Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/63428
The Fall 2002 Executive Education & MBA Directory Reach 5.2 million* readers worldwide in the October 21 issue of BusinessWeek featuring the high profile special editorial report "The Best B-Schools." Don't miss this opportunity to promote upcoming programs in this special ad directory which is widely read and generates strong response. To learn more about targeted advertising opportunities, contact: Telephone: Fax: E-mail: Issue Date: Closing Date: 1-800-424-3090 (within North America) 1-312-464-0512 (within North America) September 6, 2002 patrice_serret@businessweek.com (All inquiries) October 21, 2002 Closing soon. Reserve Space Now! *2002 Spring MRI; BusinessWeek estimate for International. investors feel that the corporate officers have broken the trust. ■ How executive compensation incentives are used to meet earnings targets—the role of stock options, and how stock options are accounted for on the financial statements. ■ "Off-balance-sheet financing"— what it is and why it was important to Enron. Enron serves as a useful spring- board to these important issues, which can be covered without an in-depth case analysis. Stories in the financial press serve as the text back- ground for classroom discussion. All of these topics seem very rele- vant to financial accounting classes, particularly MBA classes and espe- cially a financial statement analysis course. None of the above topics strikes me as a fad. Teaching about Enron is a way of exploring funda- mental concepts in the classroom! In teaching financial statement analysis to MBAs, doesn't it make sense to consider situations where the analysis was wrong because the financial statements were fraudu- lent? Doesn't financial statement analysis only work if the information provided is reliable? My last observation concerns Professor Barton's comment that, because he was "writing research, presenting at conferences, and teaching," he could ill-afford the time it would take to rewrite a course based on a fad. I would say to him: Think of all the conse- quences of your decision—you have extremely bright MBA students at Emory, some of whom, no doubt, will be future CEOs and CFOs. You have decided not to cover recent events because doing so takes too much of your effort. Rather, you are focusing on doing esoteric research to be published in the top accounting journals where, at best, a handful of academics will read the work. Is avoiding the use of Enron in class a good decision? Weigh the benefits and trade-offs, please. Not just to yourself, but to all the stakeholders in this decision. I think the incremental time you invest in preparing for a classroom discussion of Enron or WorldCom will have a huge payoff. Roddy-Garner Professor of Accounting University of Alabama Tuscaloosa, Alabama Corrections In "Upping the Count in Accounting" in the July/August issue of BizEd, two fig- ures were incorrectly stated. The 20 percent decrease in the number of accounting graduates occurred in the three-year period between 1995– 1996 and 1998–1999 academic years, not between 1998 and 1999 as stated in the article. Also, the American Institute for Certified Public Accountants has committed $25 million to its direct marketing campaign to spark interest in accounting careers, not $5 million. BizEd SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2002 7 William D. Samson