Betty Vinsson's Code Of Ethics

642 Words2 Pages

When we were young, our parents taught us to be honest, responsible, courageous and independent. These are the features of role models in the history of human being. However, they are difficult to achieve. For one thing, we are facing plentiful temptations as we grow. On the other hand, even if we can resist, many of us would fail when we are in the context involving inappropriate behavior, such as fraud, deceit, cheating and stealing. There is never a moment that the external situation factors do not influence our decision and behavior. According to the description of Betty Vinson’s life experience before she followed the orders from her superior to commit fraud, she is a well-organized, hardworking, diligent and loyal person. It is undeniable …show more content…

In this case, “Ms. Vinson and Mr. Normand were shocked” when asked to make false accounting entries. They “told their boss” it violated accounting rules and expressed their concern. That said, in the first place, they were aware of the fact that their values were different from that of their superiors. Nevertheless, they made bad decisions to make the transfer, which is discrepant from their values. And later in the prosecution, Ms. Vinson claimed she was “just following the orders”, trying to shift all responsibilities and blames to her …show more content…

“Our goal is to be the number 1 stock on Wall Street, and revenue growth is the key to increasing the company’s market value”, say Bernie Ebbers, the founder and CEO of WorldCom. Obviously, WorldCom is focus on market value and revenue. It’s not surprising the corporate culture supported rule-breaking and extreme risk taking to meet the Wall Street’s expectations. When the senior executives are working on maximizing the market value, the employees of the lower level will follow, especially in a corporation with strict hierarchy, since the orders are passed from the top to the bottom. Even though the lower level employees may refuse to follow, are they able to overturn all the levels and thus change the existing culture? The answer is no. For on thing, employees at lower level do not have the power to influence the upper level. Above Vinson and Norman, there is Yates, and then Myers, and then Sullivan, and then Ebbers, On the other hand, when holding a different opinion, the majority of employees fear of being ostracized by others within the corporation. So they keep silence of

More about Betty Vinsson's Code Of Ethics

Open Document