Worldcom And Bernie Ebbers

WorldCom & Bernie Ebbers
Case Study
Keith Tewell
University of the People

The notorious saga surrounding WorldCom and the actions of its CEO, Bernie Ebbers, could be described as poor decision-making, greed, denial, deception or all of the above. In the final analysis, the driving factor behind the deviant behavior that lead the company to ruin was the business strategy of WorldCom's CEO, Bernie Ebbers (DiStafano, 2005).
As CEO, Ebbers avoided internal company conflict at all costs, and he ultimately avoided the reality that WorldCom, once the dominant company in the telecommunications industry, was in serious economic trouble (Principles of Management, 2015). Ebbers autocratic style of management and top down approach

Employees who played along were rewarded; others were threatened. Company employees who tried to bring initial problems to Ebert’s attention were discouraged, and Ebbers made it clear he only wanted to hear good news (“Principle of Management,” 2015). For example, WorldCom’s accounting department, headed by CFO, Scott Sullivan, knowingly underreported line costs and inflated revenues with bogus accounting entries. Sullivan later testified that Ebbers had repeatedly put pressure on him to meet Wall Street expectation, even as the firm's finances were crumbling (Teather, 2005). Ultimately, corporate deviance is the result of how a corporation is lead, how employees are motivated, the nature of the work, and the degree of individual

& Brown, M. 2005). As CEO of WorldCom, Bernie Ebbers had the skills and opportunity to guide the company successfully with ethical leadership. From a social learning perspective, Ebbers’ key mangers would have observed and modeled his positive ethical behavior if he demonstrated it. In turn, subordinates of the managers would do the same. WorldCom could have survived. But Bernie Ebbers’ relentless and insatiable quest for financial growth got in the way of exercising sound ethical principles and standards. His charismatic influence and destructive deviant behavior is what eventually lead to the collapse WorldCom.
Admired leaders who are seen as trustworthy, and who treat employees fairly and considerately, will develop social exchange relationships that result in employees reciprocating in positive ways (Trevino, L. & Brown, M. 2005). The corporate culture at WorldCom created by Bernie Ebbers was one of fear, intimidation and deceit. Unfortunately, because of his deviant corporate philosophy - positive reciprocation like this was not a part of