Addressing Corporate Scandals and Transgressions Through Governance and Social Responsibility

Despite the evolution of corporate governance in the last 30 years, corporate scandals have not stopped appearing in the media and academic documents. Therefore, this book presents a multidisciplinary study of corporate governance, as its mechanisms to reduce conflicts of interest and risk management must act as preventers of ethical and financial problems. The number of corporate scandals began to grow in the 1960s and peaked in the 1990s. From the first decade of the 2000s onwards, a remarkable evolution has taken place in the regulation market. However, new scandals continued to take place including the Subprime Crisis of 2008. New concepts such as corporate social responsibility (CRS), independence, gender diversity, and shell companies were incorporated. Until 2008 the scandals were mainly financial. Now, cases of corruption, environmental accidents, unsafe working conditions, child labor, and the political influence of power are increasing, which this book intends to address. It is critical to explore methodologies that allow collaboration among companies, regulatory entities, and those that guide their behavior and to ensure that they are consistent with the values of ethics, legality, disclosure, social responsibility, and accountability. Addressing Corporate Scandals and Transgressions Through Governance and Social Responsibility examines the tools of management and control that can be used as enforcement mechanisms of corporate governance and social responsibility and provides critical research on how to improve, discuss, and develop theories around fraud, corruption, ethics, corporate governance, and corporate social responsibility. Covering topics such as corporate scandal, human rights, and business fraud, this publication is ideal for corporate governance and social responsibility professionals such as accountants, auditors, tax officers, counsellors, directors, and managers as well as researchers, investors, and regulatory bodies and authorities.

Carlos F. Lopes is currently a Ph.D. student in accounting at the University of Aveiro and a member of the Research Centre on Accounting and Taxation (CICF) at the Polytechnic Institute of Cávado and Ave (IPCA), both in Portugal. In addition, he got a Master’s in Operations Management at Federal Fluminense University (UFF), Brazil. He graduated in Accounting from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) as well as in Business Management from the Federal Rural University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRRJ) and finally became a Certified Public Accountant (PCA), all in Brazil. He taught accounting, management accounting, and financial mathematics at Senac-RJ, Brazil, for three and a half years. In addition, he worked in national and international companies in Brazil as an accountant, plant controller, and financial controller for more than 20 years. His current research interests are Corporate Scandals, Corporate Governance, Ethics, Corporate Social Responsibility, Management Accounting, and Taxation.

Augusta Ferreira is a Coordinator Professor at ISCA, University of Aveiro - Portugal and a member of the Center for Research in Accounting and Taxation - Polytechnic Institute of Cávado and Ave. She has a PhD in Accounting from the University of Aveiro, Portugal. She teaches at various levels of education (bachelor's, master's and doctorate) in public sector accounting, financial accounting and accounting theory. At the academic level, she has experience monitoring doctoral (five already discussed) and master's theses (about 20 already discussed). At the scientific level, she has published several articles in indexed journals, several book chapters, and communications at conferences in the areas of public sector accounting and financial accounting. She was also on the editorial team of several books with IGI Global and has been a member of the Editorial Advisory Board of books and the scientific commissions of the international congress. She is a reviewer for several scientific journals. She was a responsible researcher in a financed project, “TheoFrameAccountability - Theoretical framework for promotion of accountability in the social economy sector: the IPSS case”, and a researcher in other projects. She has research interests in Social Economy, Public Sector Accounting, Accountability, Transparency, Performance Indicators, and Information Systems.

Carlos Ferreira is an Associate Professor at the Economics, Management, Industrial Engineering and Management Department, University of Aveiro, Portugal and member of the Intelligent Systems Associate Laboratory (LASI) and the Institute of Electronics and Informatics Engineering of Aveiro (IEETA). He got a PhD in Mathematics, specialized in Multicriteria Analysis, at the University of Aveiro, Portugal. He teaches at all levels of education in Research Methodology, Data Analysis, Information Systems and Operations Research and supervises PhD students (nine completed) and master's students (about 130 completed). He was director of master's degrees in information management and industrial engineering and management. At the scientific level, he has published several articles in indexed journals, several book chapters, and communications at national and international conferences. He was also on the editorial team of Springer and CLAD books and a member of scientific commissions of national and international conferences. He is a reviewer for several scientific journals. He is the vice-president of the Portuguese Association for Classification and Data Analysis (CLAD) and a board member of the International Federation of Classification Societies (IFCS). His current main research interests are Information Management, Decision Support Systems and Data Analysis.

Helena Inácio is a Coordinator Professor at ISCA, the University of Aveiro in Portugal, and is a member of the Research Unit on Governance, Competitiveness and Public Policies (GOVCOPP). She received her PhD in Accounting and Management, specializing in auditing, from the University Autonoma of Madrid in Spain 2008. She lectures graduate courses in accounting and auditing at the University of Aveiro. At the academic level, she has experience monitoring several doctoral theses (four already discussed) and master's dissertations (about 40 already discussed). She teaches curricular units at various levels of education (bachelor's, master's, and doctorate) in auditing, financial accounting, and corporate accounting. At the scientific level, she has published several articles in indexed journals, several book chapters, and communications at auditing, fraud, and social economics conferences. In 2019, she was also on the editorial team of 2 books titled “Organizational Auditing and Assurance in the Digital Age” and “Modernization and Accountability in the Social Economy Sector” and has been a member of the Editorial Advisory Board of three books. She is a reviewer for several scientific journals and conferences. She was a researcher in a financed project, “TheoFrameAccountability - Theoretical framework for the promotion of accountability in the social economy sector: the IPSS case.”

Carlos Santos is a Coordinator Professor at the Higher Institute for Accountancy and Administration, Aveiro University (ISCA), Aveiro - Portugal, and a member of the Centre for Research on Accounting and Taxation - Polytechnic Institute of Cávado and Ave. He has a PhD in Informatics and Computer Engineering, specializing in Information Systems, from the Higher Technical Institute of the Technical University of Lisbon, Portugal. He teaches at the various levels of education in Organizational Information Systems. At the academic level, he also has experience monitoring doctoral (four already discussed) and master's theses (about twenty already discussed). At the scientific level, he has published articles in indexed journals, book chapters, and communications at conferences in organizational information systems. He was also on the editorial team of some books with IGI Global and has been a member of the Editorial Advisory Board of books and the scientific commissions of the international congress. He is a reviewer for several scientific journals. She was a responsible researcher in a financed project, “PlowDeR - Framework for Analyzing the Economic and Social Impact of Tourist Activities on Low-Density Territories: The Case of Portuguese Historical Villages”, and a researcher in other projects. He has research interests in Information Systems Audit, Disclosure of Financial Information, Information Systems and Management Control, and Accounting Information Systems.