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Reaction Paper on Enron Case: a Taste of Their Own Medicine

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Background of the Case
In 1930, Enron began as Northern Natural Gas Company; founded by the North American Light & Power Company (35%), United Light & Railways Company (35%) and the Lone Star Gas Corporation (30%). After a decade, the company was able to double its system capacity and expand its business through acquisitions.
In 1985, a merger acquisition with Houston Natural Gas (HNG) took place. The following year, the company’s name was changed to Enron Corporation. Shuffling the management, Kenneth L. Lay (HNG’s chairman), emerged as chairman.
In 1991, Enron began overseas expansion. From being a natural gas pipeline company, the company shifted to brokering energy commodities as energy markets were deregulated. Although targets and projections were not met as promised to investors, Enron continued to spend heavily in advertising and lobbying for deregulation.
In 1999, Enron ventured into the e-commerce market with the launching of EnronOnline to make the company more attractive to investors. The company stock prices went up but losses were disguised in elaborate partnerships and joint ventures. Such high stock prices fueled suspicion.
In 2001, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission looked into Enron transactions and its partnerships. Andersen (auditing firm of Enron) destroyed Enron documents that could have been used as evidence. The company’s credibility was still questionable, thus, creditors and investors pulled out. In the latter part of the year, Enron announced its overstatement of earnings dating back to 1997 by almost $600 million. Stock price hit rock bottom and then the company filed for bankruptcy.
The verdicts of the case? Altogether, 16 former Enron executives were sentenced to prison. Andersen, the former auditing giant, collapsed after being found guilty of deliberately destroying evidence of its relationship with Enron.
Insight
Enron began with a promising start as a young and versatile company that attracted a lot of investors. However, its strong ambition for business growth and expansion had a distortion of its corporate culture and values with the company having to lie about its profits and stands. The company weakened its credibility as it was accused of shady dealings, including the concealment of debts which did not reflect in the company’s account (i.e. balance sheet).
It is depressing to know that the company’s leaders were the culprits and masterminds of such predicament, when they should have been the role models who protected the interest of their stakeholders. Their loyalty and commitment to the company may have pushed them to make such decisions with the intention of saving the firm, but still “the end does not justify the means”. This just proves that in the end, the truth will find ways to reveal itself.
Relating the case situation to the financial condition and operations of the firm, Enron’s overstatement and overvaluing of their stock prices finally took a toll on them as they were not able to keep up with covering their lies. Their “mark-to-market” plan may have been a temporary easy way out to solve the stock price concern but it was not a long-term solution.
I believe that the success of a company does not solely depend on the amount it is able to produce as income and profit. The measurement of a company’s true success should always adhere to the values of honesty, transparency, accountability and truth. Likewise, it should not be at the expense of others.

Recommendation Enron could have avoided such mishap if the management had anticipated the repercussions of their plan before acting on what seemed “quick escapes”. Moreover, the management could have sought more honest ways of salvaging the company like through communicating the company’s situation to its employees at the least, so that they are not left at a loss at what their company is going through. That could have sparked innovative or resourceful ways of raising the stock prices.
There should also be strong corporate governance that adheres to honesty and transparency. Thus, Enron should not have had Andersen as their auditor and consultant as this is already a conflict of interest. The auditing party should be external to the entity so that there would be a “balance and check” with overseeing the company operations.

Conclusion
Putting the case into a larger scale, the Philippines can be an example of how the lack of good governance can make the management or “leaders” manipulate the country’s performance and transactions. With a lot of our government officials putting their personal interest first than of the people they are serving, I think the country will soon find itself falling into a similar predicament with of Enron. But if public servant leaders started being “men and women of others” through the commitment to social justice, then the Philippines will be able to move a step further than where it is now.

Sources:

• Silverstein, K. 2013. Enron, Ethics And Today's Corporate Values. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/kensilverstein/2013/05/14/enron-ethics-and-todays-corporate-values/
• "Enron Corporation." International Directory of Company Histories. 2002. Retrieved September 14, 2015 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Enron_Corp.aspx#1-1G2:2845000053-full
• CNN Library. 2015. Enron Fast Facts. Retrieved from http://edition.cnn.com/2013/07/02/us/enron-fast-facts/
• BBC News. 2002. Enron Scandal At-A-Glance. Retrieved from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/1780075.stm

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