Defining Moments of Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room

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Defining Moments of Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room
The Enron Corporation was one of the most successful firms in the United States in the 1990s. The company grew very quickly, its value rising to an all-time high in 2000. Shortly afterwards, however, Enron faced the scandal which ended its reign at the top of the US energy market. The company was investigated by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for unethical practices and fraud, which resulted in their bankruptcy. By the end of 2001, Enron was in ruin. The source of the problem with Enron and the ethical considerations behind their decisions is not simple to identify. In fact, a number of correlating decisions (and, thereby, defining moments) made by the company’s...

.....of responsibility and sustainability throughout the company allow firms to build a culture of ethical behaviour. If Enron had considered the social impact of its decisions on its 22,000 employees, on Arthur Andersen’s 85,000 employees, and on all of the regular people who had invested in its poorly planned ideas, these challenges would not have come to pass. In this way, it is clear that ethics is not simply about making the right decision, but rather about making sure there is an underlying standard for ethics, which is kept in check by company leaders. References
Badaracco Jr., J. (1997). Defining Moments. Cambridge MA:
Harvard University Press.
Gibney, A., Dir. (2005). Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room.
Los Angeles: Magnolia Pictures.