Johnson Manufacturing, a diversified manufacturer, has seven divisions that operate in the United States, Mexico, and Canada.
Question:
Johnson Manufacturing, a diversified manufacturer, has seven divisions that operate in the United States, Mexico, and Canada. Johnson Manufacturing has historically allowed its divisions to operate independently. Corporate intervention occurs only when planned results are not obtained. Corporate management has high integrity, although the board of directors is not very active. Johnson has a policy of performing employee screenings on all employees before hiring them. Johnson feels its employees are all well-educated and honest.
The company has a code of conduct, but there is little monitoring of employees. Employee compensation is highly dependent on the performance of the company.
During the past year, a new competitor has entered one of Johnson’s highly successful markets. This new competitor has undercut Johnson’s prices. Johnson’s manager of this unit, Debbie Harris, has responded by matching price cuts in hopes of maintaining market share. Debbie is very concerned because she cannot see any other areas where costs can be reduced so that the division’s growth and profitability can be maintained. If profitability is not maintained, the division managers’ salaries and bonuses will be reduced.
Debbie has decided that one way to make the division appear more profitable is to overstate inventory, because it represents a large asset on the division’s balance sheet. She also knows that controls over inventory are weak. She views this overstatement as a short-run solution to the profit decline due to the competitor’s price cutting. The manager is certain that once the competitor stops cutting prices or goes bankrupt, the misstatements in inventory can be corrected with little impact on the bottom line.
Questions
1. Discuss the opportunities, pressure, rationalization that can be identify in the case.
2. What steps should be taken to make sure fraud does not occur, and what are the costs associated with these steps?
Auditing and Assurance Services A Systematic Approach
ISBN: 978-1259162343
9th edition
Authors: William Messier, Steven Glover, Douglas Prawitt