"Mommy, Why Do You Have to Go to Jail The ore question Betty Vinson would have preferred to avoid IS ommy, why do vou have to go to jail?" vinson graduated with an accounting degree from mississippi State and married her college sweetheart. After a series of jobs at small banks, she landed a mig-level accounting sob at WorldCom, at the time still a small long-distance provider Sparked by the telecom boom, however, Worldcom soon became a darling of Wall Street, and its stock price soared. Now working for a wildly successful company, Vinson rounded out her life by reading legal thrillers and watching her daughter play soccer. Her moment of truth came in mid-2000, when company executives learned that profits had plummeted. They asked Vinson to make some accounting adjustments to boost income by $828 million. Vinson knew that the scheme was unethical (at the very least) but she gave in and made the adjustments Almost immediately, she felt guilty and told never to be asked to cook any more books. Sullivan explained it this way: "We have to leave, then leave. But not while the planes are in the air.2 Besides, she'd done nothing already making $19 million a year. Who was she to question his judgment? her boss that she was quitting. When news of her decision came to the attention of CEO Bernard Ebbers and CFO Scott Sullivan, they hastened to assure Vinson that shed planes in the air. Let's get the planes landed. Once they've landed, if you still want to After all, Sullivan was one of the top CFOS in the country; at age thirty seven, he was illegal, and if anyone asked, he'd take full responsibility. So Vinson decided to stay. Six months later, Ebbers and Sullivan needed another adjustment-this time for $771 milion, This scheme was even more unethical than the first: it entailed forging dates to hide the adjustment. Pretty soon, Vinson was making adjustments on a quarterly basis-first for $560 million, then for $743 million, and yet again for $941 million. Eventually, Vinson had juggled almost $4 billion, and before long, the stress started to get to her: she had trouble sleeping, lost weight, and withdrew from people at work. She decided to hang on when she got a promotion and a $30,000 raise. By spring 2002, however, it was obvious that adjusting the books was business as usual at WorldCom, Vinson finally decided that it was time to move on, but, unfortunately, an The Securities and Exchange Commission charged WorldCom with fraud amounting to $11 eager to tell what she knew. The government, however, regarded her as more than an internal auditor who had already put two and two together and blew the whistle. The billion-the largest in U.S. history. Seeing herself as a valuable witness, Vinson was mere witness. When she was named a Co-conspirator, she agreed to cooperate fully and pleaded guilty to criminal conspiracy and securities fraud. But she won't be the only one doing time: Scott Sullivan will be in jail for five years, and Bernie Ebbers will be locked up for twenty-five years. Both maintain that they are innocent. Betty Vinson is a mild-mannered mid level executive and mother.

Ouestions a) So where did Betty Vinson go wrong b) How did she manage to get in ved in a scheme that not only milked investors out of billions but also cost seventeen thousand people their jobs? c) List the unethical issues involved in this case. d) Give reasons to explain why Betty Vinson took the decisions she did. e) Explain the causes of unethical behaviour in organisations.