AICPA Code of Professional Conduct Violations / IBM and Google

Questions
Name
Institutional Affiliation
Questions
Violation of the AICPA Code of Professional Conduct leading to a disciplinary action
One of the violations of the AICPA Code of Professional Conduct that led to disciplinary action by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants involved the case of Ray E. Plummer. Acting in his position as an accountant, Plummer violated the ethical rules of the organization by carrying out audits of a real estate which was owned by a trustee of which he was a co-trustee (Thomson Reuters, 2018). In his failure to comply with the rules of AICPA, Plummer led to the circumstances of conflict of interest whereby he was likely not to give the true and fair value of the organization owing to his interest in it. There was a possibility that Plummer would be biased in favor of the organization. It would lead to lack of objectivity and independence while carrying out the accounting procedures.
Safeguards to reduce the risks of the identified risks
One of the most effective ways to reduce the risks identified in the case would be to ensure that an accountant who does not have any interests in the organization is identified. It is arguably the surest ways to ensure that the risk of lack of objectivity is addressed. The second method would be to ensure that the identified accountant has the minimum qualification to produce quality work. With these two strategies, it will be possible for the organization to either reduce or completely eradicate the risk.

IBM Ethics
Like any other company, IBM has resolved to come up with ways that can be effective in reducing the costs to have a better grip on its competitive position. In so doing, the company terminated its defined pension plan that had been founded in the 90s and transferred all the employees to a cash balance pension plan. It meant that the older employees were not going to be paid their pension as was agreed before the year 1999 when the pension plan was transferred (Jurevicius, 2013). In this regard, I do not agree with the cost reduction strategy of IBM regarding the pension plan overtime for employees. The strategy was not in sync with the initial agreement between the company and the employees and hence it amounted to a breach of contract.
On the other hand, I do agree with IBM’s acquisition of competitor to protect its competitive advantage in the mainframe business. Although this step was largely criticized, the company underwent the right procedures to acquire the competitors. According to its value statement, innovation is essential for its competition. When it acquired its competitors, the company failed to exercise its innovation to outdo its competition and in so doing it contradicted its value.
Google Actions
Although Google ranks as one of the best search engines, it can lower the rankings of other companies that might compete against it. For instance, this happened in the year 2006 when it lowered the rankings of KinderStart. Google reduced the rankings of KinderStart to zero. Regarding ethics, this is likely to affect the reputation of Google in some ways (Sullivan, 2006). First, it might lower the high regard of Google as one of the most innovative companies in the modern business. It would be due to its inability to compete with the rest of the businesses that are in the same operations. Second, it will display Google as a company that engages in unhealthy and unfair competition. As a result, its reputation as an ethically competitive business will be greatly affected.
References
Jurevicius O. 2013. The mission statement of IBM. Retrieved from https://www.strategicmanagementinsight.com/mission-statements/ibm-mission-statement.html
Sullivan D. (2006). KinderStart Becomes KinderStopped In Ranking Lawsuit Against Google. Search Engine Watch. Retrieved from https://searchenginewatch.com/sew/news/2058241/kinderstart-becomes-kinderstopped-in-ranking-lawsuit-against-google
Thomson Reuters (2018). Ray E. Plummer, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, Defendant-Appellee. FindLaw. Retrieved online https://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-7th-circuit/1182795.html