In the Spotlight for all the Wrong Reasons

They call it the secretive world of management consulting. It’s a power bloc that has gradually entered government and influenced policymaking

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Once confined to their crucial role of checking company accounts, the big four audit firms worldwide have become formidable forces within State and private entities as consultants. In their newfound roles, their conduct has come under intense scrutiny. From deceitful behavior to sanctioning fraud and intimidation, bullying, and harassment of opponents, independent legislators and investigators call out the big four audit firms for violating ethics and conflict of interest conduct as they play the role of advisor to the government and the private sector.

In an exposé about the latest corporate malpractice, the narrator starts with, “Whistleblowing isn’t for the fainthearted”. That sums up the problematic world of the newest brigade of conscience-driven individuals outing their employers’ misdemeanors. It is indeed a difficult decision to speak up. The price is heavy. Intense scrutiny, intimidation and job loss are some of the consequences. It’s a lone journey against powerful entities. They are entities in a collective whose influence spans the multinationals, the rich and famous, and the political authority. But it is to the courage of whistleblowers that the corporate cartels and their cossetted worlds come undone. That the diablos of corporate wrongs are smartly swathed in pinstripes and suits and sit in plush offices blinds everyone to their subversions. Although the 2008 global financial crisis showed the fickleness of international corporate stardom built on heritage and old-world entrepreneurial narratives that charmed the public into trust and adulation, the deceptions have continued.