An Ethical Analysis of the Enron Scandal
An Ethical Analysis of the Enron Scandal
The Enron scandal is one that left a deep and ugly scar on the face of modern business. As a result of the scandal, thousands of people lost their jobs, some people lost their entire pensions, and all of the shareholders lost the money that they had invested in the corporation after it went bankrupt. I believe that Kenneth Lay, former Enron CEO, and Jeffrey Skilling behaved in an unethical manner without any form of justification, but the whistleblower, former Enron vice president Sherron Watkins, acted in a way that upheld moral principles.
I can understand Jeffrey Skilling’s motivation, since money and greed are very powerful forces, occasionally driving even the most honest individuals to commit horrible acts. I might understand a destitute individual committing a dishonest act in order to feed themselves or their children, but Jeffrey Skilling was by no means destitute and had no just cause to even consider deceptive accounting. Personally, I am constantly faced with situations where it is possible for me to be dishonest and steal expensive items from the company I work for, but I choose not to since these things are needed by the company and are owned by the shareholders. I believe that I have no right to steal anything since I am living very comfortably, with respect to most humans, and I am satisfied with my economic position. If Jeffrey Skilling had looked at the Enron situation from a perspective similar to mine, he probably would not have seen any reason to do what he did.
Sherron Watkins’s actions, in my opinion, were perfectly orchestrated in a very ethical manner. She noticed something suspicious about the accounting, so she took a closer look and didn’t just ignore the problem. When she realized the depth of the situation, she reported it to the people that could do something about it in the organization, even reaching the top man, Kenneth Lay. When the company refused to correct the situation, she
The Enron scandal is one that left a deep and ugly scar on the face of modern business. As a result of the scandal, thousands of people lost their jobs, some people lost their entire pensions, and all of the shareholders lost the money that they had invested in the corporation after it went bankrupt. I believe that Kenneth Lay, former Enron CEO, and Jeffrey Skilling behaved in an unethical manner without any form of justification, but the whistleblower, former Enron vice president Sherron Watkins, acted in a way that upheld moral principles.
I can understand Jeffrey Skilling’s motivation, since money and greed are very powerful forces, occasionally driving even the most honest individuals to commit horrible acts. I might understand a destitute individual committing a dishonest act in order to feed themselves or their children, but Jeffrey Skilling was by no means destitute and had no just cause to even consider deceptive accounting. Personally, I am constantly faced with situations where it is possible for me to be dishonest and steal expensive items from the company I work for, but I choose not to since these things are needed by the company and are owned by the shareholders. I believe that I have no right to steal anything since I am living very comfortably, with respect to most humans, and I am satisfied with my economic position. If Jeffrey Skilling had looked at the Enron situation from a perspective similar to mine, he probably would not have seen any reason to do what he did.
Sherron Watkins’s actions, in my opinion, were perfectly orchestrated in a very ethical manner. She noticed something suspicious about the accounting, so she took a closer look and didn’t just ignore the problem. When she realized the depth of the situation, she reported it to the people that could do something about it in the organization, even reaching the top man, Kenneth Lay. When the company refused to correct the situation, she