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Title: Final Accounting : Ambition, Greed and the Fall of Arthur Andersen by Barbara Ley Toffler, Jennifer Reingold ISBN: 0-7679-1382-5 Publisher: Broadway Pub. Date: 04 March, 2003 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.31 (29 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: From another Ex-Andersen Person
Comment: The book provides an indepth analysis regarding the real story behind the inner workings at Arthur Andersen. As a former Andersen employee, I was still searching for answers as to what went wrong and couldn't continue carrying the company line of "we did nothing wrong." Sure, we all didn't work at Enron or Worldcom, but her perspective forced me to question the ethics and driving forces (both historical and current)behind what really did happen. In fact, once you read the book and abstract yourself from your own personal experiences and convictions regarding AA, you'll start to say "Yeah, we were greedy and the constant struggle to sell more and more work caused us to neglect the core reason we existed- to protect the investing public."
The book explains things such as the infamous inner battles fought among offices for billable time. The weird implications for our astronomical rates and associated PFAs. The inside scope on many of the partner meetings that we never got to attend- much less hear about. The book does a wonderful job of explaining the historical, political, and current events that unfolded to lead to Enron and World Com. I'm sure many of your experiences will be similiar to the authors. However, she neglected an important component of what made Andersen so great. For the most part, the people from Staff to Manager were intelligent, personable, driven, and natural leaders. It's something I haven't been able to replace in my current position and frankly don't think it will happen again. It's ashame that we had such poor leadership and that we lost sight, as a Firm,of our ultimate purpose- to protect the public via real AUDITS and not "business" audits!
Rating: 3
Summary: Physician, heal thyself...
Comment: This is an odd book, because it's actually two separate books in one cover. The first book, which is essentially a short history of the rise and fall of Arthur Andersen, was no doubt written by the ghostwriter, Jennifer Reingold, and is actually fairly informative. This is the part that gets the three stars - not great by any means, but at least informative.
The second book is interspersed with the first, and purports to be a scathing indictment of the culture of Arthur Andersen, a respected American institution that was subverted and destroyed by arrogance and greed. It's easy to read a lot into this story, since it's really just the current American business ethic in microcosm. Nothing matters here but greed and taking pleasure in stepping in the other guy's face.
What's interesting here is the fact that Barbara Toffler, who clearly considers herself to be an "ethics expert", openly confesses that she was just as ruthless and greedy as everyone else at Andersen. But the reader is left wondering if she ever really quite gets it - does she understand she's just as morally culpable as the Andersen partners she eviscerates? She certainly doesn't seem to be too troubled by her own long list of questionable actions, in any case. The old joke about the definition of "chutzpah" being a person who murders his parents and then pleads for mercy because he's an orphan gets an update here: an unethical peddlar of "ethical services" who turns a quick buck by selling her story. You might feel like taking a shower after you finish this one.
Rating: 1
Summary: Biased, Hypocritical & Untruthful in Part
Comment: I had the displeasure of meeting Ms. Toffler a number of times at Andersen. Her personality made Leona Helmsley seem like Miss Manners by comparison. She was abrupt and rude to almost everyone she met and would never have fitted in at any large professional firm. Her antipathy to Andersen makes her book so biased as to lack credibility. It seems oriented more to profitable revenge than to providing insight. I know at least one of her descriptions in the book is factually untrue but her fiction makes for a more entertaining read. A pity this "ethics consultant" didn't walk the talk herself. A career as a writer for the National Enquirer seems a better fit.
If you want insights rather than insults, buy "Inside Arthur Andersen" instead. It is written by people skilled in analyzing organizational behavior, appears to be far more objective despite the authors' positions within Andersen, is better researched, and identifies and explains the issues well. It also shows that the key issues affect other firms too, not just Andersen. That book should be required reading for all CPAs, accounting professors and students.
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