Why Was the Board of Directors Asleep at the Wheel? McDonald’s is suing its former CEO, Steve Easterbrook, after an investigation found he had a short-term, consensual relationship with an employee over text and video. It also found three additional relationships with employees that were sexual in nature, including the one that triggered the July […]
The Lessons to Be Learned from McDonald’s CEO’s Sexual Harassment Read More »
Keys to Operating a Successful Cannabis Business State legislation that permits the sale and distribution of marijuana is on the rise. Thirty-three states allow it for recreational and/or medical purposes, including the District of Columbia. Cannabis sales were estimated to be $15 billion in 2018 and projected to be about $73.6 billion by 2027. Given
Accounting, Tax, and Regulatory Issues in the Cannabis Business Read More »
Trust and Verify Artificial Intelligence systems can obscure the data in a way that creates biased information depending on the human values of those who enter the data from its source. For example, an algorithm developed from mortgage loan data might include a variable for the expectation of homeowners’ repayment of the debt. A bias
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Actions Constitute an Act Discreditable to the Profession On May 18, 2020, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced settled charges against three former KPMG LLP audit partners for improperly sharing answers to internal training exams. The exams were administered to determine whether its audit professionals understood certain accounting and auditing principles that are essential
KPMG Sanctioned by the SEC for “Stealing the Exam” Read More »
The Ethics of Operating in Cyberspace Culture, in any form, is the way things get done. Underlying the culture is a set of values and goals that define the personality of an organization and the link between members of the organization. A company’s organizational culture broadly influences employees and business performance through values, customs, and
What is Cyber Culture in the Workplace? Read More »
Is Trading on the Names and Likeness a Good Thing? According to a recent survey of 2,501 college students by platform College Pulse, a majority of students support initiatives to pay college athletes and overwhelmingly support allowing student-athletes to profit off their name and image. Here are the results: Is paying student-athletes a good thing
The Ethics of Paying a Salary to College Student-Athletes Read More »
Recent Examples of Corporate Ethics Failures Big corporations are failing America because they continue to place profits ahead of responsible behavior. Many use a cost-benefit analysis to conclude that it would cost too much to fix product defects compared to any benefits derived. Until recently, few if any corporate CEOs have been held liable for
Big Corporations Place Profits Ahead of Safety Read More »
Accountability and Trust Must Be Built Into the System Ethical issues in artificial intelligence (AI) exist because rules of the road are needed to guide what is appropriate behavior in processing data against a set of algorithms to make decisions about individuals, communities, and society. Algorithms cannot think for themselves and are, therefore, morally neutral.
Workplace Ethics and AI Systems Read More »
The Search for a Purpose-Driven Corporation Last week, I blogged about the social responsibilities of corporations and what their purpose should be. Today, I look at those obligations from the point of view of millennials. But first, here’s a summary of last week’s blog. Social Responsibilities of Business The incorporation of a company is an
Millennials Have a Different View of CSR Read More »
The Lost Art of an Independent Audit The time has come to revisit the issue of whether all nonaudit services should be prohibited for audit clients. The accounting profession continues to struggle with independence issues when both services are provided. The threats and safeguards approach in the AICPA Code does not seem to have reduced
Audit Firms Should Not Be Allowed to Perform Nonaudit Services for Audit Clients Read More »