...The Enron Collapse Enron, a high profile organization which ranked as the seventh largest company in the United States during the 1990’s consisted of approximately 25,000 employees worldwide and held revenues in the tune of over 100 billion dollars in 2000. Enron controlled about one quarter of the gas companies in the United States and also expanded into Myriad energy products during its years of operation. The company traded hundreds of products throughout the wider Continentals including South America, Asia, Europe, Australia and also the United States, and was considered to be very successful with their trading strategies. An excerpt from an article in the CRS Report for Congress entitled The Enron Collapse: An Overview of Financial Issues, Mark Jickling, (February 4, 2002), states that “the firm was widely regarded as one of the most innovative, fast growing, and best managed businesses in the United States.” However, despite all of Enron’s fame and glory, the company crumbled as a result of bad management and unethical practices. According to Donaldson & Werhane (2008), “The controls as designed were not rigorous enough and their implication and oversight was inadequate at both Management and Board levels,” (p. 313). The purpose of this paper is to discuss the Enron Collapse and explain how the virtuous manager would have responded to working for Enron. Also being discussed is what the virtuous manager is expected to do if confronted with these decisions. Unfolding...
Words: 1955 - Pages: 8
...The Collapse of Enron Who were the stakeholders involved in, or affected by, the collapse of Enron? How and what degree were they hurt or helped by the actions of Enron management? Some of the stakeholders were directly responsible for Enron’s collapse. The deregulation of the 1980s presented an opportunity to become the “gas bank” reducing market risk. After this success Kenneth Lay, Jeffrey Skilling and Andrew Fallow became the market makers, buying and selling over 1,800 products. These top executives’ unethical practices and their internal control system manipulated the law to keep the company’s reputation but were responsible for the collapse. After the collapse the management continued to lie to employees who invested in Enron stock; the rest of shareholders thought that the company was in great shape. The accounting records and balance sheets information were manipulated to reflect an image of success prior to the collapse to attract and mislead investors, the public and shareholders. Andersen’s accounting consultants responsible for Enron’s accounting records destroyed thousands of documents to manipulate such information. This misleading information allowed Enron to acquire the loans necessary to expand its investment even when the company had a huge debt. After the collapse those banks were sued by shareholders and investors for the bad loans written up. At the end of Enron’s collapse, the employees who invested in the company, investors and stockholders were...
Words: 1122 - Pages: 5
...failure of Enron? Briefly explain two key factors. Enron collapsed in large part because of not responsible business. So Enron executives were charged with criminal acts. Those charges were fraud. If didn’t occur this acts, Enron would become one of large company in the world. They should keep their self-interest to themselves. They only think of the short-term benefit not thinking of the long-term effect which leads them to bankruptcy. Greed is first individual factor. It can blame for the failure of Enron. Every time and everyplace can increase greed. Greed has no time or limit. In order to get more profit, they did massive fraud and insider trading. They use many different way to cover up they acts. Like once their schemes were discovered by the auditors, their schemes were discovered by the auditors, Kenneth lay encourages them to “keep making us millions”. If auditors disagree, Enron’s would fire him. Enron’s executives put their own benefit above those of their employees. They only thinking of making more money with unethical act. The another factor is failure leadership. Abuse of power to make decision which is only benefit for themselves. While they make decision, didn’t consider economic and polity. They have many unethical behaviours like making a false financial statements, misleading statement and frauds. In the result, the company is broken. 2. What were the organisational factors that contributed to the failure of Enron? Briefly explain...
Words: 583 - Pages: 3
...want to know what happened to Enron. Although this company's name was splashed over every news network and periodical paper in the United States, few people know the long and torrid story that lead to the collapse of an energy giant. Enron began in the eighties as an energy company selling natural gas. When energy markets were deregulated in the mid-nineties, Enron, like many energy companies, began to focus on selling energy from other sources rather than creating it. The corporation expanded exponentially, and its stock prices soared. Because the company was so wildly successful, they began to branch out into a variety of hot markets, such as the internet. By the beginning of the millennium, Enron was a well-diversified and seemingly indestructible conglomerate with no sign of trouble in sight. However, cracks were forming in Enron's foundation. To sustain their rapid rate of growth, the company had to borrow money. Having excess debts would make the stock look less valuable to potential investors, so the company kept its debts buried in 'partner' corporations that it began solely as a means to hide the truth about their company. Enron was looking better and better because of their illegal and unethical bookkeeping practices. They also began another illegal practice: offering secret information to large potential investors. Legally, companies must give their smaller investors the same inside information as their larger shareholders. Although Enron was beginning to show signs...
Words: 550 - Pages: 3
...ENRON: QUESTIONABLE ACCOUNTING LEADS TO COLLAPSE CRYSTAL RUFF GLOBE UNIVERSITY ABSTRACT This paper summarizes the article listed in reference that reported on the demise of Enron and the contributing factors that led to the financial downfall of a great company. The roles of the corporate culture, Enron’s financial staff, and even the chief financial officer are all to blame for the events that lead to the finality of the company that resulted in bankruptcy. While Enron boasted about being “The World’s Leading Company”, it was anything but that. The corporate culture of a company is supposed to describe how the stakeholders and employees, think, feel, and act. If Enron’s financial record is example of that, then the company should change the banner that hangs in the lobby at headquarters. CEO Skilling instituted a “rank and yank” system that would weed out lower ranked employees every six months. . (L. Ferrell, O.C. Ferrell, & Fraedrich, 2011). This alone caused a competitive environment amongst the employees. While he hoped this would help people reach their full potential, it ended up being a breeding ground for unethical practices within the company walls. Rather than a culture that focused on integrity and increasing profits for stakeholders, Enron was soon overcome with arrogance and the executives’ needs to fill their own pockets. Ignoring the rules was quickly integrated for the pursuit of profits and happiness, or so they thought. Enron’s bankers...
Words: 701 - Pages: 3
...Enron: Questionable Accounting Leads to Collapse Your School Here Your Course Name Here Course Number Here Submission Date Here Your Professor Here Table of Contents Page Answers to Question 1 3 Answers to Question 2 3 Answers to Question 3 4 Conclusion 5 References 7 1. How did the corporate culture of Enron contribute to its bankruptcy? Highly effective leaders are great at obtaining common goals and objectives in highly effective and competent ways; regrettably for Enron, this was not the case. In the launching of the firm, Chairman Ken Lay and CEO Jeffrey Skilling were efficient in growing their company from a small gas and oil pipeline firm directly into a of the largest entities in its industry. As the company began to expand and prosper, the requirements of upper management became more assertive and disparate. Mr. Ken Lay was never fulfilled along with his efforts to obtain increasingly more monetary good gains; he implemented coercive power to shape his corporate culture. This power was most prevalently seen in the company’s employee program review process; shrewdly nicknamed “rank and yank” if employees of Enron ranked among the bottom 20% in regards to performance they would be conveniently railroaded out from the company (Ferrell, 2013, pp. 395-405). Rank and Yank is a phrase used to describe a process by which a company...
Words: 1250 - Pages: 5
...executive officer (CEO) of Enron Corp., claimed to be a moral and ethical leader and exhorted Enron’s officers and employees to be highly ethical in their decisions and actions. In addition, the Enron Code of Ethics specified that “An employee shall not conduct himself or herself in a manner which directly or indirectly would be detrimental to the best interests of the Company or in a manner which would bring to the employee financial gain separately derived as a direct consequence of his or her employment with the Company.” Enron’s ethics code was based on the values of respect, integrity, communication, and excellence. Given this code of conduct and Ken Lay’s professed commitment to business ethics, one wonders how Enron could have collapsed so dramatically? The answer to this question seems to be rooted in a combination of the failure of top leadership, a corporate culture that supported unethical behavior, and the complicity of the investment banking community. The failure of Enron’s top leadership was evident in the activities of Andrew Fastow, Jeff Skilling, and Ken Lay, all of whom faced multiple counts of criminal activity with respect to their decisions and actions at Enron. Included among these criminal charges were money laundering, wire fraud, securities fraud, conspiracy, making false statements on financial reports, and insider trading. Some of the activities that led to these criminal charges were: (a) concealing how extensively Enron was involved in trading in...
Words: 882 - Pages: 4
...Case 1 ENRON: WHAT CAUSED THE ETHICAL COLLAPSE? case summary | Kenneth Lay, former chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of Enron Corp., claimed to be a moral and ethical leader and exhorted Enron’s officers and employees to be highly ethical in their decisions and actions. In addition, the Enron Code of Ethics specified that “An employee shall not conduct himself or herself in a manner which directly or indirectly would be detrimental to the best interests of the Company or in a manner which would bring to the employee financial gain separately derived as a direct consequence of his or her employment with the Company.” Enron’s ethics code was based on the values of respect, integrity, communication, and excellence. Given this code of conduct and Ken Lay’s professed commitment to business ethics, one wonders how Enron could have collapsed so dramatically? The answer to this question seems to be rooted in a combination of the failure of top leadership, a corporate culture that supported unethical behavior, and the complicity of the investment banking community. The failure of Enron’s top leadership was evident in the activities of Andrew Fastow, Jeff Skilling, and Ken Lay, all of whom faced multiple counts of criminal activity with respect to their decisions and actions at Enron. Included among these criminal charges were money laundering, wire fraud, securities fraud, conspiracy, making false statements on financial reports, and insider trading. Some of the activities...
Words: 3147 - Pages: 13
...Introduction Enron was a landmark case that taught the business world more about ethics. The company’s accounting procedures were not effective in keeping the company’s book accurate. By showing a high amount of cash flow and a low amount of debt, Enron looked great to investors, but in all reality the company was in trouble. A great example of Enron’s problematic accounting procedures is in 2000 when the company reported $3 billion in cash flows when it actually had negative $154 million. (Ferrell, Fraedrich, and Ferrell 487) Not only did Enron’s accounting procedures cause trouble within the company, but also the people that were in charge. Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Skilling, put in a system where employees were rated every six months and the bottom 20 percent were fired. Shilling called the system, “rank and yank.” (Ferrell, Fraedrich, and Ferrell 487) This system held employees to a higher standard. It helped them reach their full potential no matter what they had to do to reach it, ethical or unethical. Similar to most scandals of this size, Enron was not the only company involved in the fraud. In their case, their law firm, banking partner, and auditors were all questioned for their role in the scandal. Our statement was “Enron’s bankers, auditors, and attorneys contributed to Background 2 After reading about the Enron case, our issue of whether or not “Enron’s bankers, auditors...
Words: 1531 - Pages: 7
...To employees (memo) This afternoon there was a significant cave-in in the San Jose mine that resulted in 33 of our employees being trapped. They are 2300 feet underground. At this time we have no way to communicate with them. Therefore, we do not know how many, if any, are injured or if they are alive. We are working very hard to set up communication and come up with a rescue plan. We will do everything in our power to bring them home safely. We greatly value each and everyone of our employees. Please stay positive and keep the miners and their families in your thoughts and prayers. To family (face-to-face meeting) I have asked to speak with you to inform you that there has been a collapse in the San Jose mine today. The collapse has resulted in 33 men being trapped. Your husband/son is one of those men. I want you to know we are going to do everything we possibly can to rescue everyone. Unfortunately, at this time, we have no form of communication available with them. Therefore we do not know how many are injured or how many have survived. I know this is horrible news and you are very concerned about your loved one. Please take comfort in knowing we will do whatever is necessary to rescue all 33 men. We are working as fast as we can to set up communication and come up with a plan for rescue. We will keep you involved every step of the way. We will also be here to support you through this process. There is a good chance that the rescue could take...
Words: 359 - Pages: 2
...1. Historical background of the collapsed Enron corporation • How the corporate was founded and its growth • The corporate culture of the collapsed corporation. 2. What caused the collapse of Enron • How bonuses to the executives lead to their financial misreporting. • How greedy auditors colluded to misrepresent financial statements. 3. How collapse of Enron could have been prevented. • Did the relevant act negligently abetting in the corporate collapse. • How loopholes in financial laws can be exploited • How the investors were blinded by quick gains preventing them being cautious when investing. • How over speculation can lead to huge loses. 4. Lessons from the collapsed corporation. • Lesson that were taught to the policy makers and the investing public from the collapse. • Lessons that the collapse taught other corporations. 5. Conclusions and recommendations. 1. Historical background of the collapsed Enron corporation • How the corporate was founded and its growth • The corporate culture of the collapsed corporation. 2. What caused the collapse of Enron • How bonuses to the executives lead to their financial misreporting. • How greedy auditors colluded to misrepresent financial statements. 3. How collapse of Enron could have been prevented. • Did the relevant act negligently abetting in the corporate collapse. • How loopholes in financial laws can be exploited • How the investors...
Words: 646 - Pages: 3
...THE COLLAPSE OF ENRON & THE INTRODUCTION OF THE SARBANES OXLEY ACT BY TREVOR GARRETT 02/25/2011 Abstract Enron Corporation was one of the largest energy trading, natural gas and Utilities Company in the world that was based in Huston, Texas. The downfall of Enron is one of the most infamous and shocking events in the financial world, and its reverberations were felt around the globe. Prior to its collapse in 2001, Enron was one of the leading companies in the U.S and considered among top 10 admired corporations and most desired places to work at. Its revenues made up US $139 to $184 billion, assets equaled $62 to $82 billion, and the number of employees reached more than 30,000 people in 20 countries around the world. While on the surface it seemed like the perfect Corporation, internally it had highly decentralized financial control and decision-making structure, which made it practically impossible to get coherent and clear view on corporations' activities and operations. Enron manipulated its books and assets to help it report steady profit growth to Stock Exchanges and Credit-rating agencies. Investors generally are not willing to pay as much for the stock of a volatile trading operation, and this gave rise to manipulations. This paper briefly describes the legal and ethical breaches by Enron, the key factors and events that led to its collapse and the passing of the Sarbanes Oxley Act as a consequence of such a catastrophe. The paper also discusses the key components...
Words: 1033 - Pages: 5
...The Enron and Corporate Governance Company Enron Corporation Industry Energy Founded Omaha, Nebraska, USA (1985) Founder Kenneth Lay Employees approx. 22,000 (2000) Fate Bankruptcy, 2001 Website enron.com To write about Enron I was inspired by documentary movie “Enron: The Smartest Guys in The Room”. It explains in details how negligence and ‘cheating’ in corporate governance can lead to disaster for whole nation. The case of Enron became classical example of the company where executives can manipulate whole industry using ‘creative accounting’ and corporate governance. Enron bankruptcy is the greatest knowing corporate failure in the US from the time when the crash of numerous savings and loan institutions in the 1980s. This scandal showed the necessity for important improvements in accounting and corporate governance in the country, along with a tight control at the moral values in the culture of business in whole and of enterprises in the country. Actually, one can find a lot of reasons why this collapse happened. And there is the problem of interest between the two roles played by Mr Andersen, as auditor but also as consultant to Enron; the lack of attention shown by members of the Enron board of directors to the off-books financial entities with which Enron did business; and the lack of truthfulness by management about the health of the company and its business operations. In some ways, the culture of Enron was the primary cause of the collapse...
Words: 1256 - Pages: 6
...Enron: The Fall Of A Wall Street Darling Read more: http://www.investopedia.com/articles/stocks/09/enron-collapse.asp?partner=basics120111#ixzz1fiw28U4O Enron is a company that reached dramatic heights, only to face a dizzying collapse. The story ends with the bankruptcy of one of America's largest corporations. Enron's collapse affected the lives of thousands of employees, many pension funds and shook Wall Street to its very core. To this day, many wonder how a company so big and so powerful disappeared almost overnight. How did it manage to fool the regulators and the Wall Street community for so long, with fake off-the-books corporations? What is the overall lasting impact that Enron has had on the investment community and the country in general? Tutorial: Introduction To Accounting Collapse of a Wall Street Darling By the fall of 2000, Enron was starting to crumble under its own weight. CEO Jeffrey Skilling had a way of hiding the financial losses of the trading business and other operations of the company; it was called mark-to-market accounting. This is used in the trading of securities, when you determine what the actual value of the security is at the moment. This can work well for securities, but it can be disastrous for other businesses. In Enron's case, the company would build an asset, such as a power plant, and immediately claim the projected profit on its books, even though it hadn't made one dime from it. If the revenue from the power plant was less...
Words: 1067 - Pages: 5
...Parth Vyas Econ- 312 Enron bankruptcy Enron Corporation was an American energy company based in Houston, Texas, United States. His company was formed in 1986 through the merger of two natural gas pipeline firms, Houston Natural Gas. Enron started out as a natural gas company put together by Kenneth Lay. Enron's natural gas pipeline brought the company much success. Supplying natural gas was a lucrative business. Enron senior management falsified accounting records to make it look like they made a lot more money than they actually made. Stock prices don't continue to rise unless Net Income is increasing every quarter and every year. Enron did a fraud in stocks. Enron established to shield itself from mark-to-market losses in its growing equity investment business. Enron and all publically traded companies are required to report on their finances to the public and to the Securities and Exchange Commission who regulates financial reporting over publically traded companies. The problem for Enron was that after some successes the traders began to have some financial failures and Enron was no longer really making a profit. The market traders, who were effectively just high-stakes gamblers, were no source of profits but instead a major source of loss themselves. People formerly involved with the company, such as creditors, auditors, the SEC and accounting regulators, it’s a nightmare for them. Enron essentially failed because the executives did not want to admit defeat. They had...
Words: 1006 - Pages: 5
