Wednesday 25th September, 2013

According to Ernst & Young annual fraud report employees feeling the double pinch of increased demands and fewer financial benefits are more likely to respond by doing anything from fudging the numbers to bribing officials and clients. It also revealed that one in five respondents have seen financial manipulation occurring in their companies.

The fraud report surveyed 3,000 company board members, managers and their teams in 36 countries across the world. E&Y said "As getting more from less becomes more challenging, some managers may see another option: meeting targets by misrepresenting performance".

E&Y concludes. "Both pressures can, in some cases, drive actions that could damage the business, such as fraud, bribery and corruption." Compounding that problem, E&Y said, is the fact that the twin focuses on growth and cutting costs—especially at the expense of employees—"can weaken the systems and teams in place to prevent and detect these actions."