A common thread I come up against in my work with small businesses and cooperatives is that my clients believe their companies are “too small” to be a victim of employee theft — or that their relationships with staff are “too tight” for anyone to do such a thing. However, and unfortunately, we see fraud committed just as, if not more frequently, at small businesses as we do large ones — often due to a lack of internal controls combined with the need for each employee and owner to wear many hats simultaneously (preventing division of labor and cross-checks that might otherwise exist).
The majority of internal fraud is perpetrated by “truly decent people”, not evil people… and we all have decent people working at our cooperatives. Based on real interviews with “truly decent people” that have committed fraud, this session provides an eye-opening glimpse into the thought processes that can occur in the mind of the potential perpetrator from the identification of the “need”, to the devising of a “scheme”, to the “perpetration” of fraud. Most internal controls deal with dual authorizations and the like. However, armed with the knowledge of what goes on in the mind of the perpetrator, this session provides information regarding the implementation of specific cost-effective controls that actually speak to the mind of the perpetrator.
Join us next week in Chicago at the 5th Annual Conference Of The Cooperative Professionals Guild! The theme is “New Horizons and Best Practices for Cooperative Professionals”. $250 registration fee includes breakfast, lunch and snacks each day. Agenda and details in the link below.
(They had previously come out with Part One, but it sounds like it’s been enough of a success that they’ve made a series.)
ESOPs and employee-owned cooperatives share many similarities as well as differences, and each model can provide a distinct set of features for a business and their employees. Some businesses have found that each model has not been “enough”, and have taken parts of each to create something new – the “ESOP-operative”.
So how would such a hybrid work? This two-part webinar series will help outline how its done, what to look for, and watch out for, as well as a case study from a company that has made it work for them.
This webinar is co-sponsored by the Groban Olson Law Firm; the Center for Community Based Enterprise (C2BE); the Ohio Employee Ownership Center at Kent State University (with support from the USDA’s Rural Cooperative Development Program); Horizon Trust & Investment Management; and Once Again Nut Butter Collective, Inc.
These webinars are provided free of charge with support from the USDA’s Rural Cooperative Development Program. If you would like to support the OEOC’s continued work in this area, you can do so here.
