Fraud - Publications - Faculty & Research

06 Jun 2011
Research & Ideas

Why Leaders Lose Their Way

(R-NV) resigned after covering up an extramarital affair with monetary payoffs. Lee B. Farkas, former chairman of giant mortgage lender Taylor, Bean & Whitaker, in April was found guilty for his role in one of the largest bank fraud... View Details

Keywords: by Bill George

17 Dec 2018
Research & Ideas

Women Receive Harsher Punishment at Work Than Men

of the University of Texas-Austin and Amit Seru of Stanford Graduate School of Business. A spate of alleged fraud by Wells Fargo has highlighted a dirty little secret in the financial industry: Misconduct by financial advisors is... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Financial Services

01 Nov 2017
What Do You Think?

What Are the Real Lessons of the Wells Fargo Case?

to the financial institution in penalties, fines, and loss of trust began to mount. Months before the fraud was disclosed, Tim Sloan, then president and COO (and now CEO), was quoted as saying: “People are our competitive advantage, so we... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Banking

05 Aug 2015
Research & Ideas

How Hormones Foretell Whether People Will Cheat

by understanding the role of hormone levels. ©iStock.com/VIPDesignUSA For eons, academics have studied the forces behind unethical acts, disturbed and intrigued by scary real-world data on corporate corruption. The Association of Certified View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

07 Apr 2023
Research & Ideas

When Celebrity ‘Crypto-Influencers’ Rake in Cash, Investors Lose Big

and Exchange Commission. The SEC has been slow to issue the regulatory clarification requested by crypto companies, but has charged more than a dozen influencers with violating US securities law and recently warned investors about volatility and View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz

02 Mar 2007
What Do You Think?

What Is the Government’s Role in US Health Care?

from government. Suggestions of causes of the current challenge of rapidly rising costs in relation to quality of outcomes, at least by the imperfect measure of life expectancy, included waste in the system (Julie Maire, Edward Hare, and Jack Flanagan) as well as View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett; Health

17 Apr 2022
Book

How to Avoid the 'Ethical Slide' That Leads Companies Astray

defrauding investors. A sure sign of the ethical lapse at Theranos was that “people started asking questions, and they got fired,” Nelson says. Wells Fargo’s 2016 account fraud scandal, in which bank representatives were pressured into... View Details

Keywords: by Lane Lambert

12 Jul 2004
Research & Ideas

Enron’s Lessons for Managers

Skilling as COO. Putting aside the matter of business models and controls, "The main story," he said, is a case of "ethical drift." If you look at a lot of the fraud cases, before fraud... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

21 Feb 2019
Research & Ideas

Voter ID Laws Don't Work (But They Don't Hurt Anything, Either)

ballot fraud have erupted and intense focus invested in possible measures to ensure election integrity. States have increasingly enacted voter ID laws as one such deterrent. But we also know that laws aimed at securing the voting process,... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

06 Oct 2003
Research & Ideas

The Problem with Hedge Funds

valuation processes. The SEC seems concerned about conflicts of interest (such as mutual funds owning hedge funds) and possible fraud and the increasing availability of hedge funds to retail investors. The SEC may be getting ready to... View Details

Keywords: by D. Quinn Mills

13 May 2022
Research & Ideas

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

corporate misconduct, pointing to cultural factors that might eventually result in scandal earlier than they would otherwise attract attention. In a business environment where ethics are paramount, the findings may offer managers and compliance departments a new way to... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Technology

28 May 2019
Research & Ideas

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

reporting fraud that professional standards are not infallible. You still need this external accountability mechanism. Lagace: What do your findings mean for the health of US capital markets? Srinivasan: Companies from around the world... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Financial Services; Accounting

01 Mar 2021
What Do You Think?

What Does Remote Work Mean for Middle Managers?

information, creating surprises for top management. That claim was part of the defense used by top management in the Wells Fargo customer fraud scandal. Even academics are loath to probe middle management. A 1993 study about middle... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

09 Dec 2002
Research & Ideas

Most Accountants Aren’t Crooks—Why Good Audits Go Bad

who never intend to do something wrong end up finding themselves in situations where they are almost forced to continue to commit fraud once they have started doing this. Otherwise, it will be revealed that they had used improper... View Details

Keywords: by Max H. Bazerman, George Loewenstein & Don A. Moore; Accounting; Financial Services

26 Nov 2001
Op-Ed

Why Corporate Budgeting Needs To Be Fixed

board members and Wall Street analysts. Even boards of directors are drawn into the fray, as they end up endorsing deceptive reports to shareholders. Sometimes, outright fraud ensues, as we've seen recently in high-profile cases involving... View Details

Keywords: by Michael C. Jensen

21 Nov 2006
First Look

First Look: November 21, 2006

pricing, the timing of investments, and who captures the greatest value at different phases of product generations. The Press as a Watchdog for Accounting Fraud Author:Gregory S. Miller Periodical:Journal of Accounting Research 44, no. 5... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

18 Feb 2009
First Look

First Look: February 18, 2009

Working PapersDeterring Online Advertising Fraud Through Optimal Payment in Arrears (revised) Author:Benjamin Edelman Abstract Online advertisers face substantial difficulty in selecting and supervising small advertising partners. View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

06 Jan 2003
Research & Ideas

Why Expensing Options Doesn’t Solve the Problem

WorldCom or Adelphia. The failures at those companies were more likely caused by a combination of fraud committed by individuals, inadequate control and governance systems that tolerated clear conflicts of interest, and a frothy market in... View Details

Keywords: by William Sahlman

07 Mar 2005
What Do You Think?

Should Business Management Be Regarded as a Profession?

committing the outrage of pleading total ignorance of massive financial fraud in his organization. (Can you imagine a doctor charged with malpractice doing this?) Clearly, the debate is just being shaped. The implications of what is... View Details