Resisting Corporate Corruption

The frequently used textbook is now in its 4th edition and includes new case studies on Tesla, VW, Nikola, WeWork, and Theranos.

Resisting Corporate Corruption teaches business ethics in a manner very different from the philosophical and legal frameworks that dominate graduate schools. The book offers twenty-seven case studies and eight essays that cover a full range of business practices, controls, and ethics issues. The essays discuss the nature of sound financial controls, root causes of the Financial Crisis, contemporary ethics challenges like 'Fake it Till You Make It,' and the evolving nature of whistleblower protections. The cases are framed to instruct students in early identification of ethics problems and how to work such issues within corporate organizations. They also provide would-be whistleblowers with instruction on the challenges they'd face, plus information on the legal protections, and outside supports available should they embark on that course. Some of the cases illustrate how 'The Young are the Most Vulnerable,' i.e. short-service employees are most at risk of being sacrificed by an unethical firm. Other cases show the ethical dilemmas facing well-known CEOs and the alternatives they can employ to better combine ethical conduct and sound business strategy. Through these case studies, students should emerge with a practical toolkit that will help them to follow their moral compass. Finally, the cases provide an in-depth look at how a corporation becomes progressively corrupted (Enron), how the Financial Crisis was rooted in ethical decay at institutions as diverse as Countrywide, Goldman Sacks, Citigroup, and Moody's, and at the ethical challenges that have emerged in the post-crisis, post-Dodd-Frank environment at firms like TESLA, VW, Theranos and WeWork.

Audience

This text provides practical case study work for business and law students, and employees in the formative stages of their careers. It is intended to help prepare this audience to withstand pressures and adverse cultural influences as they progress along a career path.

Stephen V. Arbogast is Professor of Practice of Finance and Director of the Energy Center at the Kenan-Flagler Business School, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. At the Energy Center, he leads industry conferences and research on the Energy Transition. From 2004-2014 Arbogast was Executive Professor of Finance at the University of Houston. From 1972-2004, he worked for ExxonMobil Corporation in various finance positions, serving overseas in Brazil and Thailand, and culminating as Treasurer of ExxonMobil Chemical Company. Professor Arbogast has authored over eighty case studies and published articles on the Energy Transition, project finance, advanced biofuels, and the disconnect between economics and Catholic Social Doctrine. Since 2010 he has been a member of the Technical Review Panel of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.