| Course | ACCT 650 Corporate Governance and Fraudulent Financial Reporting (ACCT650) |
|---|---|
| Module/Week | 6 |
| Assignment | Discussion Board Forum 5 Thread |
| Paper type | Discussion thread |
| Length | about 534 words (thread and replies). Course guide: the course's last thread, 500 to 800 words, with three sources or more and a biblical principle worked into the argument, formatted in APA style |
| Format | APA 7 citations and reference list |
| Points | 75 |
| School | Liberty University Online |
| Program | MS in Accounting |
| Where it sits | Module/Week 6 in Liberty's published ACCT 650 course guide; current sections can differ |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for ACCT 650 Week 6
Discussion Board Forum 5 Thread: Tone at the Top and the Wells Fargo Sales Practices Case
ACCT 650 Corporate Governance and Fraudulent Financial Reporting, Discussion Board Forum 5 Thread
Thread by [Student Name]
The thread answers a composite prompt on tone at the top; the board's investigation report, framework, article and Bible passage cited are real.
The Wells Fargo sales practices case shows that leaders set the tone mainly through what they pay for and promote, and only secondarily through what they say. For years, employees in the bank's community banking division opened deposit and credit card accounts that customers had not authorized, and in 2016 regulators fined the bank for the practice. In 2020 the bank agreed to a $3 billion resolution with the Justice Department and the SEC. The costs spread well beyond the fines, to customers whose credit was affected, to employees fired for meeting goals in the only way they could, and to the bank's reputation. The written code of ethics prohibited such conduct. The incentives encouraged it.
The investigation commissioned by the bank's independent directors placed the root cause in the community bank's sales culture and performance management system, which set aggressive sales goals and pressured employees to meet them, and it found that senior leaders were slow to recognize the problem and to change the system that produced it (Independent Directors of the Board of Wells Fargo & Company, 2017). A company tells its employees what it values every time it decides whom to promote and whom to pressure. The report also found that the division's leadership resisted scrutiny and that information reached the board late and incomplete.
The COSO framework explains why that matters. Its first principle states that the organization demonstrates a commitment to integrity and ethical values, and the framework treats the control environment as the foundation for every other component of internal control (Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission [COSO], 2013). A commitment to integrity is demonstrated through standards of conduct, but also through how deviations are handled and how performance is rewarded. At Wells Fargo, employees who missed sales goals faced consequences, while the misconduct the goals produced was treated for years as the work of individuals rather than a symptom of the system.
Governance research has argued that boards must hold themselves to explicit ethical standards if they expect them of management. Schwartz et al. (2005) proposed that directors adopt an ethics code built on core values such as honesty, integrity, responsibility and fairness, reasoning that the board sets the tone for the tone at the top. The Wells Fargo board's own report, and its decision to claw back compensation from senior executives, show a board acting on that idea, though only after the damage was done.
A biblical principle captures the dynamic precisely. A proverb warns that a ruler who welcomes lies ends up with a court full of corrupt officials (English Standard Version Bible, 2001/2016, Proverbs 29:12). Leaders who want results more than truth will find subordinates willing to supply results without truth. The proverb places responsibility where the investigation did, on those who set the standard rather than only on those who followed it.
My recommendation is that boards test tone at the top by examining incentive systems directly, asking whether goals can be met honestly and how the company responds when they are not, rather than relying on codes and surveys. An honest answer to those two questions says more about a company's tone than any statement of values on its website.
References
Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission. (2013). Internal control: Integrated framework.
English Standard Version Bible. (2016). Crossway. (Original work published 2001)
Independent Directors of the Board of Wells Fargo & Company. (2017). Sales practices investigation report. Wells Fargo & Company.
Schwartz, M. S., Dunfee, T. W., & Kline, M. J. (2005). Tone at the top: An ethics code for directors? Journal of Business Ethics, 58(1-3), 79-100. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-005-1390-y
What the ACCT 650 Week 6 instructions ask
In Module/Week 6, ACCT 650 students post the thread that opens the last forum, reply to a classmate's Forum 4 thread and read chapters 11 and 12 of Girgenti et al. with two presentations. As before, the thread must land between 500 and 800 words, lean on three or more sources and apply Scripture, all in APA style, and a classmate answers it in Module/Week 7 while the learning project is also due. Tone at the top makes a fitting last topic because it gathers up what the earlier forums examined separately, boards, incentives, whistleblowers and controls, into the question of what leaders signal by what they reward and tolerate.
How this ACCT 650 Week 6 example is built
The sample thread takes a clear position, that the Wells Fargo case was a failure of tone at the top expressed through incentives rather than through words. It summarizes the facts briefly, then uses the board's investigation report for the causes, especially the sales culture and the performance management system. A paragraph measures those findings against the first principle of the COSO framework, a commitment to integrity and ethical values, showing that a written code meant little when compensation rewarded the opposite. Research on ethics codes for directors adds the governance angle. A proverb about rulers and officials supplies the biblical principle, applied directly to how leaders set expectations. A short recommendation closes the thread.
ACCT 650 Week 6 grading rubric: where the points go
The last thread is scored the same way as the first four: the prompt met head-on, three or more sources used with care, Scripture doing real work in the argument, and length held between 500 and 800 words. For a tone-at-the-top prompt, instructors reward threads that show how tone is communicated through incentives, promotions and responses to problems, not only through codes and speeches. Facts about a real case must be accurate and drawn from credible sources such as investigation reports or regulatory actions. A thread that treats tone as a slogan, or that recounts a scandal without analyzing its causes, earns less. APA citations and references are required, and a classmate's reply follows.
ACCT 650 Week 6 help: mistakes that cost points
Define tone at the top in a sentence, then choose a case where the record shows how leaders' signals shaped behavior. Use primary sources for the facts, such as a board's investigation report or an enforcement action, rather than news summaries alone. Look for the gap between stated values and rewarded behavior, since that gap is usually where tone fails. Connect the case to a framework, such as COSO's control environment principles, and to research on board or executive ethics. Pick a biblical principle about leadership and its influence, and apply it to the specific signals in the case. Keep the thread under 800 words and end with a practical recommendation.
Related ACCT 650 sample papers
Other ACCT 650 weeks
- ACCT 650 Week 1: Forum 1 Thread
- ACCT 650 Week 2: Forum 2 Thread
- ACCT 650 Week 3: Learning Project Proposal
- ACCT 650 Week 4: Forum 3 Reply
- ACCT 650 Week 5: Forum 4 Thread
- ACCT 650 Week 7: Individual Learning Project
More MS in Accounting sample papers
- ACCT 616 Week 6: Discussion Board Forum 4
- ACCT 618 Week 1: Reflection Essay
- ACCT 622 Week 6: Forum 3 Critique
- ACCT 635 Week 6: Discussion Board Forum 6
ACCT 650 Week 6 questions, answered
What is the ACCT 650 Forum 5 Thread?
It opens the last forum in Module/Week 6 for 75 points, a post of 500 to 800 words that this time takes up tone at the top, with three sources or more and Scripture applied.
Where can I find a free ACCT 650 Week 6 sample paper?
This page offers a complete ACCT 650 Week 6 thread sample on tone at the top, using the Wells Fargo sales practices case, the board's investigation and the COSO framework.
What caused the Wells Fargo sales practices scandal?
The investigation commissioned by the bank's independent directors traced it mainly to the community bank's sales culture and performance management system, which pressured employees to meet unrealistic sales goals.
What is tone at the top?
The ethical climate leaders create through what they say, reward, tolerate and punish, which the COSO framework treats as the foundation of an organization's control environment.
What else is due in ACCT 650 Module/Week 6?
The reply that completes Forum 4 is due the same week, and students read chapters 11 and 12 of Girgenti et al. with two presentations.
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