation, Landis sagely positioned the SEC as an institution that would increase an accountant’s independence from corporate managers eager for favorable audits.... View Details

29 Jul 2013
Research & Ideas

A Manager’s Moral Obligation to Preserve Capitalism

capitalism to allow its corporate managers to set up an accounting system that distorts the market—potentially leading to corporate scandals or an economic crash—and undermines capitalism itself. Rather, in... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

06 Jul 2011
Research & Ideas

Are You a Level-Six Leader?

of the modern world's greatest Opportunists. Also of this genre, although somewhat lesser known, is Jeffrey Skilling, the Enron CEO who sold off tens of millions of dollars of stock just before Enron filed for bankruptcy, claiming he had no knowledge of the View Details

Keywords: by Mitch Maidique

01 Jan 2014
News

To Spot Financial Trouble Early, Use Three Circles: A conversation with Blythe McGarvie of Harvard Business School

21 Feb 2005
Op-Ed

Is Business Management a Profession?

individuals. In response to the recent scandals, politicians and government officials have stepped in to pass new laws and create new regulations, while prominent persons on Wall Street and elsewhere in the business community have issued their own calls for reform in... View Details

Keywords: by Rakesh Khurana, Nitin Nohria & Daniel Penrice

06 Jan 2003
Research & Ideas

Why Expensing Options Doesn’t Solve the Problem

option grants, though not as liberal as many others. In fact, expensing options in Enron's accounts would have changed reported profits by only about 10%, whereas the change would have been around 30% for Microsoft, which has received no... View Details

Keywords: by William Sahlman

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