The Rise of Enron

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“In the early part of this decade ethical scandals erupted though corporate America. Corporate Leaders from major companies such as Enron were caught up in scandal’s ranging from fraud, conspiracy, grand larceny to obstruction of justice” (Cross, 2011, p. 76). At the time, the Enron scandal was considered to be one of the most notorious and compelling business ethics cases in modern generations. It’s was a textbook version of what can go wrong in an organization that lacks a true culture of ethical standards. Investors and the media once considered Enron to be the company of the future, but as its demise suggests, it was in reality not a particularly modern business organization, especially in its approach to ethics.

The corporate actions that led to Enron's demise were not only the responsibility of Enron executives larger entities consisting of private and public organization were supposed to monitor and regulate the company's activities and public disclosures. On the surface, Enron appeared to rejected progressive innovations in governance and ethical programs, but instead sought to circumvent systems that were designed to protect the company and its shareholders. Despite the implosion and the apparent regularity of its fraudulent conduct, virtually not one watchdog group in the multilayered system of controls devised to protect the public detected or reported any problems.

This analysis will discuss policy and procedural change that might help strengthen and fortify corporate and governmental efforts to prevent ethical laps that might occur in the future. “Acting ethically in a business context can mean billions of dollars made or lost for corporations, shareholders, and employees and can have far reaching effects on so...

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Works Cited

Center for Ethical Business Cultures (2008). Risk and Ethics Challenges in a Connected World. Retrieved Feb 24, 2012, from http://www.cebcglobal.org/KnowledgeCenter/Publica

Cross, F. B., & Miller, R. L. (2011). The legal environment of business, text and cases: Ethical, regulatory, global, and corporate issues. (8th ed.). Mason, OH 45040: South-Western Pub.

Kaplan, R. S., & Kiron, D. (2007, September 14). Accounting Fraud at WorldCom (Harvard Business School). Boston, Massachusetts: Harvard Business School.

Mountain States Employers Council (2006). Ethics: FAQs. Retrieved Feb 24, 2012, from http://www.msec.org/references/fyi_law_reg/view.asp?id+352

Robbins, S. P., & Coulter, M. (2007). Management (9th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.

Thomas, C. (2002). The rise and fall of Enron, Journal of Accountancy, 193(4), 41-48.

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