|Trident International University |
|Case 5 |
|ETH 501 |

|Kent Vander Kamp |
|7/12/2012 |

In 1985 the Inter North Corporation and Houston Natural Gas merged together and formed Enron. The former president of Inter North, Sam Segnar became the president of the newly formed Enron. It was then that it appeared that the corporate culture had changed. Unlike Segnar's predecessor, Willis Straus who was loved by all within his company and achieved an open culture where employees were treated fairly Segnar was often disliked and held in disdain. It appeared that Segnar was an elitist who separated the working class from management so the newly formed Enron began its venture heading down the wrong road by dividing the working class and the elitist. As is seen in many corporate disasters the elitist spending was encouraged and recognized by the new CEO Segnar. (Madsen & Vance, 2009)

Through this massive change within Enron its employees and peers developed a hatred for Segnar. This was seen as an opening or an opportunity for Ken Lay. Lay used this opportunity to propose a collaborative board between the two merging companies. This was not seen as unusual however Lay was surprised when Segnar accepted the proposal. However Segnar maintained a majority control over the board. Over a two-month period Lay began lobbying two members of Segnar's board team to turn on him now