Enron: An Ethics Case Study
Running head: Enron and Ethics
Enron: An Ethics Case StudyEnron: An Introduction
The previous decades have seen the birth and meteoric rise of several corporate giants such as Microsoft and Apple, both of which have all but become household names in this day and age. Neither achieved their level of success overnight, especially not since they have long been known to be in direct competition with each other. On the contrary, both of them have had their share of scandals and controversies, which makes the fact of their success even more respectable.
In fact, most companies, regardless of size, will inevitably encounter scandal and controversy at some point in their existence, though this in itself is nothing to worry about. Indeed, it can be said in this regard that a career without scandal is not a career at all. Rather than wasting time worrying about encountering such scandals, a good executive would be better-advised to focus all efforts toward making it through them when they come. Failure in this regard would, among other things, spell doom with respect to the existence of the company itself. Among the most disappointing and tragic examples of this is the case of World Championship Wrestling which, thanks to a combination of mismanagement and bad luck, was forced to fold in 2001.
Among the most controversial companies of the past decade is the Enron Corporation – which, incidentally, folded the same year as the aforementioned WCW. Despite having been lauded by Fortune magazine as America’s most innovative company for 6 years in a row, Enron was nevertheless beset and eventually done in by the same problems that doomed WCW, and then some. Points to be discussed in this paper include the corporate culture it espoused, the contributions made by Enron’s corporate culture to its demise, as well as those by its stakeholders and its officers through their actions. Finally, the lessons learned from Enron’s demise shall be made note of.
Enron: An Ethics Case StudyEnron: An Introduction
The previous decades have seen the birth and meteoric rise of several corporate giants such as Microsoft and Apple, both of which have all but become household names in this day and age. Neither achieved their level of success overnight, especially not since they have long been known to be in direct competition with each other. On the contrary, both of them have had their share of scandals and controversies, which makes the fact of their success even more respectable.
In fact, most companies, regardless of size, will inevitably encounter scandal and controversy at some point in their existence, though this in itself is nothing to worry about. Indeed, it can be said in this regard that a career without scandal is not a career at all. Rather than wasting time worrying about encountering such scandals, a good executive would be better-advised to focus all efforts toward making it through them when they come. Failure in this regard would, among other things, spell doom with respect to the existence of the company itself. Among the most disappointing and tragic examples of this is the case of World Championship Wrestling which, thanks to a combination of mismanagement and bad luck, was forced to fold in 2001.
Among the most controversial companies of the past decade is the Enron Corporation – which, incidentally, folded the same year as the aforementioned WCW. Despite having been lauded by Fortune magazine as America’s most innovative company for 6 years in a row, Enron was nevertheless beset and eventually done in by the same problems that doomed WCW, and then some. Points to be discussed in this paper include the corporate culture it espoused, the contributions made by Enron’s corporate culture to its demise, as well as those by its stakeholders and its officers through their actions. Finally, the lessons learned from Enron’s demise shall be made note of.
References: Benston, G. J. (2003). "The quality of corporate financial statements and their auditors before and after Enron". Policy Analysis. Washington D.C.: Cato Institute. Bodurtha, J. N., Jr. (2003). "Unfair Values" – Enron 's Shell Game. Washington, D.C.: McDonough School of Business. Bratton, W. W. (2002). “Does corporate law protect the interests of shareholders and other stakeholders? Enron and the dark side of shareholder value”. Tulane Law Review, 1275, 61. Cohen, D Healy, P. M.; Krishna G. P. (2003). The Fall of Enron. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 17(2), 3. Lublin, J. S. (2002). Enron audit panel is scrutinized for its cozy ties with the firm. The Wall Street Journal (February 1). McLean, B Modaff, D.P., DeWine, S., & Butler, J. (2011). Organizational communication: Foundations, challenges, and misunderstandings (2nd ed.). Boston: Pearson Education. Norris, F. (2001). "Enron Net Rose 40% in Quarter". The New York Times. Retrieved on November 2, 2012 from http://www.nytimes.com/2001/07/13/business/enron-net-rose-40-in-quarter.html Said, C Saporito, B. (2002) How Fastow helped Enron fall. Time Magazine. Retrieved on November 2, 2012 from http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,201871,00.html