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October 2007 (Revised February 2010)
Case

Adelphia Communications Corp.'s Bankruptcy

By: Stuart C. Gilson and Belen Villalonga

In 2002, a massive accounting fraud and corporate looting scandal involving the founding Rigas family made Adelphia the 11th largest bankruptcy case in history, and the third-after WorldCom and Enron-among those triggered by fraud. Set in 2005, when Adelphia is... View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Restructuring; Crime and Corruption; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Corporate Governance; Governance Controls; Family Ownership

September 1986 (Revised February 1991)
Case

Graves Industries, Inc. (C): Consumer Hardware Division

Describes events occurring over a three-year period in a division of Graves Industries. The division is being squeezed for profit, and managers in the division get involved in some fraudulent financial reporting schemes involving revenues and capitalization of... View Details

Keywords: Earnings Management; Crime and Corruption; Ethics; Financial Reporting

March 2008
Supplement

Ujjivan: A Microfinance Institution at a Crossroads (B)

By: V.G. Narayanan and Pamela Freed

Case (B) of "Ujjivan: A Microfinance Institution at a Crossroads" addresses some of the actions Ujjivan, a microfinance provider in Bangalore, has taken with regard to issues raised in the (A) case, particularly regarding fraud and establishing financial... View Details

Keywords: Financial Institutions; Microfinance; Crime and Corruption; Accounting Audits; Product Development; Financial Services Industry; Bangalore

23 May 2022
News

J.S. Nelson

July 2015
Article

Executives' 'Off-the-Job' Behaviors and Financial Reporting Risk

By: Robert Davidson, Aiyesha Dey and Abbie Smith

We examine how executives' behavior outside the workplace, as measured by their ownership of luxury goods (low “frugality”) and prior legal infractions, is related to financial reporting risk. We predict and find that chief executive officers (CEOs) and chief financial... View Details

Keywords: Management Teams; Behavior; Personal Characteristics; Crime and Corruption; Governance Compliance; Financial Reporting; Organizational Culture

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December 2012
Case

Trouble Brewing for Green Mountain Coffee Roasters

By: Suraj Srinivasan and Michael Norris

In October 2011, noted hedge fund manager David Einhorn of Greenlight Capital delivered a presentation at an investors' conference analyzing the business and accounting quality weaknesses of Green Mountain Coffee Roasters. Until then Green Mountain had exhibited rapid... View Details

June 1997
Case

Olympic Financial Ltd.

By: Krishna G. Palepu and Sarayu Srinivasan

Olympic Financial is a sub-prime lender in the auto financing industry. Several other financing companies have been wrought with accounting fraud and business mismanagement. Olympic's debt has been downgraded, and its stock has been denigrated although the company is... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Crime and Corruption; Valuation; Financial Reporting; Credit; Financial Services Industry

July 2005 (Revised August 2006)
Background Note

Deception in Business: A Legal Perspective

By: Lynn S. Paine and Christopher Bruner

Discusses several of the most important prohibitions on deception found in U.S. law, starting with the basic elements of liability for fraud and moving to important antifraud provisions in federal statutes, restrictions on "misrepresentation" in consumer and contract... View Details

Keywords: Crime and Corruption; Lawfulness

07 Aug 2012
News

Wrongdoers Feel a ‘Cheater’s High’

August 1995
Case

Hutton Branch Manager (D)

By: Lynn S. Paine and Jane Palley Katz

Describes the actions taken by E.F.Hutton management in response to the Bell Report, a study prepared by former Attorney General Griffin Bell and his law firm after Hutton pleaded guilty to 2,000 counts of mail and wire fraud in connection with its cash management... View Details

Keywords: Legal Liability; Crime and Corruption; Moral Sensibility; Acquisition; Decisions; Business or Company Management; Financial Services Industry

23 Jun 2022
News

Corporate Criminal Liability for ESG Initiatives Is on Its Way

17 Aug 2018
News

How TripAdvisor changed travel

05 Oct 2016
News

Wells Fargo Scandal Is Par For The Course In The Long History Of Big Business Corruption

October 2012
Supplement

Olympus (B)

By: Jay W. Lorsch, Suraj Srinivasan and Kathleen Durante

This case outlines Michael Woodford's awards and honors, after having been fired from Olympus in October 2011. It discusses the repercussions following an investigation into the fraud and the report that was released thereafter. It also discusses the lawsuit that... View Details

Keywords: Accounting; Corporate Governance; Health Industry; Electronics Industry; Japan

03 Jan 2022
News

A Green Light for Corruption

October 2011 (Revised December 2022)
Background Note

Ethical Analysis: Moral Disengagement

By: Sandra J. Sucher and Celia Moore

Moral disengagement is a process that enables people to engage in negative behaviors, from small misdeeds to great atrocities, without believing that they are causing harm or doing wrong. When Conrad Black, the fallen Canadian mogul convicted of multiple counts of... View Details

Keywords: Moral Sensibility; Social Psychology; Values and Beliefs

August 1995 (Revised September 1995)
Case

Hutton Branch Manager (C)

By: Lynn S. Paine and Jane Palley Katz

Centers on the company's plea of guilty to 2,000 counts of mail and wire fraud in response to the U.S. government's challenge to its cash management practices. Describes the Justice Department's investigations as well as the findings and recommendations of former... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Financial Management; Governance Controls; Crime and Corruption; Governance Compliance; Law Enforcement; Financial Services Industry; United States