“The Informant”
Introduction
The movie I decided to watch is called “The Informant.” The main character is Mark
Whitacre, who works as a biochemist at ADM. He works on the production process that makes
lysine from corn products. Mark finds out that ADM, along with other foreign companies, is
engaging in a price fixing conspiracy. Mark is having difficulties determining the root cause of a
production problem, so he reports the existent of a saboteur. He states that the saboteur is the
cause of the production problems. Mark then states that the saboteur wants money in order to fix
ADM’s production problems. Believing that the company has been extorted, ADM calls in the
FBI for assistance. Once the FBI gets involved, Mark fears that he will be exposed about lying
about the saboteur and the extortion claims. In order to take the pressure off of his own lies,
Mark informs the FBI that ADM is engaging in price fixing activities. The FBI begins an
investigation spanning several years, where Mark provides recordings and videotapes of the
price fixing meetings between ADM and several foreign companies. Through the course of the
FBI investigation, it is revealed that Mark has made up several lies and has embezzled millions
of dollars from ADM over his career. In the end, several ADM executives receive 3 years of
prison time for their price fixing activities, and Mark receives 10.5 years for his 45 accounts of
embezzlement.
Business World Portrayal
I think that the movie “The Informant” definitely portrays the business world in a negative
light. The managers at ADM were only concerned about maximizing production and profits, as
well as resolving any production issues. They were willing to do whatever they could to make a
profit, even at the sake of doing what is ethical and moral. For example, in response to the
production problem, the managers would say, “Do whatever you can to fix it! I don’t want this
issue to cause us to go from #44 on the Fortune 500 to #45!” Furthermore, Mark Whitacre was
so obsessed with his job that it basically consumed his life. He would almost only talk to his
family about corn and his job. Finally, it almost seemed as though Mark thought that ADM was
“all powerful.” There was point in the movie where Mark thought that ADM had wired his
house and he said, “ADM probably owns the FBI.”
Business Ethical Dilemma #1 – Price Fixing (and Whistle Blowing):
Mark discovers that ADM is involved in a price fixing scandal in the Lysine business.
ADM was working with foreign competitors (Korea and Japan) to limit the production volumes
of Lysine in order to fix prices, which maximizes ADM’s profits.
This price fixing issue was resolved when Mark Whitacre reported the issue to the FBI.
Mark decided to wear a bug, and create over 200 hours of audio and videotapes for the FBI
investigation. Mark worked as an informant for the FBI for two and a half years. On tape, Mark
caught ADM making agreements with other competitor companies to set production volumes in
order to fix prices. One of the reasons Mark reported ADM to the FBI is because he thought that
he was so valuable to ADM that they would still need him in order to successfully run the
company. In fact, Mark believed that he was doing a great job and would get promoted in the
company. Mark also thought that when the FBI investigation was completely over, ADM
management would see that he had acted in the best interest of everyone.
In my opinion, Mark did exactly what he was supposed to do by reporting the price fixing
scandal to the FBI. I would have done the same thing. I think it took a lot of extra time and
effort for Mark to “catch” ADM in the act of making the actual price fixing agreements. In the
long run, reporting the price fixing scandal to the FBI was the right thing to do. The part of
Mark’s actions that I didn’t agree with was that he reported ADM to the FBI as a tactic to take
the pressure off of his own lies. This was definitely not the smartest move, since the FBI ended
up uncovering other serious issues for Mark.
Business Ethical Dilemma #2 – Embezzlement:
Mark Whitacre found out that ADM was embezzling money through kickbacks to ADM
corporate executives through fake contracts and fake corporations. The embezzlement cash was
paid in the form of checks deposited in different foreign accounts, in order to avoid taxes. All of
the cash amounts were less than $10,000. This type of embezzlement was apparently fairly
common at ADM, and Mark didn’t really think twice about going along with it. In fact,
management actually taught Mark how to conduct these types of embezzlement acts. Mark
embezzled $9 million and lied about it. In the end, he was convicted of 45 counts of wire fraud
and tax evasion (criminal misconduct).
This embezzlement issue was resolved when the FBI found out about it. As a result,
several ADM executives received 3 years of prison time for their price fixing activities. In
addition, Mark received 10.5 years in prison for his 45 accounts of embezzlement.
In my opinion, I would have done things a lot differently. First of all, I would like to
think that I would be smart enough to avoid engaging in the embezzlement activities altogether.
In addition, I would have reported the embezzlement immediately to the FBI as well as to the
ADM anonymous corporate ethics hotline (if they had one). Finally, I would do my best to keep
a journal and save any documentation related to the embezzlement activities in order to provide
this type of evidence to the FBI.
Business Ethical Dilemma #3 – Lying and Deception:
Mark had a record of telling multiple lies throughout the movie. First of all, Mark lied to
his managers at ADM and said that a Japanese saboteur planted a virus in the ADM production
process. He did this because he couldn’t figure out why the virus was occurring in the ADM
production process, or how to fix it. Mark also lied to his managers and told them that the
Japanese want $10 million dollars for the identity of the bug that is resistant to the virus.
In addition, when working as an informant for the FBI, Mark obviously deceived his
colleagues at ADM as well as the foreign competitors. Mark also lied to the FBI about the actual
dollar amount he embezzled. Initially, he told the FBI that he had embezzled $500,000, when it
was actually $9 million. He also concealed his embezzlement for 3 years while working as a FBI
informant for the ADM price fixing investigation.
Furthermore, Mark created a lie that he was abducted and hit with a brief case by an FBI
agent. He also lied about being adopted by rich people, and told people that his parents were
killed in a car accident. Mark said that he made up an adoption story so people would care for
him more, and be more sympathetic towards him. Towards the end of the movie, Mark
completely falsified a letter from a medical doctor. Throughout the movie, Mark’s lies became
larger and larger, to the point where he became a compulsive liar.
Mark’s issue of compulsive lying was resolved when the FBI put an end to it. Mark
ended up going to court, and after five years he was put on medication. He apologized to for any
hurt he may have caused, and he also accepted responsibility for his actions.
If I were in Mark’s situation, I would have done things differently in that I would like to
think that I would not have lied as much as Mark did. I think I would have told the truth about
not being able to fix the production issue. In fact, I do this on a regular basis at my current job.
It is really frustrating when there is a production issue that I am responsible for and I can’t
determine the root cause. In this case, I would have asked for help from management to provide
me with more resources to help me to solve the production issue. Also, I don’t think I would
have ever made up stories about being adopted or being abducted. Finally, I don’t think I would
have been caught lying to the FBI about the amount of money I embezzled, because I don’t think
I would have ever embezzled money in the first place. However, if I had embezzled money, I
probably would have told the FBI the exact amount of money the first time that they asked,
instead of lying to them.
Other Business Ethics Issues
Another business ethic issue that is an underlying theme in this movie is “doing whatever
it takes” to get ahead in the business world. I found it ironic that Mark Whitacre would turn
ADM into the FBI thinking that he would look like a hero, when in reality the FBI ended up
uncovering embezzlement evidence against Mark. This proves that greed can cause people to do
very immoral and unethical things.
Furthermore, the issue of work/life balance is another underlying theme in this movie.
Mark Whitacre turns into a compulsive liar and almost turns bipolar because he is constantly
thinking about work and spending all of his free time working on the FBI investigation. He turns
into a different person, and his life is no longer his own.
What I learned
The main lesson I learned from watching this movie is that you should always be honest,
and you should never cover up lies with more lies. I think that once you get caught in a lie, you
should start confessing the truth instead of making up more lies to cover your lies. This is
obviously very difficult to do, but in the long run, confessing is much better than the alternative.
In addition, I learned that if you are going to report something to the FBI, you better be
prepared to have everything that you have done be subject to an investigation, not just the
information that you are reporting. For example, Mark reported to the FBI that ADM was
engaging in price fixing activities, but the FBI also determined that Mark was involved in an
embezzlement case at ADM.
Finally, I learned that it is never okay to be pressured by managers to sacrifice personal
morals and ethics in order to do something that will increase production or maximize profits. I
think that it is better to be honest and share your problems with management so they can provide
more resources to help with issues, than to be stubborn and try to do everything by yourself in an
effort to be viewed as a hero.