Ethical and illegal corporate misconduct is nothing new and the same issues surrounded Solyndra, the California based solar panel manufacturer in 2011. The legal, ethical, ramifications will be researched in detail through specific laws, general legal concepts, Milton Friedman’s philosophy, and Consequentialist framework. While DOE's main interest with the loan program was pushing nuclear power technology and improvements to the electricity grid the creditors did not evaluate the ethics of lending money, and debtors should not evaluate the ethics of filing bankruptcy. It is a business decision, white house ignored own experts warnings Solyndra rushed approval was for previously scheduled press event the DOE failed to monitor Solyndra’s financial …show more content…
Around this same time Solyndra attracted another $219 million from private investors. This, despite the fact that Solyndra had already lost $558 million in its five-year life, and that PricewaterhouseCoopers had warned that Solyndra "has suffered recurring losses from operations, negative cash flows since inception and has a net stockholders' deficit that, among other factors, raise substantial doubt about its ability to continue as a going concern." (Emphasis added.) Energy Secretary Stephen Chu showed up at the groundbreaking of Solyndra's massive 300,000-square-foot, $344 million factory two days later, with Vice President Biden putting in an appearance by video link to praise the "permanent jobs" Solyndra was creating. Solyndra soon closed its existing …show more content…
The first hearing was to determine Depart of Energies role in the stimulus spending. The second hearing was to determine DOE role loan guarantee process that followed. This hearing will provide an update of the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and the Department of Energy Office of Inspector General’s (OIG) oversight of DOE spending under the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA or Recovery Act). (The Committee on Energy and Commerce,
Moncrief Company agreed to pay Jim Lester 20% of the gross profit made from the 2013 sales of the Zelenex. Between January 1, 2013 and December 28, 2013, Moncrief’s total available units for sale were, 50,000 units of Zelenex for $30.00 per unit ($1,500,000). Also in addition to the former activities, Moncrief sold 35,000 units for $60.00 per unit ($2,100,000). Moncrief Company uses periodic LIFO inventory method as a result, Jim Lester was to receive $210,000. (Textbook pg.469)
Cueto may have a potential claim that the OER’s interpretation of the enabling act and ensuing actions exceeded the authority delegated to the OER by Congress. The OER’s notice of liability refers to Section (3) of the statute, and requires the OER to provide to Cueto “notice of the factual basis for the finding.” However, Cueto may argue that the OER failed to comply with this provision of their own enabling statute. The OER’s notice simply related to Cueto that their liability was assumed due to Cueto’s ownership of the pipeline. If Cueto was to challenge the notice per Sections (3) and (4) of the statute, it is highly unlikely the OER’s only evidence at the hearing would be Cueto’s ownership of the pipeline. It is reasonable to interpret that the “factual basis” described in the statute for Cueto’s liability that would be required for the OER to prevail at the hearing is the same or similar factual basis the OER must provide to a responsible party upon notice. If simply noting Cueto’s ownership of the
U.S. Senate, Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. Hurricane Katrina: Who’s in charge of the New Orleans Levees? Hearing, Dec 15, 2005 (S. Hrg 109-616). Washington: Government Printing Office, 2006.
Ethics policies are implemented in almost all businesses. Companies search for candidates that will be moral in their actions so they can ensure long-term financial success. Throughout history we have seen businesses fall due to unethical behavior. In recent years the business Enron Corporation is best known for the scandal that led to the bankruptcy of a company with more than 60 billion dollars in assets. We will examine the circumstances that led to the downfall of Enron, how the scandal was realized, as well as the outcome of one of the largest bankruptcies in American history; a case that exemplifies unethical professional behavior.
The 109th Congress questioned the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) after Hurricane Katrina. Congress called for mandatory reports from the white house, Inspectors Generals, the Government Accountability Office, and others. A common denominator in all of these findings were that some of the losses brought by Katrina were caused, at least in part, by deficiencies within FEMA; such as: questionable leadership decisions, organizational failures, and inadequate legal authorities. As a result of these findings, Congress further utilized their control strategies to reorganize FEMA, and restructure the way responsibilities were handled following emergencies. Congress passed the “Post-Katrina Emergency Reform Act of 2006” in order to accomplish these revisions. This newly enacted bill reorganized FEMA, expanded its authority, established new leadership positions and position requirements within FEMA, and imposed new conditions and requirements on the operations of the agency. Congress also utilized the appropriations process to influence this portion of bureaucracy by enacting supplemental appropriations, one-time waivers of requirements and temporary
Enron was the model for rapid growth in the 1990’s but part of the culture and ethics of Enron was disturbing. Falsified documents, cutthroat competitiveness among employees and accounting schemes that hid the truth of the company’s indebtedness were just a few examples of the lack of business ethics within the organization. Perhaps a more virtuous management team could have saved Enron from collapse.
Many organizations have been destroyed or heavily damaged financially and took a hit in terms of reputation, for example, Enron. The word Ethics is derived from a Greek word called Ethos, meaning “The character or values particular to a specific person, people, culture or movement” (The American Heritage Dictionary, 2007, p. 295). Ethics has always played and will continue to play a huge role within the corporate world. Ethics is one of the important topics that are debated at lengths without reaching a conclusion, since there isn’t a right or wrong answer. It’s basically depends on how each individual perceives a particular situation. Over the past few years we have seen very poor unethical business practices by companies like Enron, which has affected many stakeholders. Poor unethical practices affect the society in many ways; employees lose their job, investors lose their money, and the country’s economy gets affected. This leads to people start losing confidence in the economy and the organizations that are being run by the so-called “educated” top executives that had one goal in their minds, personal gain. When Enron entered the scene in the mid-1980s, it was little more than a stodgy energy distribution system. Ten years later, it was a multi-billion dollar corporation, considered the poster child of the “new economy” for its willingness to use technology and the Internet in managing energy. Fifteen years later, the company is filing for bankruptcy on the heels of a massive financial collapse, likely the largest in corporate America’s history. As this paper is being written, the scope of Enron collapse is still being researched, poked and prodded. It will take years to determine what, exactly; the impact of the demise of this energy giant will be both on the industry and the
Do you agree with Schmeltekopf that business schools are not preparing students well for the for the ethical challenges they will face in the workplace? Why or why not?
Investors and the media once considered Enron to be the company of the future. The company had detailed code of ethics and powerful front men like Kenneth Lay, who is the son of a Baptist minister and whose own son was studying to enter the ministry (Flynt 1). Unfortunately the Enron board waived the company’s own ethic code requirements to allow the company’s Chief Financial Officer to serve as a general partner for the partnership that Enron was using as a conduit for much of its business. They also allowed discrepancies of millions of dollars. It was not until whistleblower Sherron S. Watkins stepped forward that the deceit began to unravel. Enron finally declared bankruptcy on December 2, 2001, leaving employees with out jobs or money.
for rules and regulations. Ethics is the discipline dealing with what is good and bad and with a
Explain the connection between the economic model of corporate social responsibility and “free market” or “neoclassical” economic theory.
Ethical business practices include assuring that the highest legal and moral standards are observed in your relationships with the people in your business community. This includes the most important person in your business, your customer. Short term profit at the cost of losing a customer is long term death for your business.
The Enron Corporation was an American energy company that provided natural gas, electricity, and communications to its customers both wholesale and retail globally and in the northwestern United States (Ferrell, et al, 2013). Top executives, prestigious law firms, trusted accounting firms, the largest banks in the finance industry, the board of directors, and other high powered people, all played a part in the biggest most popular scandal that shook the faith of the American people in big business and the stock market with the demise of one of the top Fortune 500 companies that made billions of dollars through illegal and unethical gains (Ferrell, et al, 2013). Many shareholders, employees, and investors lost their entire life savings, investments,
Sweet, Bill. "China's Suntech in Bankruptcy Proceedings." - IEEE Spectrum. Energywise, 12 Mar. 2013. Web. 18 Nov. 2013. http://spectrum.ieee.org/energywise/green-tech/solar/chinas-suntech-in-bankruptcy-proceedings
The Facts: Kermit Vandivier works for B.F. Goodrich. His job assignment was to write the qualifying report on the four disk brakes for LTV Aerospace Corporation. LTV purchased aircraft brakes from B.F. Goodrich for the Air Force. Goodrich desperately wanted the contract because it guaranteed a commitment from the Air Force on future brake purchases for the A7D from them, even if they lost money on the initial contract.