Weighing the Harms and Benefits of Alternative Actions We would like to think that organizations run their businesses ethically and, for the most part, this is true. However, there may be circumstances when a supervisor asks you to do something illegal or unethical. There are a variety of reasons this... Read more →

The Company Failed to Walk the Talk of Ethics I have previously blogged about the failures at Boeing in production systems, inspections, internal audits, a safety culture, and reporting to the board of directors. One lingering question is: Why didn’t the board of directors at Boeing act to disclose the... Read more →

Dr. Mintz is a frequent speaker on podcasts such as “Fraudster” produced by Kelly Paxton, including a recent podcast on the problems at Boeing where they put profits over safety. He has been interviewed by reporters at Bloomberg, most recently on “Special Purpose Acquisition Companies” (SPACs). He did a podcast... Read more →

ADM’s Accounting for Financial Statement Restatements Questionable Should it be a Treated as a “Big R” or a “little r”? Last week it was announced that Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) is under investigation by the U.S. Justice Department over its accounting practices. In January 2024, ADM placed its Chief Financial... Read more →

Lack of Experience and Training is the Underlying Cause The following blog is taken from an interview soliciting my views on SPAC audit problems that was published by CFO Brew online by Courtney Vien on March 1, 2024. In case you needed more proof that the Special Purpose Acquisition Companies... Read more →

A Cautionary Tale I’ve always been intrigued by the philosophy of whistleblowing. It is an act of conscience and not motivated by self-interest. A broad view of whistleblowing is the disclosure by organization members (former or current) of illegal, immoral, or illegitimate practices under the control of their employers, to... Read more →

THE IMPORTANCE OF WHISTLEBLOWING POLICIES In a recent study by Ethisphere it was stated that younger workers are more willing to report workplace misbehavior than workers from other generations, yet they are less likely to report it. The reason given is that they lack the confidence in their employer’s anti-retaliation... Read more →

Holding CEOs Accountable for Fraudulent Activities I have previously blogged about the 324:1 ratio of pay packages, on average, for S&P 500 CEOs when compared to the average worker Pay. In this blog I look at claw backs, a provision that enables a company and/or the SEC to go after... Read more →

Book Review I want to share with my readers a review of my accounting ethics textbook that was just published in The CPA Journal. I am proud to say the review highly recommends the book. This is the sixth edition of my book that spans more than twenty years of... Read more →

What is Management's Role? What would you do if you discovered that a superior was engaged in inappropriate conduct? Beyond matters that deal with sexual harassment and other forms of discrimination that should be reported to the Human Resources Department, employees sometimes uncover fraudulent financial practices and are faced with... Read more →