Which of Kohlberg's six stages of moral development would you say that Cynthia Cooper had reached? Explain.

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Chapter1: The Science Of Psychology
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ON THE EDGE
WorldCom's Whistleblower
its profits by over $3.8 billion-an amount later raised
to $9 billion-in the greatest accounting fraud in his-
tory. Sullivan and Myers were arrested; World Com
shareholders lost $3 billion; 17,000 World Com work-
ers lost their jobs; Arthur Andersen was shut down
for shredding evidence of other accounting frauds at
other firms. Even today, many World Com managers
and employees do not speak to her and she some-
times cries. Says Cooper: "There is a price to be paid.
[But] it comes back to the values and ethics that you
learn .... The fear of losing my job was secondary to
the obligation I felt."
Doxib
n March 2002, when WorldCom was struggling to
coordinate and integrate the complex mess cre-
ated by the 65 companies it had acquired, World-
Com's then highly respected chief financial officer,
Scott Sullivan, moved $400 million from a reserve
account and recorded it as "income" in the compa-
ny's public financial reports. Alerted to this, Cynthia
Cooper, the perfectionist head of World Com's in-
ternal audit department, began to secretly examine
the company's books at night. She soon discovered
that Scott Sullivan (named a "best CFO" by CFO
Magazine in 1998) and David Myers, World Com's
controller, for years had publicly reported billions
of dollars as "capital expenditures" when they were
really operating costs, ignored uncollectible receiv- 1. Which of Kohlberg's six stages of moral
development would you say that Cynthia
Cooper had reached? Explain.
ables, and reported as "income" what were really
reserve funds, and did all this with the help of Arthur
Andersen, the company's auditor and accounting
firm. Though angrily threatened by Sullivan, and
risking her job and career, on June 20, 2002, an ap-
prehensive Cooper courageously met with the audit
committee of WorldCom's board of directors and told
them what had been going on. On June 25, World-
Com's directors announced the company had inflated
2. Do her actions and motives support or
undermine Carol Gilligan's views? What
would you say is unique about her or
what she did?
3. How does William Damon's theory of
moral identity apply to Cynthia Cooper?
Scott J. Ferrell/Congressional Quarterly/Alamy
*
WORLD
Transcribed Image Text:ON THE EDGE WorldCom's Whistleblower its profits by over $3.8 billion-an amount later raised to $9 billion-in the greatest accounting fraud in his- tory. Sullivan and Myers were arrested; World Com shareholders lost $3 billion; 17,000 World Com work- ers lost their jobs; Arthur Andersen was shut down for shredding evidence of other accounting frauds at other firms. Even today, many World Com managers and employees do not speak to her and she some- times cries. Says Cooper: "There is a price to be paid. [But] it comes back to the values and ethics that you learn .... The fear of losing my job was secondary to the obligation I felt." Doxib n March 2002, when WorldCom was struggling to coordinate and integrate the complex mess cre- ated by the 65 companies it had acquired, World- Com's then highly respected chief financial officer, Scott Sullivan, moved $400 million from a reserve account and recorded it as "income" in the compa- ny's public financial reports. Alerted to this, Cynthia Cooper, the perfectionist head of World Com's in- ternal audit department, began to secretly examine the company's books at night. She soon discovered that Scott Sullivan (named a "best CFO" by CFO Magazine in 1998) and David Myers, World Com's controller, for years had publicly reported billions of dollars as "capital expenditures" when they were really operating costs, ignored uncollectible receiv- 1. Which of Kohlberg's six stages of moral development would you say that Cynthia Cooper had reached? Explain. ables, and reported as "income" what were really reserve funds, and did all this with the help of Arthur Andersen, the company's auditor and accounting firm. Though angrily threatened by Sullivan, and risking her job and career, on June 20, 2002, an ap- prehensive Cooper courageously met with the audit committee of WorldCom's board of directors and told them what had been going on. On June 25, World- Com's directors announced the company had inflated 2. Do her actions and motives support or undermine Carol Gilligan's views? What would you say is unique about her or what she did? 3. How does William Damon's theory of moral identity apply to Cynthia Cooper? Scott J. Ferrell/Congressional Quarterly/Alamy * WORLD
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