The Ancients against the Moderns: Focusing on the Character of Corporate Leaders

When a series of corporate scandals erupted soon after the collapse of the 1990s bull market in equities, policy makers and reformers chiefly responded by augmenting and refining the checks and balances surrounding publicly traded corporations. Through measures such as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, securities regulations were intensified and corporate governance was tightened. In essence, reformers followed the tradition of modern political philosophy, developed in the 17th and 18th centuries, in its insistence that pro-social outcomes are best produced through institutional mechanisms that harness self-interest. The empirical evidence, however, suggests the institutional approach will do little to prevent future ethical breakdowns. To corroborate this finding, we survey the literature on board composition, auditor consulting practices, shareholder activism, and executive compensation. Consequently, we look to another stream of political philosophy, the ancient tradition comprising Plato and Aristotle, which argues that social groupings, such as corporations, work best when led by individuals of good character. Applying the ancient view to modern commercial realities, the paper concludes that Benjamin Franklin’s attempt to connect virtuous character with enlightened self-interest offers a compelling ethic for corporate leaders. George Bragues is head of the Media Studies program and teaches philosophy, politics, and economics at the University of Guelph-Humber in Toronto, Canada. He is an occasional contributor to the National Post in Canada, writing op-ed pieces on financial and economic topics for that paper’s financial section. His academic articles have been published previously in the Journal of Business Ethics, as well as the Independent Review and in Business Ethics Quarterly.     

Incorporating International Accounting into the MBA Curriculum: Exploring Implications of the Financial Reporting Crisis of 2001–2009

Recent developments in the global business environment have led to important changes in accounting/auditing regulations, and have implications for the business school curriculum. While many of these issues are covered in advanced accounting courses, generally taken only by majors, the issues are sufficiently important that nonaccounting majors, at both the graduate and undergraduate level, should be aware of these issues as well. Recent developments favoring the adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) in the United States provide an overall compelling context for incorporating these standards into the business curriculum. The purpose of this article is to provide a road map for such incorporation.     

财务舞弊中存在的内部控制问题--对世界通信公司财务舞弊案之剖析

世界通信公司曾作为美国第二大长途电话公司，创造了美国资本市场有史以来规模最大的财务舞弊事件。通过对“线路成本”的调整，利用会计造假虚构了近110亿美元的利润。从其破产的案例中可以看出，世界通信公司治理机制的不完善，内部控制受到了极大的忽视，这也是造成世界通信巨大的财务舞弊最主要的原因。之后提出的《塞班斯法案》，要求建立企业财务报告的可靠性，运用真实可靠的会计信息加强对公司的内部控制和风险管理。因此，本文将通过分析世界通信财务舞弊的原因，以及对于防范企业财务舞弊强化内部控制的重要性。