Robbins, S. & Judge, T. (2007). What is Organizational Behavior? (Chapter 1). Prentice Hall, Inc. A Pearson Education Company.…
Communication is a basic need for survival that units all humans. It is also one of the most complex skills that a human can develop. Mastering all elements of communication is rare but real significant accomplishment one can have. Effective communication determines success of the organization, since great leadership can set the foundation for organization’s collective behavior, common goals values and vision that are expressed and received in numerous different ways in various levels of employment.…
Communication is important in every aspect of our lives. This is also true for the communication used in our professional lives. When at work we “depend on cooperation with others to accomplish our goals, and communication is the critical human process we use to promote such cooperation.” (Kreps, 2011; sec. 1.1) Understanding communication is the best way to make sure it is being used effectively correctly. When communication is effective then organizational components will run smoother and efficiently. Smoother and effective communication means that an organization has a greater chance of following its mission and achieving its…
Way for an organization to communicate to their employees is to be open and honest and let what is going on see the best. Good communication throughout a business remains an integral part of a company's culture. Effective communication skills keep a strong running smoothly and strengthen relationships with employees.…
In addition, a comparison and contrast will be discussed on the relationships between the board, executive management, middle managers, and the organization contributed to the failure. Many people assumed that creative accounting was the major downfall of Enron but according to Stewart (2006) “the more fundamental causes appear to have been matters of organizational design” (p. 116).…
During the 90 's Enron was considered as an innovative company within the global business market. Enron was known for its unique innovative technologies and distinctive approach to trading in the world of e-commerce. On December 2, 2001, Enron announced the biggest bankruptcy in history and when many people hear the word, Enron they associate it with the one of the most important accounting scandals in our lifetimes rarely is it associated with a breakdown in communication. Matthew Seeger and Robert Ulmer (2003, p. 59) assert that responsible leadership is built upon three communication-based leader responsibilities. Those factors being, (1) communicating appropriate values to create a moral climate, (2) maintaining adequate communication to be informed of organisational operations, (3) maintaining openness to signs of problems. A breakdown in any of these aspects can cause varying degrees of turmoil for an organisation; Seeger and Ulmer articulate that the problems experienced by Enron were the result of a direct failure to carry out communication-based responsibilities. This paper has a specific focus on determining how the communication of Enron’s leaders contributed to its failure. Although the specific financial shortcomings are not fully addressed in this paper, the corporate communication and culture dictated the intentions of these shortcomings and therefore can be held responsible. Before attempting to analyse the concepts of Seeger and Ulmer some background information about Enron and ethics will be explored.…
The purpose of this paper is consider three possible rationales for why Enron collapsed—that key individuals were flawed, that the organization was flawed, and that some factors larger than the organization (e.g., a trend toward deregulation) led to Enron’s collapse. In viewing “Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room” it was clear that all three of these flaws contributed to the demise of Enron, but it was the synergy of their combination that truly let Enron to its ultimate path of destruction.…
High risk accounting, inappropriate conflicts of interest, extensive undisclosed off-the-books activity, excessive compensation these are some of the headings of the report prepared by the U.S. Senate's Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations titled "The Role of the Board of Directors in Enron's Collapse." (Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, 2002) In February, 2002, Enron's former Chief Executive Officer Jeffery Skilling had testified before members of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee that Enron was a financially sound company the day he resigned in August 2001, just months before the company's financial implosion. But the Enron debacle has, as the Houston Chronicle put it, "all the earmarks of classic tragic drama in which hubris causes the fall of the mighty," (Ivanovich, 2002) and, Mr. Skilling's sworn testimony to the contrary, the decisive role that Skilling and the company's other top executives played in the bankruptcy of this $63 billion company now seems incontrovertible. Indeed, from the point of view that the business culture at Enron contributed importantly to the company's demise, the blame for this financial tragedy can be pretty squarely placed on Skilling's shoulders, and the values he promoted among top and mid-level management during his five year stewardship of the company from 1996 to 2001.…
In 2001, the world was shocked by the demise of Enron, a multibillion dollar corporation that had thousands of employees and people that had affiliations with the company including The White House itself. Because of the financial chaos and destroyed lives and reputations this catastrophe left in its path, questions arose concerning how exactly it happened, why it occurred, and who was behind it. It is essential to understand how this multibillion dollar corporation rose to power and later imploded. Enron itself was born as the result of Houston’s Natural Gas and InterNorth, a gas based pipeline company from Nebraska in 1985. In the final analysis, the conspiracy of Kenneth Lay, Jeffery Skilling, and others, including the accounting firm of Authur Anderson, led to the collapse of Enron due to fraud, shady accounting practices, false reporting revenue, and general disregard of virtually every principle of business ethics.…
Effective communication is vital in assuring the message is interpreted correctly. Listening openly, understanding the intent of the message and using proper body language in receiving and delivering the message is positive in communication. Preventing negative communication is the ultimate goal for organizations in order for them to succeed. Applying the proper techniques of communicating continues to be a challenge among organizations in today’s…
The collapse of Enron is known as one of the biggest corporate scandals in the twentieth century lead by greed, lack of leadership and bad investment. Employees of Enron loss their retirement saving, jobs and some even committed suicide as a result to the down fall of Enron. Enron known as the world’s largest energy companies in the United State failed due to unethical accounting techniques and poor leadership. One may wonder how this is possible with the cleaver work of chief executive officer of Enron this transformation of making Enron a financial trade company done by hidden huge amount debt and inflating earning. Companies put lots of trust in their key employees many time no question ask in their decisions. In Enron this form of one man show leadership contribute to its demise. In a well structure business everyone is consider a key employee and decisions are made to benefit every employee. In the case of Enron failed to intervene in the wrong doing of the management staffs because sales were increasing which is…
Organizational culture can be defined as the system of attitudes, beliefs and values that are collectively expressed in support of organizational structure. Organizational culture is a pattern of shared basic assumptions that dictate the behavior of individuals within an organization. Culture determines which practices are appropriate and which are not, effectively developing standards, guidelines, and expectations for individuals within an organization. Although they work hand in hand, there is a definite distinction in the beliefs and the values that make up organizational culture. The beliefs of an organization are assumptions of the way things are, while values are an assumption about the way things should be. By that definition, beliefs constitute the day-to-day actions of a company (how things are run and why they are run that way), while values project those beliefs on future considerations (what is important to the organization and how those things should be maintained).…
“Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room” shows us how basic human nature does not change, whether it is firing as a means to resolve disputes, or in the ceaseless obsession to gain for profitability sake. This all makes for terrible human actions. According to Bethany McLean, the collapse of Enron is a story of “human failure” that created a culture where profitability is the priority.…
The collapse of Enron is perhaps one of this century’s biggest and memorable scandals of this century so far. Created in 1985 through the merger of two natural gas companies, the Houston-based company was considered one of the most successful and powerful companies throughout the 90s. In 2001, Enron’s world came crashing down as the company was forced to reveal that it had defrauded people out of millions of dollars. Those hurt mostly by the collapse of Enron were the workers, whose loyalty and hard work were rewarded with now useless stock options. Within minutes, thousands of people had lost their life savings because the top executives were lining their pockets with Enron’s losses. The following discussion will show how the leadership, management and organizational structures contributed to the failure of this American conglomerate and how it could have possibly been avoided.…
Communication is one of the main planks on which organizational success rests in today 's tough business environment. As a result effective communication skills have become essential to enable professionals to achieve the exact levels of performance demanded by them. Apart from the practical aspects if one has a grasp on basic concepts of communication, it can further assist professionals to communicate skillfully and persuasively (Rai & Rai, 2002). Suggesting that the saying "It 's not what you say, it 's how you say it" rings true for effective communication. Possessing the quality of effective communication heads toward a high quality leader because it enables one to express ideas successfully (Rolle, 2002).…