investments. Of course, it is possible for corruption to enter a business that derived from one person, but revolved into a major firm that would impact thousands of American citizens. However, it is management’s responsibility to ensure that the firm’s foundation remains second to God. “Where there is no guidance the people fall, But in abundance of counselors there is victory” (Proverbs 11:14, NASV). If the leaders of the business do not respect the values of the business, it will lead to lack of respect for employees and customers. When the righteous increase, the people rejoice, But when a wicked man rules, people groan” (Proverbs 29:2, NASV). A plausible reason that resulted in Merrill Lynch ending in calamity is connected to the new company …show more content…
“Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves” (Philippians 2:3, NASV). If O’Neal was not given authority to fire all of Merrill’s trained associates, the company would not have been exposed to the disaster that the leaders and consumers were faced with. "Furthermore, you shall select out of all the people able men who fear God, men of truth, those who hate dishonest gain; and you shall place these over them as leaders of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties and of tens” (Exodus 18:21). If there was an ethical leader that valued the fundament of business ethics, the firm could have avoided such a devastating loss that caused unemployment and debt to the employees and employers that once represented the firm and caused business to flow appropriately. If management relied on Client focus, it would assure customer service and interaction. Focusing on the concerns, needs, and desires of the customer gains the trust of the …show more content…
According Ruddell (2004), five main principles, have a long term ,big pictures, be honest, be wise, be diligent, and be good to people are a great way to set up ethics in programs, so it will not happen again (Pg. 44). Merrill Lynch fail all principles. “Have a long term, big picture perspectives” means to plan a strategy for the future. Companies want to have an outlook to see where the company success in the future. Merrill Lynch starts making good money and once they seen that they could take customers’ money. The more customers they got, the greedier they got to take the customers’ money. According to Grudem (2003), in Business for the Glory of God states “ Producing goods and services is fundamentally good and provides many opportunities for glorifying God, but also many temptations to sin”( Pg.25). Merrill Lynch had a chance to provide customers with their services to glorify God, but instead they were sinning by being greedy with customers’ money and using fraud in the company. “The integrity of the upright guides them, but the crookedness of the treacherous destroys them” (Proverbs 11:3 New Living Transaltion). Honesty should be in business. Customers and employees look for leaders to guide them down the right path. Merrill Lynch fail to have honesty in their company and this is why they were
Enron corporation, a company establisted at 1985, in Taxes. Until 2001, it becames one of the biggest company in the world, which service for energy, natural gas and telecommunications. In 2000, the disclosure turnover reached $101 billion. Everything is going well for Enron corporation. However, at beginning of 2001, Jim - a good reputation of the short-term investment agency owner. Publicly on Enron’s profit model expressed doubts. He pointed out that alough Enron’s business looks very brilliant, but in fact they cannot really make the amount of moeny like the data shown before. No one can say they can understand how Enron is making moeny. According to the inverstment owner’s analysis, Enron’s profitability in 2000 to 5%, to the beginning
In the book, If Aristotle Ran General Motors, Tom Morris argues that the teachings of the ancients can and should be applied to today's corporation. His message is that the four virtues - truth, beauty, goodness, and unity - form the foundation of human excellence. Putting them into practice leads not only to self-fulfillment, but ultimately to an open, nurturing, and ethical workplace that is more productive and successful in the long-term. The purpose of this essay is to examine how Morris treats the system of ethics in relation to these four virtues.
After news of the scandal of Enron, one of the hottest items on e-Bay was a 64-page copy of Enron’s corporate code of ethics. One seller/former employee proclaimed it had “never been opened.” In the forward Kenneth L. Lay, CEO of Enron stated, “We want to be proud of Enron and to know that it enjoys a reputation for fairness and honesty and that it is respected (Enron 2).” For a company with such an extensive code of ethics and a CEO who seemed to want the company to be respected for that, there are still so many unanswered questions of what exactly went wrong. I believe that simply having a solid and thorough code of ethics alone does not prevent a company from acting unethically when given the right opportunity.
From big financial and ethical scandals like Enron to WorldCom, Wells Fargo may be the next big financial and ethical scandal. Wells Fargo used to be one of the leading banks and credit lending companies in America. Now, they’re on a slippery slope downhill to one of the worst—and most unethical—banking and credit lending companies in America, maybe even in the world. Wells Fargo has been in an ethical uproar, has questionable ethical values, and questionable principles and practices in culture due to their downhill ethical standards. The company also may have been influenced by bad stakeholder judgment, and are now struggling to maintain the company’s culture. To give a description of business ethics as described by John Fraedrich, “business
...ints this can be accomplished by applying the remedies discussed by Rion. Applying these principles will be helpful in building relationships with customers, employees, and stakeholders. Associates who know how to handle ethical concerns are also more productive, they possess strong core values that reinforce their sense of purpose. Rion’s concepts are ethically sound, relevant, and can be supported by biblical verses like Col. 4:1, 1 Jn. 5:4, and Ro.3:31. “If you build that foundation, both the moral and the ethical foundation, as well as the business foundation, and the experience foundation, then the building won't crumble” as cited by Henry Kravis N.D.
To apply this system of moral values effectively, one must understand the structural levels at which ethical dilemmas occur, who is involved in the dilemmas, and how a particular decision will affect them. In addition, one must consider how to formulate possible courses of action. Failing in any of these three areas may lead to an ineffective decision, resulting in more pain than cure.” Ken Blanchard states, “Many leaders don’t operate ethically because they don’t understand leadership; these executives may have MBA’s from Ivey League schools or have attended leadership training; they may routinely read the best-selling management books, however, they don’t understand what it means to be a leader.” They don’t model a way of ethical behaviors.
This short report aims to give a brief overview of Deutsche Bank’s alarming situation and describe the sharp decrease of its profitability. It will briefly introduce the context of this crisis and aim to explain it through an analysis of one of the most used indicators of performance for banks, the return on equity (ROE).
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.
From reading this case, we realize the company did not apply the managing ethics competency in building its goals and structure. Managing ethics competency involves the o...
This concern of integrity and organizations like Wells Fargo to do what is right stems from our personal ethical framework. We all have one which helps us decide what is right and what is wrong. It is this decision that is a concern for organizations that must be managed on a day to day basis. Company’s such as Wells Fargo are so big that bad ethical behavior may be overlooked and not dealt with until the damage has already been done. Other organizations need to learn from Wells Fargo and start addressing their own organization ethical framework. This would include the organizational culture, business strategies, employee ethics concerns and the overall ethics and decision-making
For this paper Washington Mutual has been selected to show how the ethical decision making process can be achieve. When it comes to business ethics in the workplace Washington Mutual has designed what can be considered a well balanced workplace with behaviors that are aligned with their moral values and business ethics. Business ethics are sometimes depicted as resolving conflicts where one option can appear to be the correct choice. There are many different ethical dilemmas that are faced by managers and leaders everyday that are highly complex and have no clear choice or guidelines to assist in making the choices for resolution. There are times when an employee has to decide whether or not to cheat, lie, steal, or break their contract. These ethical decisions are real-life situations where they are forced to make on a daily basis. This is why it is ultimately important that all employee know the six steps to ethical decision making that the company uses.
The American Dream typically involves working hard to build up an organization, maintaining it well, and reaping the benefits. This vision most certainly drove the formation of the energy powerhouse known as the Enron Corporation. The company began as two average sized organizations and within 15 years emerged as America’s seventh largest company. The organization employed close to 21,000 staff members with locations in over 40 nations around the world. Unfortunately, this success was decimated by numerous scandals involved with accounting practices. From lies of profits to questionable dealings, such as concealing debts, the parties involved with running the company had made some fatal errors. The end result left Enron without creditors and investors, leading to the firm to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy (British Broadcasting Corporation, Enron Scandal at a Glance). The story of this once remarkable company is one that can be traced from the decisions made from its inception leading all the way to the much publicized trials that ensued.
I discovered how sticking to one’s morals should be the topmost priority for everyone involved in business, whether personal or professional. Regardless of what the consequences may be, the intensity of the problem, and the complexities it may bring, sacrificing one’s integrity should never be an option, as integrity goes hand-in-hand with the morals of an individual (Duggan & Woodhouse, 2011). They further go on to say that having individuals take part in building a code of ethics that supports employee integrity, they will act ethically. Also, I believe that companies should place more emphasis on the moral behavior of their employees, and clear-cut policies should be set regarding such ethical situations. Furthermore, I realized how serving justice while making decisions really helps in the long run, and that opting to go for the ideal rather than they deserved is not always the best option, and could hurt a company in more than one
Corporate fraud, greed, corruption, what company comes to mind when you hear those words? Enron! In this paper, we will take a look into the corporate facts and history as well as, stakeholder relationships, organizational trust issues, ethical leadership and ethical culture at Enron. As well as where improvements could have been made to improve organizational trust and ethical culture before Enron’s collapse.
Organizations are constantly tested with various moral and ethical problems and dilemmas. Organizational leaders are the key to establishing an ethical climate in the workplace. By understanding and improving their own moral reasoning, and the biases that affect moral judgment, they enable themselves to make better decisions. This has a catalytic effect that positively increases organizational climate, ultimately improving all organizational behavior.