Read the Lernout & Hauspie Speech Products case starting on page 701 in your textbook. -Attached. Answer the following questions in short essay format.- Very Important to answer in Essay Format! 1. Is...

Lernout & Hauspie Speech products
1. Is there anything unique about L&H that made the company prone to engage in fraudulent accounting practices?
The unique features of L&H that made it prone to engage in fraudulent accounting practices were its acquisition of companies one after the other and expansion beyond its capacity. The two founders of the company Jo Lernout and Pol Hauspie decisions were final and there was no protocol for ethics set by them. They only wanted to maximize L&H’s profit anyhow.
L&H was a speech technology and software product selling company. They did not want to lose out to its competitor and was very keen to meet the set targets by its customers. This made them vulnerable to accounting fraud in order to deceive investors. The reporting system in Belgium where L&H was headquartered was not so stringent as compared to that in the USA. L&H acquired Dictaphone which was a US company. They financial analysts in 1998 warned the investors about the acquisition and the malpractices they identified in L&H. The US accounting board asked L&H to file the financial statements with SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission). This made the investor of the company to dump the stock.    
2. Which were the...