“There is no business ethics,” a book by John C. Maxwell, points to three major scandals, centering on the white collar crimes of Enron, Adelphia Communications and Tyco. The author has clearly made the statement that particular cases of fraud show even greater damage to business ethics. It begins with a very practical but informal tone that evaluates the main ethical violations. His first assignment is the most famous of all: Enron. For those of you unfamiliar, note that on November 1, 2001, Enron confessed accounting performances that caused inflation in Enron’s revenue. Over a four-year period, they inflated their income by $ 586 million. After this, Enron filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. As if this was not enough, the executives knew the state of the company. They used this information to sell more than $ 1 billion of their own shares in the company while encouraging their employees to retain their shares.

The next topic Maxwell reviews in his book is Adelphia Communications’ financial error. Find out how Adelphia Communications spread the word about financial troubles. This transmission took place on March 27, 2002. Shortly after, John Rigas -founder of the company- and his children were accused of using the company’s assets as collateral for their own personal loans used for family projects, for purchases private companies, all of which totaled $ 3.1 billion. It wasn’t until after Rigas was removed from office that the company had to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. In conclusion, it reports that on June 3, 2002, Adelphia was removed from NASDAQ, leading to a feeling of disgusting disdain for the corrupt relationships these companies have formed.

His last major white-collar crime review took place the same day Dennis Kozlowski, Tyco’s CEO, was indicted by the Manhattan district attorney. He had evaded more than $ 1 million in sales taxes on things like artwork and personal items purchased with company money, approximately $ 600 million taken from the company. Maxwell leaves the only facts for the reader to understand, relieving any purple prose, as his subject needs none. Use additional data from sources like Time magazine. In their publication of July 22, 2002, they provided statistics that supported America’s mistrust of the growing number of companies deceiving their employees and the general public through white-collar crimes.

With the Codex GBX Standards in mind, the author leaves the reader with the understanding that these specific scandals show a violation of the second and fifth principles, the principles of transparency and citizenship. We know that there are attempts to scam, not just individuals through private fraud and embezzlement schemes, but massive numbers of shareholders in supposedly legitimate operations. Beyond that, corporate executives violate transparency by hiding these schemes and the public by lying and resisting government investigation, which was particularly evident in the Enron case. Therefore, we are forced to agree with the disturbing truth that Maxwell reveals about white-collar crime: He is despicable and must be stopped.