Houston Chapter: Mission Impossible: When Benchmarks Undermine Ethics (In Person)

When: Oct 21, 2025 from 05:30 PM to 08:30 PM (CT)

Associated with Houston Chapter

Join us on October 21, 2025 for our in person Houston Chapter meeting at the Ballroom at Tanglewood, 5430 Westheimer Ct, Houston 77056. This session will be worth 2 hr CPE that will fulfill the yearly CMA ethics requirement. Our workshop facilitators will be LeRoy Pennock and Prakash Rajan. The title of the session is, "Mission Impossible: When Benchmarks Undermine Ethics."

About the session:

In this workshop, we examine the elements of the fraud triangle used in auditing to explain the causes behind an individual’s decision to commit fraud, the consequences of focusing excessively on short-term results, the importance of a strong ethical culture and the actions involved in building one, and the sections of the IMA Statement of Ethical Professional Practice.

We will use these items to examine two case studies based on real stories to see how ethics play out in the real world. The first case study involves a young man who receives a promotion that is several levels up in the organization and is given an impossible task to accomplish without being fraudulent. The second case study involves a CMA whose ethical dilemma is caused by her identification with both sides of a decision to outsource IT services.

Learning Objectives:

Identify elements of the Fraud Triangle and strategies to overcome them.
Define Short-termism and describe how to avoid it.
Apply the IMA Statement of Ethical Professional Practice to various real-world ethical dilemmas
Define short-termism and describe how to avoid it.
Explore the pressures and complexities associated with ethical dilemmas
Evaluate potential courses of action and their possible consequences when seeking to resolve an ethical dilemma

CPE: 2 hrs (fulfills the yearly ethics requirement for CMAs)

Area: Behavioral Ethics (does not count for Texas CPA ethics)

Level: Basic

Advanced Preparation: Read two ethics cases before attending

Format: Group Live

Cases:

Troubled_Waters_CS.pdf

Cash_Cow_CS__FINAL.pdf

Participant Guide:

2_-_Ethics__Participant_Workbook.pdf

Schedule

5:30 pm Sign-in

6:00 pm Dinner & Speaker

8:15 pm Adjournment

Cost:

$40 Members / $50 after 10/20

$35 Educators / $40 after 10/20

$20 Student Members / $25 after 10/20

$25 Student Non-Members / $30 after 10/20

Registration is mandatory to participate. To ensure accurate CPE reporting, please provide your correct IMA member number as listed in your IMA membership profile. Your first and last name should also be as per your IMA profile. If any details are incorrect this could delay your CPE credits being reported to your transcript and error with your certificate of attendance.

Note: The IMA Houston Chapter is registered with the Texas State Board of Public Accountancy as a CPE sponsor. This registration does not constitute an endorsement by the board as to the quality of our CPE program. TSBPA Sponsor # 010715

To Register: https://pci.jotform.com/imahouston/ima-oct-2025-dinner-meeting-registr

Speaker Information

Prakash Rajan

Prakash Rajan, currently serves as a global board and a Governance Committee member of Freedom United, USA, a not-for-profit civic organization mobilizing the global community through education, activism, advocacy, and raising awareness to end all forms of modern slavery, in addition to his Global Board member and Chapter President volunteer leadership roles at the IMA. He last served as the head of the internal audit function of Kraton Corporation from 2018 to 2024. In that role, he was responsible for managing and ensuring the integrity and effectiveness of Kraton’s financial reporting and operating controls as well as the underlying functions and resources including the company’s information technologies. He also managed Kraton's enterprise risk management program.

Prior to Kraton, Prakash worked for more than 25 years in public accounting with a Big Four firm and in senior finance roles in internal controls, compliance and risk management in private equity, start-up, mid-size and Fortune 500 corporations in the pharmaceutical, biotech, semi-conductor equipment manufacturing, information technology, and specialty chemicals industries, including a 3 year expatriate stint in Spain.

Prakash earned an MBA from Drexel University, and he is a CMA as well as a CPA and a CGMA (Certified Global Management Accountant).

Prakash has been an IMA member for more than 34 years serving 6 years on its Committee on Ethics including as its Vice-Chair and Chair and a year on the Sustainability Management and DEI committees.

LeRoy Pennock

LeRoy Pennock is a well-seasoned retired finance professional that has worked in most aspects of accounting for a global petrochemical company and worked in many accounting / finance roles which has provided a broad business knowledge. He also worked on overseas projects that provided insight to working with different cultures.

LeRoy has been an IMA member for over 40 years and a CMA for over 30 years. He has served as President of the Houston Chapter, President of Texas Regional Counsil, and most recently of the President of Sturart Camerom McLeod Society and served four years on the IMA Global Board of Directors.

Location

Ballroom at Tanglewood
5430 Westheimer Ct
Houston, TX 77056

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Houston Chapter: Mission Impossible: When Benchmarks Undermine Ethics (In Person)

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