Organizations are responsible for the legal, ethical and social issues that affect each stakeholder within the company. These factors continually impact the planning process performed at every level of management. An organization that neglects to establish and monitor plans can become disorganized and ultimately lose control of the practices performed within the company. A prime example of poor planning due to disregard for legal, ethical, and social issues was the executives employed at WorldCom. Prior to 2002, WorldCom was one of the leading telecommunications companies in its industry due to the numerous acquisitions the company made. Thanks to the growing popularity of the Internet and the acquisition of UUNet and MCI Communications, WorldCom's share increased significantly. According to Moberg and Romar (quoted in Browning, 1997) "By 1997, WorldCom stock had risen from a few cents per share to over $60 per share." WorldCom had become an attractive investment on Wall Street. However, the continued achievement of these business transactions created an overwhelming situation for WorldCom management (Moberg and Romar, 2003). WorldCom's management poorly planned the financial integration of the other companies which ultimately led to the bankruptcy of the successful company. Legal LiabilitiesWorldCom failed to adequately plan to combine the economic characteristics of all acquired companies into a single organization. WorldCom management had a legal responsibility to ensure that accounting standards were followed and that monetary interpretations were properly documented. During the integration, WorldCom applied accounting procedures liberally (Moberg and Romar 2003). Furthermore, WorldCom's top management is inter...... middle of paper ...... is praise for WorldCom excessive? Wall Street Journal. P. C-24.Chakraborty, S., Kurien, V., Singh, J., Athreya, M., Maira, A., Aga, A., Gupata, A., & Khandwalla, P. (2004). Management paradigms beyond profit maximization. Vikalpa: the newspaper for decision makers. 29(3), 97-117. Retrieved October 19, 2007, from EBSCO Host database.Chang, H. (2003). What led to Enron, WorldCom and the like? Stanford Graduate School of Business. Retrieved October 20, 2007, from http://www.gsb.stanford.edu/news/headlines/2003alumniwkend_mcnichols.shtmlMoberg, D. & Romar, E. (2003). WorldCom. Markkula Center for Business Ethics. Retrieved October 17, 2007, from http://scu.edu/ethics/dialogue/candc/case/worldcom.html United States Securities and Exchange Commission. (2007). The laws governing the securities industry. Retrieved 07/18/2007 from http://www.sec.gov/about/laws.s.html