Where this book is so good is in detailing the fraud and how it happened. Professionalismcynthia cooper and worldcom wikibooks, open. I believe in the case study of cynthia cooper and worldcom, cynthia cooper acted ethically under the principles of utilitarianism and deontology ethic reasoning. But the cfo is badgering her to delay her teams audit of the companys books and directing others to block coopers. The journey of a corporate whistleblower kindle edition by cooper, cynthia. The worldcom accounting scandal is an important case in ethics.
Extraordinary circumstances meet your next favorite book. The following excerpts from the book describe the actions she took to uncover the fraud at worldcom and reactions of key players in the accounting department, top management, the audit. Still, something in the pit of her stomach tells her to keep digging. For executives, coopers experiences challenging thenceo bernie ebbers and thencfo scott sullivan, brought to life in her new book. Whistleblower, author cynthia cooper to visit ua to share. The worldcom employee who uncovered a massive accounting fraud tells the full, twisting tale in a new book. The journey of a corporate whistle blower is a book written by cynthia which. Worldcom the difference between assets and expenses duration. She and her colleagues were courageous, dogged, and thorough. She soon discovered that scott sullivan named a best cfo by cfo magazine in 1998 and david myers, worldcoms controller, for years had publicly. She was the vice president of internal audit for worldcom and subsequently mci. Her tenacious investigations uncovered the largest fraud in corporate history. Alerted to this, cynthia cooper, the perfectionist head of worldcoms internal audit department, began to secretly examine the companys books at night. Worldcom whistleblower challenges fox students to find.
Three unlikely sleuths, armed with accounting skills and determination, tracked down fraud at worldcom by following hunches and sniffing out cryptic clues. She was the vice president of internal audit at worldcom, a position that was not easily obtained. Cynthia cooper is about to become corporate americas second famous female whistleblower, following in the footsteps of sherron watkins. Case 21 cynthia cooper and worldcom cynthia cooper details her trials and tribulations about her experiences at worldcom in the book extraordinary circumstances. But the odyssey that began when cynthia cooper, the then vice president of internal audit at worldcom, decided to investigate anomalies in the companys accounting entries ended by inspiring critical and heavily criticized legislation. Now cooper has told the full, twisting tale in a new book, extraordinary circumstances. Cynthia cooper, corporate whistleblower, discusses her discovery of one of. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading extraordinary circumstances. Corporate whistleblower cynthia cooper to speak at eku. The longer worldcom chief audit executive cynthia cooper stares at the. Cynthia cooper is an american accountant who formerly served as the vice president of internal audit at worldcom.
She described her experiences during the rise and fall of worldcom where she was vice. Profits from the book were given to universities and organizations for ethics education. Worldcom extraordinary circumstances by cynthia cooper. Cynthia cooper is an internationally recognized speaker, bestselling author and consultant. Cynthia cooper, former vice president, worldcom the longer worldcom chief audit executive cynthia cooper stares at the entries in front of her, the more sinister they seem. The longer worldcom chief audit executive cynthia cooper stares at the entries. Cynthia cooper was happy to comply because, after a series of small tips, she and auditor gene morse, one of her 24 employees, had begun to suspect that worldcom might be cooking the books. A month later, the telecommunications giant declared the largest. In addition to cynthia, the designation has been given to seven women including madame chiang kaishek, elizabeth ii and corazon aquino. Professionalismcynthia cooper and worldcom wikibooks. Coopers presentation is titled ethical leadership for the 21 st century, where she will share her personal experiences at worldcom and lessons learned from some of the largest corporate scandals.
Time magazine has been naming its persons of the year since 1927. Extraordinary circumstances the journey of a corporate whistleblower. Cynthia, a native of mississippi, was an accountant that worked as the vice president of internal audit at worldcom. Cynthia cooper named one of time magazines persons of the year for her role in unraveling the fraud at worldcom is an internationally recognized motivational speaker, author of extraordinary circumstances and consultant as ceo of the coopergroup. How three unlikely sleuths exposed fraud at worldcom wsj. Cooper takes readers behind the scenes on a riveting, realtime journey as. But the only reason worldcom s board of directors discovered the accounting fraud was through the efforts of the companys internal auditor, cynthia cooper, and her dedicated subordinates.
A case study of cynthia cooper the scenario one may afternoon, while sitting in his cubicle at worldcom inc. Circumstances the journey of a corporate whistleblower. Case 21 cynthia cooper worldcom case 21 cynthia cooper. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. Cynthia cooper worldcom whistleblower ethics speaker. Senate responded to revelations about massive accounting fraud at the telecom giant by adding section 404, on the assessment of internal controls, to the sarbanesoxley act. She was among time magazines persons of the year in 2002. Her book describes the rise, fraud, and fall of the worldcom empire, in parallel with her own education and career.
Coopers book about her life and the worldcom fraud, extraordinary circumstances. Journey of a whistleblower 3922 words 16 pages beginning of a whistleblower bernie ebbers, scott sullivan, and other members of top management intentionally led mississippis pride and joy, worldcom, on a 5quarter charade filled with smoke, mirrors, and much intimidation. But the only reason worldcoms board of directors discovered the accounting fraud was through the efforts of the companys internal auditor, cynthia cooper, and her dedicated subordinates. Solomon, how 3 unlikely sleuths uncooked worldcoms books.
March 23, 2018 cynthia cooper, bestselling author, consultant and internationally recognized voice for ethical leadership, will speak at eastern kentucky. Cynthia cooper just wanted to live a quiet life working for the pride of mississippi worldcom. Cynthia cooper was one of times 2002 persons of the year. The journey of a corporate whistleblower, was published in 2008. In 1994, cynthia landed a job in internal audit at worldcom then known as ldds in jackson, miss. But as vice president of internal audit she discovered some suspicious entries in the companys books. Worldcom whistleblower speaks in mammel hall college of.
Cynthia was named one of time magazines persons of the year. The most engaging section of the book is when cooper tells the story of the few. Unfortunately, the ethics of whistleblowing is a tricky matter. In late may of 2002, cynthia cooper, the 38yearold vice president of internal audit for. Cynthia cooper talked about her book, extraordinary circumstances. Cynthia cooper, who received her masters degree in accountancy from the university of alabama and has achieved worldwide acclaim for her role in uncovering the corporate fraud at worldcom, will return to tuscaloosa to talk about her new book, extraordinary circumstances. Cynthia cooper brought a corporate giant to its knees and now shes filling seats by telling her story. Readers of coopers book, extraordinary circumstances. My team and i were ordinary people who found ourselves facing extraordinary circumstances. Sherron watkins is the enron vice president who wrote a letter to chairman kenneth lay in the summer of 2001 warning him that the companys methods of accounting were improper. By dick carozza cynthia cooper just wanted to live a quiet life working for the pride of mississippi worldcom.
Cynthia cooper is thought of as a prime example of a whistleblower for her role in uncovering the worldcom accounting scandal. At the time, this was the largest incident of accounting fraud in u. The longer worldcom chief audit executive cynthia cooper stares at the entries in front of her, the more sinister they seem. One of the few books available about worldcom was written by the vice president of internal audit, cynthia cooper. Most whistleblowers say they would not do it again. The fall of worldcom and rise of corporate whistleblowing. She attempted to act in the greatest good for the less amount of harm and was forced to be duty bound.
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