Premium Essay

Larry Ellison and the Americas Cup

In: Business and Management

Submitted By Sail227
Words 1829
Pages 8
What Happened and Why?
A look into the reasons for the downfall of Enron Corp and Parmalat Inc.

Introduction
We all know Enron to be one of the biggest and most public financial collapses in world history. Many factors, from top leadership to the lawyers who worked for Enron, to the auditors of US companies, to the outside banks that backed Enron in their investments are all to blame in some part for the failures and detriment of so many workers throughout the world. Similar to Enron is an Italian based company, Parmalat that too, had leadership and ethics issues leading to its downfall. In both of these cases, inquisitive journalism was “the cat that undid the ball of yarn” unraveling the inner workings and failures of all involved.

The Players
Ken Lay was the “Captain of the ship” for Enron since it’s beginnings. A driven and money hungry individual, he sought to advance his wealth and that of his company above all else. The exact reasons as to why are very much up for interpretation, but one thing is clear: he loved being rich. To this effect, Ken Lay enlisted the help of many other less than ethical members of the corporate world to help build and grow Enron. Andrew Fastow and Jeff Skilling were the “sidekicks” of Ken Lay and architects of many of the ways Enron “cheated” the system to get ahead and hide what was really going on.
Mr. Tanzi, CEO and founder of Parmalat, was also a captain of “an unethical ship”. He was found to have enticed investors into providing large financial backing through superfluous schemes and then quickly sent the money overseas to offshore holding accounts, while running up the company debt from large financial banks. In this case, Mr. Tanzi claimed he had no knowledge of the shell game going on with investors, nor did he know about the financial “cat and mouse” game being played with the financial auditors that

Similar Documents

Free Essay

Azim Premji

...Lessons for success shared by Azim Premji June 5, 2008 I just made a post on a lesson from the Infosys Chief Mentor, Shri. Narayana Murthy about . Here comes another email from Shri. Azim Premji, Chairman and CEO, Wipro where he shares about what he learned from gaining success. Dear Wiproite, My own successes and setbacks along the way have taught me some lessons. I wish to share them with you and hope you will find them useful. Lesson #1: Be careful to ask what you want. You may get it. What this means is that do not ask too little either of yourself or the others around you. What you ask is what you get. When I look back at the time when I joined Wipro, I was 21. If you ask me whether I thought that Wipro would grow so by someday, the honest answer is that I did not. But neither did I think it would not. We constantly stretched ourselves to higher and higher targets. Sometimes, it seemed possible, sometimes fanciful and sometimes plain insane. But we never stopped raising limits. And we got a lot more than what we bargained for. Lesson # 2: Respond, don’t react Always be aware of your emotions and learn to manage them. There is a huge difference between people who react impulsively and those who can disengage themselves and then respond at will. By choosing to respond differently, we can prevent another person from controlling our behaviour. I remember a small story that illustrates this well. There was once a newspaper vendor who had a rude Customer. Every morning...

Words: 5046 - Pages: 21

Free Essay

News

...Innovation * TEHRAN: An Iranian schoolteacher has innovated an amusing way of encouraging young children to say their daily prayers — robotics. * LOS ANGELES: Disney is launching a digital movies app that allows fans to store movie purchases online and play them back over Apple devices and computers. * TOKYO: A tiny personal computer that is worn on the ear and can be controlled with the blink of an eye or the click of a tongue is being tested in Japan. The 17-gram (0.59-ounce) wireless device has bluetooth capability and is equipped with a GPS, compass, gyro-sensor, battery, barometer, speaker and microphone. Wearable computing is thought by many commentators to be the next big thing in technology, with products such as Google Glass at the forefront. The device, known at the moment as the "Earclip-type Wearable PC" has a microchip and data storage, enabling users to load software, said engineer Kazuhiro Taniguchi of Hiroshima City University. Its designs are based on traditional "ikebana" flower arrangements. "We have made this with the basic idea that people will wear it in the same way they wear earrings," Taniguchi told AFP in a recent interview as he showcased a black prototype. The system, which developers are hoping to have ready for Christmas 2015, can be connected to an iPod or other gadget and would allow the user to navigate through software programmes using facial expressions, such as a raised eyebrow, a stuck-out tongue, a wiggle of the nose or...

Words: 2950 - Pages: 12

Free Essay

Growth

...Test Number of questions: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 1 50 This personality is the present European Union’s Trade Commissioner. Can you identify him from the given options? a. Pascal Lamy b. Peter Mandelson c. Jose Manual Barosso d. Catherine Ashton Which of the following personalities won the Wimbledon’s Men’s Singles title for 2010 recently? a. Rafael Nadal b. Roger Federer c. N. Djokovik d. A. Roddick This personality is the CEO of the newly formed Bharti AXA Life Insurance Company Ltd. Identify him from the given options. a. Vikram Mehmi b. Nitin Chopra c. Kamesh Goyal d. None of these This person has been appointed as the chairman of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIA). Name him from the given options. a. N.R. Narayana Murthy b. K.V. Kamath c. Nandan Nilekani d. Sam Pitroda The present External Affairs minister of India is… a. Murali Deora b. S.M. Krishna c. A.K. Antony d. Anand Sharma General Knowledge Take Off Time: 20 min 6. As per the third Annual Quality of Life Index study conducted recently, this is the most livable city in the world. We are talking about…. a. Copenhagen b. Tokyo c. London d. Zurich 7. The present President of ASSOCHAM is… a. Kumaramangalam Birla b. Sajjan Jindal c. K.V. Kamath d. Swati Piramal 8. Animal Planet is the name of the channel that belong to… a. BBC b. CNN c. Discovery Communications d. Star 9. Which of the following is the youngest ...

Words: 14520 - Pages: 59

Free Essay

Case

...Business Quiz DHL Baseline/Tagline/AdLineof Company/Brands WE make importing Smooth Doordarshan Satyam Sivam Sundaram Electrolux India Makes life a little easier Energizer Keep going ESSAR Steel 24 carat steel Fed-Ex The World On Time Ford Mondeo Redefined Aggression Ford Motors Built for the road ahead Godrej locks PEACE OF MIND.GUARANTEED Graviera Suitings THE MAN OF SUBSTANCE Gucci Quality is remembered long after the price is forgotten Haier Inspired living Harley-Davidson If you don't have to answer to anyone, what would you do Harrod's retailer, ENTER A DIFFERENT London WORLD Hero Honda CBZ Motorcycling Unplugged Hero Honda Born in a studio, not in a Passion factory Hindustan Times Let there be light Hitachi Inspire the Next Honda The power of dreams Honda DIO FROM INDIA TO THE WORLD.AND TO YOU HSBC World's local bank Hughes Software Think skywards HYUNDAI Play a bigger game ELANTRA Hyundai's new ad Drive your way Jobsahead.com FILL IN YOUR AMBITION Johnnie Walker Keep Walking whiskey Kingfisher airlines Fly the good times Kodak You press the button and we do the rest Lacoste Because what you are LG EXPAND YOUR LIFE LG AC BREATHE HEALTHY Lufthansa There is no better way to 1 Created By: S.Sriram MBA-HR, TAMILNADU srirams@gmx.com Company Accenture Air Deccan Air India Air Sahara Airtel AKAI Allen Solly Allianz Insurance Apple Computers Bajaj Auto Bajaj Pulsar Bajaj spirit Blue Star BluestarAC Bournvita Brooke Bond BSNL BUSINESS STANDARD BUSINESSWORL Magazine of the...

Words: 24272 - Pages: 98

Premium Essay

Geiziji

...FROM THE AUTHOR OF THE BESTSELLING BIOGRAPHIES OF BENJAMIN FRANKLIN AND ALBERT EINSTEIN, THIS IS THE EXCLUSIVE BIOGRAPHY OF STEVE JOBS. Based on more than forty interviews with Jobs conducted over two years—as well as interviews with more than a hundred family members, friends, adversaries, competitors, and colleagues—Walter Isaacson has written a riveting story of the roller-coaster life and searingly intense personality of a creative entrepreneur whose passion for perfection and ferocious drive revolutionized six industries: personal computers, animated movies, music, phones, tablet computing, and digital publishing. At a time when America is seeking ways to sustain its innovative edge, Jobs stands as the ultimate icon of inventiveness and applied imagination. He knew that the best way to create value in the twenty-first century was to connect creativity with technology. He built a company where leaps of the imagination were combined with remarkable feats of engineering. Although Jobs cooperated with this book, he asked for no control over what was written nor even the right to read it before it was published. He put nothing offlimits. He encouraged the people he knew to speak honestly. And Jobs speaks candidly, sometimes brutally so, about the people he worked with and competed against. His friends, foes, and colleagues provide an unvarnished view of the passions, perfectionism, obsessions, artistry, devilry, and compulsion for control that shaped his approach to business and...

Words: 233886 - Pages: 936

Free Essay

Strategic Cases

...UNIVERSAL PICTURES and EMMETT / FURLA FILMS Present A MARC PLATT Production In Association with OASIS VENTURES ENTERTAINMENT LTD / ENVISION ENTERTAINMENT / HERRICK ENTERTAINMENT / BOOM! STUDIOS A BALTASAR KORMÁKUR Film PAULA PATTON BILL PAXTON JAMES MARSDEN FRED WARD and EDWARD JAMES OLMOS Executive Producers BRANDT ANDERSEN JEFFREY STOTT MOTAZ M. NABULSI JOSHUA SKURLA MARK DAMON Produced by MARC PLATT RANDALL EMMETT NORTON HERRICK ADAM SIEGEL GEORGE FURLA ROSS RICHIE ANDREW COSBY Based on the BOOM! Studios Graphic Novels by STEVEN GRANT Screenplay by BLAKE MASTERS Directed by BALTASAR KORMÁKUR –1– CAST Waitress Margie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . LINDSEY GORT Roughneck #2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HILLEL M. SHARMAN Robert “Bobby” Trench . . . . . . . . . DENZEL WASHINGTON Roughneck #3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . AARON ZELL Marcus “Stig” Stigman . . . . . . . . . . . . MARK WAHLBERG Roughneck #4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HENRY PENZI Deb . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PAULA PATTON CREW Earl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . BILL PAXTON Admiral Tuwey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . FRED J. WARD Quince . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JAMES MARSDEN Directed by . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . BALTASAR KORMÁKUR Papi Greco . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . EDWARD JAMES OLMOS Screenplay by . . . . . . . . . . . ...

Words: 12606 - Pages: 51

Premium Essay

Pants on Fire

...MEG CABOT Pants on Fire One “Oh my God, what’s she doing here?” my best friend, Sidney van der Hoff, was asking, as I came up to the corner booth to hand out menus. Sidney wasn’t talking about me. She was glaring at someone at another table. But I couldn’t be bothered to look and see who Sidney was talking about, since my boyfriend, Seth, was sitting next to her, smiling up at me…that smile that’s been making girls’ insides melt since about the fifth grade, when we all started noticing Seth’s even white teeth and highly kissable lips. It still freaks me out that out of all the girls in school, I’m the one he picked to kiss with those lips. “Hey, babe,” Seth said to me, blinking his long, sexy eyelashes—the ones that I overheard my mom telling Sidney’s mom over the phone are totally wasted on a guy. He snaked an arm around my waist and gave me a squeeze. “Hi,” I said, a little breathlessly. Not just because of the squeeze, but because I had a twelve-top (Mrs. Hogarth’s ninety-seventh birthday party) that was running me ragged, refilling their iced tea glasses and such, so I was panting a little anyway. “How was the movie?” “Lame,” Sidney answered for everyone. “You didn’t miss anything. Lindsay should stick with red; blond does nothing for her. Seriously, though. What’s Morgan Castle doing here?” Sidney used the menu I’d just given her to point at a table over in Shaniqua’s section. “I mean, she’s got some nerve.” I started to say...

Words: 60371 - Pages: 242

Free Essay

Smoozing

...Customized for: Isaac (illin@mednet.ucla.edu) THE INTRODUCTION Vault Guide to Schmoozing Customized for: Isaac (illin@mednet.ucla.edu) 2 © 2009 Vault.com, Inc. Introduction What does schmoozing sound like to you? Maybe it sounds smug, unctuous, oily, slimy. It sounds, quite frankly, like 'oozing.' Schmoozing is far from slimy, but 'oozing' actually isn’t a bad description of what a schmoozer does. A schmoozer slides into opportunities where none are apparent, developing friendships from the slightest of acquaintances. Through formless, oozy, schmoozy action, a schmoozer moves slowly but inexorably towards his or her goals. What is schmoozing? Schmoozing is noticing people, connecting with them, keeping in touch with them — and benefiting from relationships with them. Schmoozing is about connecting with people in a mutually productive and pleasurable way — a skill that has taken on new importance in our fragmented, harried, fiber-optic-laced world. Schmoozing is the development of a support system, a web of people you know who you can call, and who can call you, for your mutual benefit and enjoyment. Schmoozing is the art of semi-purposeful conversation: half chatter, half exploration. Schmoozing is neither project nor process. It's a way of life. How does schmoozing differ from networking? Conventional networking is the clammy science of collecting business cards ad infinitum, of cold-calling near strangers to grill them about possible openings in their places...

Words: 76927 - Pages: 308

Premium Essay

The World in 2008

...will win the most gold medals, and bask in national pride and the global limelight. But it will also face awkward questions on its repressive politics. America and China will be prime players in the matters that will concentrate minds around the world in 2008. One of these is the world economy, which can no longer depend on America, with its housing and credit woes, to drive growth. America should—just—avoid recession, but it will be China (for the first time the biggest contributor to global growth) along with India and other emerging markets that will shine. Another focus of attention will be climate change. As China replaces America as the world’s biggest producer of greenhouse gases, serious efforts on global warming depend on the serious involvement of those two countries. If 2007 was the year when this rose to the top of the global agenda, in 2008 people will expect action. It is striking that green is a theme that links all the contributions from political leaders in this volume, whether at the city level (Michael Bloomberg), the national level (Felipe Calderón, Nancy Pelosi, Nicolas Sarkozy) or the supranational level (the UN’s Ban Ki-moon, ASEAN’s Surin Pitsuwan). The politicians have talked the issue up; will they now let people down? A third preoccupation will be geopolitical risk. The conventional wisdom is that America is...

Words: 89030 - Pages: 357

Free Essay

Current Affairs

...www.ibpsexamguru.in Content: Current Affairs 2013 (December 2012,January 2013,febraury 2013,March 2013, April 2013 ) Howdy ! friends . we are providing Five months current affairs for all competitive exam preparation .. Source : Various Location on Web Portal . Contains : 1. International Awareness 2. National Awareness 3. States News 4. Confrences 5. Sports and News 6. Awards and honors 7. Persons In News 8. Important dates 9. Books and Authors 10. Science and technology 11. Economy News INTERNATIONAL Mahama Re-elected as Ghana’s President : On 10 December Ghana’s incumbent President John Dramani Mahama of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) has won the country’s presidential election.Mahama took 50.70 percent of the total valid votes cast, while his closest challenger, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) obtained 47.74 percent.With his re-election, Mahama becomes the fourth president to be elected under the Forth Republic.He had served as Ghana’s vice president since 2009. UN, Pakistan Launched ‘Malala Fund’ : Pakistan joined forces with the United Nations on 10 December 2012 to launch a fund aimed at boosting girls’ education throughout the world.The fund is named for Malala Yousafzai, the 15-year-old Pakistani girl. Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari also announced a $10-million donation for a global war chest to educate all girls by 2015 set up in the name of Malala Yousafzai for campaigning for girls’ education. Shinzo Abe Elected...

Words: 52705 - Pages: 211

Free Essay

Story of Success

...Outliers THE S T O R Y OF S U C C E S S MALCOLM G LAD W E L L # 1 bestselling author of The Tipping Point and Blink $27.99 $ 3 0 . 9 9 in C a n a d a Why d o s o m e p e o p l e succeed far more than others? T h e r e is a story that is usually told a b o u t extremely successful p e o p l e , a story that focuses o n intelligence a n d ambition. In Outliers Malcolm Gladwell a r g u e s that the true story o f s u c c e s s is very different, a n d that if we want to u n d e r s t a n d h o w s o m e p e o p l e thrive, we s h o u l d s p e n d m o r e time l o o k i n g around them — at s u c h things as their family, their birthplace, or even their birth d a t e . T h e story o f s u c c e s s is m o r e c o m p l e x — a n d a lot m o r e interesting — than it initially a p p e a r s . Outliers e x p l a i n s w h a t the B e a t l e s a n d Bill G a t e s have in c o m m o n , the e x t r a o r d i n a r y s u c c e s s o f A s i a n s at m a t h , the h i d d e n a d v a n t a g e s o f star athletes, why all t o p N e w York lawyers have the s a m e r é s u m é , a n d the r e a s o n y o u ' v e never h e a r d o f the w o r l d ' s s m a r t e s t m a n — all in terms o f g e n ­ eration, family, c u l t u r e , a n d c l a s s . It matters w h a t year y o u were b o r n if y o u want to b e a S i l i c o n Valley billionaire, G l a d w e l l a r g u e s , a n d it matters w h e r e y o u w e r e b o r n if y o u want to b e a s u c ­ cessful p i l o t . T...

Words: 86962 - Pages: 348

Free Essay

Ihrm

...M A G A Z I N E FA L L 2 0 0 2 Volume 20 Number 2 SPANNING THE GLOBE Duke Leads the Way in International Law Teaching and Scholarship inside plus Duke admits smaller, exceptionally well-qualified class Duke’s Global Capital Markets Center to launch new Directors’ Education Institute from the dean Dear Alumni and Friends, It is not possible, these days, for a top law school to be anything other than an international one. At Duke Law, we no longer think of “international” as a separate category. Virtually everything we do has some international dimension, whether it concerns international treaties and protocols, commercial transactions across national borders, international child custody disputes, criminal behavior that violates international human rights law, international sports competitions, global environmental regulation, international terrorism, or any number of other topics. And, of course, there is little that we do at Duke that does not involve scholars and students from other countries, who are entirely integrated with U.S. scholars and students. Students enrolled in our joint JD/LLM program in international and comparative law receive an in-depth education in both the public and private aspects of international and comparative law, enriched by the ubiquitous presence of foreign students; likewise, the foreign lawyers who enroll in our one-year LLM program in American law enroll in the same courses, attend the same conferences...

Words: 58370 - Pages: 234

Free Essay

Spanning Globe

...M A G A Z I N E FA L L 2 0 0 2 Volume 20 Number 2 SPANNING THE GLOBE Duke Leads the Way in International Law Teaching and Scholarship inside plus Duke admits smaller, exceptionally well-qualified class Duke’s Global Capital Markets Center to launch new Directors’ Education Institute from the dean Dear Alumni and Friends, It is not possible, these days, for a top law school to be anything other than an international one. At Duke Law, we no longer think of “international” as a separate category. Virtually everything we do has some international dimension, whether it concerns international treaties and protocols, commercial transactions across national borders, international child custody disputes, criminal behavior that violates international human rights law, international sports competitions, global environmental regulation, international terrorism, or any number of other topics. And, of course, there is little that we do at Duke that does not involve scholars and students from other countries, who are entirely integrated with U.S. scholars and students. Students enrolled in our joint JD/LLM program in international and comparative law receive an in-depth education in both the public and private aspects of international and comparative law, enriched by the ubiquitous presence of foreign students; likewise, the foreign lawyers who enroll in our one-year LLM program in American law enroll in the same courses, attend the same conferences...

Words: 58047 - Pages: 233

Free Essay

Tyranny of Guilt; an Essay on Western Masochism (2010)

...4. Western countries—Foreign relations. 5. Western countries—intellectual life. 6. Guilt 7. self-hate (Psychology) 8. World politics. i. title. CB245.B7613 2010 909’.09821--dc22 2009032666 British library cataloging-in-Publication data is available cet ouvrage, publié dans le cadre d’un programme d’aide à la publication, bénéficie du soutien du Ministère des affaires étrangères et du service culturel de l’ambassade de France aux etats-unis. This work, published as part of a program of aid for publication, received support from the French Ministry of Foreign affairs and the cultural services of the French embassy in the united states. This book has been composed in Minion Pro Printed on acid-free paper. ∞ Printed in the united states of america 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 For...

Words: 64873 - Pages: 260

Free Essay

Child Labour

...10000 quiz questions and answers www.cartiaz.ro 10000 general knowledge questions and answers 10000 general knowledge questions and answers www.cartiaz.ro No Questions Quiz 1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 Carl and the Passions changed band name to what How many rings on the Olympic flag What colour is vermilion a shade of King Zog ruled which country What colour is Spock's blood Where in your body is your patella Where can you find London bridge today What spirit is mixed with ginger beer in a Moscow mule Who was the first man in space What would you do with a Yashmak Who betrayed Jesus to the Romans Which animal lays eggs On television what was Flipper Who's band was The Quarrymen Which was the most successful Grand National horse Who starred as the Six Million Dollar Man In the song Waltzing Matilda - What is a Jumbuck Who was Dan Dare's greatest enemy in the Eagle What is Dick Grayson better known as What was given on the fourth day of Christmas What was Skippy ( on TV ) What does a funambulist do What is the name of Dennis the Menace's dog What are bactrians and dromedaries Who played The Fugitive Who was the King of Swing Who was the first man to fly across the channel Who starred as Rocky Balboa In which war was the charge of the Light Brigade Who invented the television Who would use a mashie niblick In the song who killed Cock Robin What do deciduous...

Words: 123102 - Pages: 493