Ethical Implications of Enron

Enron Corruption is defined as dishonest or illegal behavior especially by powerful people (Merriam Webster). There is perhaps no company in our nation’s history that further exemplifies this word than Enron. Enron’s history of fraud, laundering, and deception is now known world-wide, and stands as the lead example for future companies practicing unethical behaviors. Enron’s corrupted culture, cultivated by CEO Jeffrey Skilling, made some very rich while ultimately leaving thousands in ruin. The business culture at Enron was about what you would expect from any large, successful, corporation. It was highly a competitive, cut-throat culture that created an environment where workers would do almost anything in order to thrive. Charles Wickman, a former Enron employee, was quoted as saying, “If I’m on the way to my boss’s office, talking about my compensation, and I step on somebody’s throat on the way and that doubles it, well I’ll stomp on the guy’s throat” (The Smartest Guys in The Room). The traders at Enron became the engine that produced most of the company’s profits. “Traders weren’t fired or even disciplined. Instead Enron sent a telex to Borget, please keep making us millions” (The Smartest Guys in The Room).
The culture at Enron had become so free reign and focused on astronomical profits, that it absolutely was a contributing factor to the ethics digressions. Ethics became a complete after thought for the company. Skilling and the executives at Enron were making obscene amounts of money each and every day and at that point pure gluttony took over. The company’s vision became narrowly focused on one thing and one thing only, keeping the absurd profits rolling in, no matter what has to be done in order to do so.
Jeffrey Skilling said in his testimony before Congress, “Everything he did was in the interests of Enron’s stockholders.” To me, this statement could not be farther from the truth. While it is true that Enron’s stock was skyrocketing at the