Securities Exchange Commission Took Conglomerate Thesis

This could have been interpreted as the company having an orientation more towards money-making than to the development of strong ethics.

Leadership, or lack thereof, made a strong contribution to the Tyco failure. The company's leaders set the cultural tone of the firm, but they were also among the primary actors engaged in the fraud. Kozlowski and the other executives were front and center in the fraud, and committed many of the egregious acts themselves. There is little doubt that the Tyco failure had more to do with the caliber of the company's leadership that with any issues surrounding the employees themselves. For the most part, the structure and the leadership were the reasons for the Tyco failure.

Management was less complicit. Although the managers were influenced by the culture passed down by Tyco's leaders, they were less directly involved in the fraud. Perhaps for this reason, the firm was able to remain as a going entity even after the fraud was prosecuted. The organizational structure was set out by the company's leaders, and therefore was a part of the problem. The compensation scheme for top executives was among the most significant issues, but it should also be noted that the company was set up as an acquisition-oriented enterprise. That structure also encouraged leaders and managers to commit fraud and engaged in deal timing and other activities that resulted in the Tyco failure.

Works Cited:

No author. (2003). Securities Exchange Commission v. Tyco International Ltd. Securities Exchange Commission. Retrieved January 31, 2010 from http://www.sec.gov/litigation/complaints/2006/comp19657.pdf

Hellriegel, D. & Slocum, J. (2007).

Organizational Behavior. Mason, OH: Thomson Higher Education.

Kemmerer, C. & Shawyer, T. (2007). Tyco: A top-down approach to ethical…