Professional Documents
Culture Documents
1- Introduction
In this case the attention will be concentrated on analyzing the factors that contribute on
Arthur Andersen’s company growth in contrast with the factors that played a role on
Andersen, Delany and company was founded in 1913 by Arthur Andersen and Clarence
Delany. The organization started as auditing firm and later expanded its services adding
tax services and consulting services. In 1918 Andersen becomes the sole owner of the
The 1989 is known as the year of separation since the Andersen & Co divides in two
In 2000 as the result of an ugly competition the association between the two Andersen’s
divisions comes to an end. Year 2002 was the end of Andersen’ organization found guilty
a) The strict ethical values which served as foundation of Anderson & Co.
b) The way that these strict values influenced the four management functions in
Andersen & Co. (Dyck, 2010, 164)
The 1988 was the year of success for Andersen & Co which became the largest consulting
3-1 Anderson & Co’s ethics and planning (before /after Arthur Andersen’s death)
Anderson & Co and its founder Arthur Andersen set the standards for ethics in
accounting.
Known for its vigilance and integrity Anderson and Co had no difficulties built its network
While alive, Arthur Andersen planed his goals and worked consistently and responsibly to
Even though Andersen kept the size of his organization small he ensured that not only the
members of the organization but also the other stakeholders were benefiting from the
Andersen was offering addition services such as production control, cost accounting,
operation research. Overall the organization and its management ignored Andersen’s
Andersen & Co and its leaders were pursuing their self-interest and excessive profits.
The first reason for Andersen’s fall was the deviation from Andersen’s ethics on planning
3-2 Andersen & Co’s ethics and organizing (before /after Arthur Andersen’s death)
While alive Arthur Andersen was the sole owner of the organization. He originated a small
firm and intended to keep it that way in order to secure and maintain the strong culture, its
After Arthur Anderson’s death the organization was completely rearranged. The
organization’s partnership was reformulated, in a way where Leonard Spacek was the lead
partner and each partner had one vote in all matters and all partners shared in the profits
and losses of the firm. As the result organization was forced towards decentralized
structure of decision making. The new management team goes even further and divides the
organization at first in three divisions and finely in two: 1) Administrative service division.
The second reason for Anderson’s & co. fall was the deviation from Anderson’s ethics on
organizing.
3-3 Andersen & Co’s ethics and leading (before /after Arthur Andersen’s death)
While alive Arthur Anderson constantly insisted in promoting fair and unbiased
them to be trained in Anderson’s way utilizing both systems formal and informal. Arthur
Anderson asks his partners to be strictly trained and stick to ethics promoted by him. .
and rewarding risk taking. A dysfunctional relationship was created inside the
accountability instead they replaced such values with greed arrogance immorality which
finally resulted on their self - destruction. Anderson los t its ethical leadership which
affected the ethics of the work place and both affected the life of the Anderson’s
organization. (3)
The third reason for Anderson’s fall was the deviation from Anderson’s ethics on leading.
3-4 Andersen & Co’s ethics and controlling (before /after Arthur Andersen’s death)
While alive, Arthur Andersen’s motto “Think straight talk straight” was the core of the set
of values he established. Arthur Andersons attempted to utilize both formal and informal
Under Arthur Andersen’s leadership the organization emphasized on of obeying the law
Other keys of Arthur Andersen’s success were reducing the organizations expenses and
After Arthur Anderson’s death organization and its managers lost control of the oversized
decentralized of Anderson & co.”Think straight and work straight” was no liger the motto
of the company .The organization core culture was damaged and the focus of the
opportunities and profit ,by doing whatever it took and at any cost.(a combination that
strongly contributed on the disaster and eruption of Anderson & co..(Dyck, 2010, 164)
On 1980 several creditors and shareholders filed bankruptcy and blamed their failure on
Arthur Andersen & co failed to inform the creditors, shareholders and public of its
findings. (1)
The fourth reason for Arthur Andersen & co fall was the deviation from Arthur
conditioned by the scale of comprehending and practicing the organization’s ethics and
performance.
Hire graduates (after they finish internship faze) and put a restriction on time (graduates
must establish at least 2 years experience with the company before their first consideration
for salary/wage increase), but simultaneously provide good health - care plans and
b) Second, offer graduates to work on commission and scale those commissions based on
organization’s profit.
For instance:
a) Graduates receives 10 % commission for their below average performance and an extra
b) Graduates receive 40% commission for their excellent performance and an extra 20% if
performance), provide good health - care plans and excellent work environment.
5- Conclusion
The rise of Arthur Anderson goes hand to hand with the influence of his ethics on four
The fall of the organization established by Arthur Anderson was result of deviations from Arthur
References
www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/A
2- Dyck, B. & Neubert, M. (2010). Management current practices and new directions.
4- Kobrak, C. (2009). Innovation corrupted: The origins and legacy of Enron’s collapse.