Sunday, March 21, 2010

Lazy Management Results in Massive Embezzlement

We see this time and time again...

It was a family operation, where top bosses mingled with workers on the assembly floor, where the chief executive juggled five major titles at once, where the board of directors barely changed in 20-plus years.

And where the company’s vice president of finance could move around millions of dollars without approval from above.

In this unquestioning environment, authorities say, then-Koss Corp. executive Sujata “Sue” Sachdeva was able to spend more than $31 million in Koss funds on a lavish lifestyle and extravagant shopping sprees.

“It’s a small company. You have to trust people,” said Tracy Malone, one of the two aides to Sachdeva fired by Koss Corp. in January, the month after the alleged fraud was uncovered. Julie Mulvaney, the other veteran aide who was fired, declined to comment.

If you manage a company at any level, you HAVE to ask the hard questions and verify what you are being told.  That doesn’t mean that you have to do everyone’s job, but a little verification goes a long way.

(2) Comments
Posted by Owen at 1018 hrs
Culture + Economy

  1. Like that saying goes, “Trust but verify”

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on March 21, 2010 at 1026 hrs


  2. It’s also a good reason not to allow families to sell off part or most of their company, but keep voting control.

    If this were only going to hurt the Koss family, I would be concerned because I have liked their headphones, but it would be something they could control. Owners of publicly-traded shares are getting hurt because of the family’s carelessness and those other shareholders could not have done anything about it.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on March 21, 2010 at 1702 hrs


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