When I hear the name Enron, I think of an organization full of corruption, greed, dishonesty, and deceit. The demise of Enron will be talked about, researched, and case studied for decades to come. In reviewing Enron’s code of ethics it’s clear that the company had established rules of conduct for how the company was to facilitate business. The key components of Enron’s code of conduct are based on vision, values, integrity, communication and excellence. With this diverse code of conduct what are the factors that led to the development of the culture of profit before principle at Enron?
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,
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Creating my own personal code of ethics is important because it can help provide me with guideance in my professional and personal decision making. When discussing the ethical frameworks related to my personal code of ethics Jerry White’s five guidelines for conducting business activities and the Caux Principles for business come to mind. In my personal code of ethics I will address the following, relationships, honesty and integrity, work ethics, transparency and diclosure of information, fairness and how they/if any of these ethical frameworks compare to Jerry White’s five guidelines for conducting business activies or the Caux principles for business. My personal code of ethics reads as follows:
• Relationships-my personal relationships will be built on trust, honesty and loyalty. My business relationships will mirror my personal relationships while remaining professional in all interactions. Being accountable for my actions and behavior. Caux Principle number one-the responsibilites of corporations. Corporations have a resonsibility to improve the lives of everyone they come in contact with starting with employee, shareholders, and suppliers and then extending out to local, national, regional and global communites (Johnson,
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Remaining diligent, reliable, forthright, and dedicated to the task at hand Jerry White’s third principle is being a servant. Someone has said Christians like to be called servants, but don't appreciate being treated like servants. To serve God sounds glorious, but to serve others is another matter. As usual, Jesus Christ is our example (Johnson, 2015).
• Transperancy and disclosure of information- I will conduct business in a truthful manner. Avoid decpetive acts and practices and keep accurate records. Release information that should be shared in a timely fashion but maintain confidentiality and privacty as necessary. Caux Principle number four, respect for rules. Businesses ought to promote honesty, transparency, integrity, and keeping promises (Johnson, 2015).
• Fairness-I will remain fair in all my personal and business relations. Being deligent in my decision making. Making ethical decisions takes moral awareness, moraj judgement, and moral character. I will take these guidelines into account when making personal and business decisions. Jerry White’s first guideline of just weight. The principle of a just weight is to give a full amount in exchange for a fair payment (Johnson,
This paper is an analysis of the ethical business decision matrix developed by The George S. May Company (May), a management-consulting firm. The paper will also compare how these guidelines were used by John D. Beckett (Beckett) in his company and how the author’s firm, PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLC (PwC), uses them. The guidelines are meant to be used by employees. These guidelines are specifically a measure of moral and ethical principles tied to business ethics in acceptability of right and wrong behaviour in the workplace.
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
The Enron Corporation was founded in 1985 out of Houston Texas and was one of the world 's major electricity, natural gas, communications, and pulp and paper companies that employed over 20,000 employees. This paper will address some of the ethical issues that plagued Enron and eventually led to its fall.
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.
Ethical behavior is behavior that a person considers appropriate. A person’s moral principles are shaped from birth, and developed over time throughout the person’s life. There are many factors that can influence what a person believes is right, or what is wrong. Some factors are a person’s family, religious beliefs, culture, and experiences. In business, it is of great importance for an employee to understand how to act ethically to prevent a company from being sued, and receiving criticism from the public while bringing in profits for the company.
My personal code of ethics outlines the values and principles, which I believe in and rely on in life; the code determines the decisions I make concerning my daily activities and my association with family, colleagues, and the society. The values and principles also act as my main point of reference when I am faced with a dilemma and need to make a sound dec...
I strive to embody integrity in everything that I strive to do. This means that each and every one of my actions must encompass and demonstrate the values I possess, no matter what the context of the situation. Additionally adhere to high moral principles and professional standards put forth by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. Secondly, I believe that it is important to be honest and respectful. I desire to express truth in every written and spoken word. Presenting information in a fair and impartial way when it comes to performing accounting duties is necessary in a profession that serves the public interest. I believe that being respectful means showing consideration and thoughtfulness in my relationships with my fellow those that I come into contact with. This goes hand in hand in treating everyone from fami...
This paper will analyze Enron’s Code of Ethics and examine the sections on values and corporate responsibility. The paper will use applicable theories and concepts and will detail Ken Lay’s view of ethics and Enron’s corporate social performance. The paper will argue that Enron was not being socially responsible to all of its stakeholders because it deceived employees and investors about its real financial status despite having stated in its company code of ethics that transparency, integrity, and respect for the law would be the cornerstones of its daily operations.
Enron Corporation was based in Houston, Texas and participated in the wholesale exchange of American energy and commodities (ex. electricity and natural gas). Enron found itself in the middle of a very public accounting fraud scandal in the early 2000s. The corruption of Enron’s CFO and top executives bring to question their ethics and ethical culture of the company. Additionally, examining Enron ethics, their organization culture, will help to determine how their criminal acts could have been prevented.
When an ethical dilemma arises within an organization, it is difficult to separate right and wrong with what is best for the majority. Sometimes the answer is not a simple “yes” or “no.” In 2002, Enron Corporation shows us just that. By 2002, the sixth-largest corporation in America filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The case of the Enron scandal is one of the best examples of corporate greed and fraud in America.
Ethical standards that evolved over the history of Western civilization deal with interpersonal relationships. What is right or wrong? What one should do and not do when dealing with other people. Ethical behavior in a business environment has not been as clearly defined. When businesses were small and the property of a few individuals, traditional ethical standards were applied to meet different situations. However, as businesses became larger, the interpersonal ethical relations did not provide any clear behavioral guidelines. Likewise, the principles of ethical relationships were even less pertinent to the corporate environments.
Knox expects every employee to seek and understand the truth in all aspects of their work. Staff members are to act the highest standards of honesty, integrity, respect and fairness when dealing with customers and employees. As an employee, you will be expected to read and follow these policies and sign a statement to that effect.
In many circumstances, employees’ behaviors are likely to follow their leader. Enron’s leadership has been extremely influential due to exemplified charismatic. For example, Heffrey Skilling and Kenneth Lay, CFO and one of executive member in Enron, greatly encourage employees to follow their lead. Their incompetence accounting profession directly affects lover level of employees. Eventually, those manipulating accounting activities affect company collapse. Once leadership has done unethical professional accounting behaviors, unethical acts become accepted. Employees have many reasons for remaining quiet. While Enron still have ethical internal rules, when leadership in Enron did not abide and did not provide corresponding example of employees to follow (Prentice 2003, p. 417). Which eventually make Enron’s become one of the largest corporate scandal frauds.
Through an organizational culture that focused on financial greed for self, illegal accounting practices, conflicts of interest partnerships, illegal business dealings, fraud, negligence, and massive corruption at all levels, the Enron scandal help to create new laws and regulations with stiff penalties if violated (Ferrell, et al, 2013). The federal government implemented the Sarbanes Oxley Act (SOX) (Ferrell, et al, 2013).
In the aftermath of Enron, Washington Mutual Bank, TYCO, and World Comm these companies went against the grain of what good ethical behavior is and what their respective company’s code of ethics were. The criminal justice system has made it clear that it will not allow companies and their executives to get away with the misuse of public trust by allowing them to make themselves rich at the expense of the employee. Where these crimes are both ethically and morally wrong, the CEO’s of major corporations are being punished by a ...