American business schools from their inception in the 1880's, have grown dramatically both in quality and in numbers. Regarded as late as the 1950's as essentially vocational schools whose role in academia was still to be resolved, they are now among the most respected professional schools in the university community. In recent decades, this increase in prestige has been matched by the growth of both Bachelor's and MBA programs.

The forces and events shaping this dramatic rise in importance have been recounted by Dean Emeritus of New York University's Stern School of Business, Abraham L. Gitlow. He brings his 45 years of experience as a faculty member at the Stern School to bear as he analyzes the educational and philosophical issues and tensions that marked the history of the school, and of American higher education in general, in the twentieth century.

Modern capitalism and political freedom rest on concepts of conscience and morality, and abhor concentrations of unbridled power. America's economic and political system has developed mechanisms designed to check and balance such power. Despite these mechanisms, corporate America has produced imperious chief executives, who, possessing such power, abuse it by engaging in a fraudulent and self-serving pursuit of wealth and the trappings of authority. How did it happen? How did the system respond? What can be done to minimize the danger of its reoccurrence? Corruption in Corporate America seeks to answer these questions, first, by realizing that, to be able to misbehave, chief executives must achieve the support or silence of their boards of directors as well as the gatekeepers who presumably guard the integrity of corporate accounts (i.e. auditors, legal advisers, financial analysts, investment bankers, and regulatory bodies), and second, by analyzing how each of those participants becomes involved in corporate fraud. The analysis is completed by a look ahead at the prospective results of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, the law enacted as the corrective response to corporate corruption. Hopefully, the insights gained by this analysis will contribute to a revived confidence in the integrity of corporate accounts, and thereby sustain the vitality of America's capital markets, which are vital to our future economic well-being.

Modern capitalism and political freedom rest on concepts of conscience and morality, and abhor concentrations of unbridled power. In America, that economic and political system developed mechanisms designed to check and balance such power. Despite those mechanisms, corporate America developed too many imperial chief executives who abused their power by engaging in a fraudulent and self-serving pursuit of wealth and perquisites. This edition deals with how this happened, how the system responded, and actions that could minimize the danger of its recurrence. The text analyzes those who either support or keep quiet for miscreant chief executives, and how these participants became involved in corporate fraud. The investigation is completed by a look at the results of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, the law enacted as the corrective response to corporate corruption, and the increasingly intense pressure to ease the expense and other burdens associated with its vigorous enforcement. Hopefully, the insights gained by the analysis will contribute to a revived confidence in the integrity of corporate accounts, and thereby sustain the vitality of America's capital markets, which are essential to our future economic well-being.

Modern capitalism and political freedom rest on concepts of conscience and morality, and abhor concentrations of unbridled power. In America, that economic and political system developed mechanisms designed to check and balance such power. Despite those mechanisms, corporate America developed too many imperial chief executives who abused their power by engaging in a fraudulent and self-serving pursuit of wealth and perquisites. This edition deals with how this happened, how the system responded, and actions that could minimize the danger of its recurrence. The text analyzes those who either support or keep quiet for miscreant chief executives, and how these participants became involved in corporate fraud. The investigation is completed by a look at the results of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, the law enacted as the corrective response to corporate corruption, and the increasingly intense pressure to ease the expense and other burdens associated with its vigorous enforcement. Hopefully, the insights gained by the analysis will contribute to a revived confidence in the integrity of corporate accounts, and thereby sustain the vitality of America's capital markets, which are essential to our future economic well-being.

Gitlow (Stern School of Business, New York U.) offers a compilation of business policies, administrative practices, organizational behavior, and management techniques for existing executives and those aspiring to leadership positions. Originally published in 1992, the text is based on the author's teaching experiences and seminars conducted at Ster