What a great time to learn how to fight fraud! For several years, the U.S. business news has been saturated with headlines about fraud and unethical business practices. Recently, we read about Martha Stewart's conviction and Kenneth Lay's federal indictment. Moreover, a scan of international business news reveals that fraud fighters are needed worldwide! For example, in our last column we learned how pressures, opportunities and rationalization came together and led to the collapse of a major Japanese bank. Just imagine the social costs that would be saved if only fraud was prevented or detected earlier!
One way students can help increase our profession's effectiveness at fighting fraud is to augment the college experience with a fraud-fighting internship. In this month's column we learn how internship experiences can be designed to maximize the benefits to both the intern and the organization. So, if you've already graduated you can learn how to design an effective internship experience to get the most out of your interns. If you're still in school you can gain insights on maximizing your learning experience as an intern.