Thursday, February 3, 2011
Week 3: Being Aware of Self and Others: Enhancing Communication and Leadership
What was the ethical challenge/issue facing Bernie Madoff and others in his empire? What would you do if you were Madoff, the media, his wife, his sons, secretary, other workers, etc.? What could have been done differently, better? Or what could have been done better to avoid the media circus? And did the time fit the crime? Why or why not!?
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Mr. Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi scheme happened to be the biggest story of all time in business history. He was a business man with a very good reputation, who misused his power and his good standing in the business community, by stealing his investors’ money. Yes, in my opinion, he stole money from his investors.
ReplyDeleteA person with his power and reputation can definitely earn the trust of investors easily. He had a spotless reputation, very powerful position, and access to information not too many people had. Also, the bad economy played a big role in his favor. When he tells a client that a particular fund is closed but that he can still get them in, was a very smart trick to get clients to trust him. I also believe the government’s failure to regulate the financial market on Wall Street all those years made his scandal possible.
If I were Mr. Bernie Madoff, I would not have started the business as a Ponzi scheme. In fact, I would have earned a lot more than he had earned, by simply using my name and intelligence the right way. I am certain that if he is asked this question now he would say the same thing.
I am not a lawyer or a judge, but someone like Mr. Bernie Madoff who destroyed the future of hundreds of people should be held accountable and pay the consequences.
Finally, anyone who breaks the law should and must pay the price.
Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi scheme involved a lot of people getting ripped off and lied to and didn’t follow the ethical standards that investment firms should follow. If it was me I would have never been involved in such a scheme as the one Bernie Madoff tried pulling off. If I was related to Bernie or the president of his company I would have looked at this issue and realized that the gains he was promising to people was impossible and let him know the consequences. Bernie Madoff should have never lied to the government and the people in whom he invested for, if he took some of the greed away and just made them some money he wouldn’t be in this situation. I feel that the time does fit the crime, but Bernie Madoff shouldn’t be the only one charged. The big problem I have with all of this is the lack of government doing their job. All of Madoff’s assets went towards paying off some of the money owed to people, but where is the governments backing of money? Where was the government when this scheme was being done? Ultimately the government did not do their job when it came to paying back the people and ultimately stopping this ponzi scheme.
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