Communication is an important factor in everything we do in all aspects of our

lives. There could be a number of communication barriers that happened at

WorldCom that contributed to their downfall but the two I feel happened
included both selective perception and Semantics.

I think selective perception happened because I think Mr. Ebbers believed what
he wanted to believe for his own personal greed. As our textbook stated,
Carpenter, (2nd ed.) “We simply are bombarded with too much stimuli every day
to pay equal attention to everything so we pick and choose according to our own
needs.” I think playing ostrich in the sand is a weak defense for any CEO. When I
am the administrator of a hospital, part of my job is to know the functions of the
other departments under my care and I should be able to know whether they are
doing their job accurately and legally the way they should. I believe his own
greed came into play because he came from a modest background and used his
entrepreneurial skill to build WorldCom into a telecommunications giant. (Belson,
2005).

I believe Semantics also played a part in the fall of WorldCom. I believe Mr.
Ebbers did not understand all the lingo used in the financial world but at the same
time, he should have known something was going on, even if he was not directly
involved. He may not know the jargon of the financial community but I am sure
he was aware of the jargon in the community used by them to commit these acts.

Belson, K. (2005, January 26). Bernard Ebbers: Victim Himself or Mastermind?

New York Times. Retrieved from
https://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/26/business/bernard-ebbers-victim-
himself-or-mastermind.html

Carpenter, M. PRINCIPLES OF MANAGEMENT VERSION 2.0. [VitalSource

Bookshelf]. Retrieved
from https://bookshelf.vitalsource.com/#/books/MBS1549121/