ABSTRACT:
Recently, Walmart and several other large corporations have faced allegations of Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) violations, subjecting the companies to large fines and stock price declines. This instructional assignment introduces students to the FCPA and provides an illustration of FCPA compliance problems at Nature's Sunshine Products (Nature's). Students will (1) discuss the development, requirements, and importance of the FCPA; and (2) identify red flags at Nature's suggestive of FCPA noncompliance. This instructional assignment also includes a supplemental requirement whereby students are asked to identify ways that internal auditors could have assisted Nature's in achieving FCPA compliance. This instructional resource, which could be used in undergraduate or graduate external or internal auditing courses or in managerial or forensics courses, provides instructors with a resource for integrating real-world problems involving international business issues into the course curriculum.
