...Introduction: Widely known as the champion of the energy industry, Enron is suddenly faced with a corporate crisis in the form of a scandal. This scandal involves not only Enron’s accounting practices but also its corporate governance and culture (Lawrence & Weber, 2008). This report will recommend some potential strategies for Enron to move forward from the scandal. To do this, we must incorporate stakeholder theory, which “argues that corporations serve a broad public purpose; to create value for society” (Lawrence & Weber, 2014, p 6.). This means that Enron must take responsibility for the scandal it created and take actions to regain its stakeholders’ confidence. To accomplish this, we will first identify and analyze Enron’s primary stakeholders, and then point out the key problems along with possible solutions. Finally, we will end the analysis with the best solutions that Enron should enact. Primary Stakeholders: The three most salient stakeholders are Enron’s shareholders, employees, and the government. We choose these three based on their interests, power, relevance, likelihood to form coalitions, and also due to the legitimacy and urgency of their claims. The first important stakeholder is none other than Enron’s shareholders. The owners of Enron invested their money relying on Enron’s false financial statements, only to lose billions of dollars. They are likely to form coalitions and engage in shareholder activism. In fact, they have the legal power to...
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...EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This report will analyse the groupthink’s concerns in the collapse of Enron. The collapse of Enron is less than three months, which Enron from a very prosperous company to a bankrupt enterprise. The collapse of Enron is one of the most grievous business failures in United States. This disastrous business failure had causes a large number of employees lost their jobs and retirement savings. Groupthink leads groups to make faulty judgments. Groupthink occurs when a group make wrong decisions as the pressures of group lead to deterioration of “mental efficiency, reality testing, and moral judgment”. There are several symptoms of groupthink. The issues to be resolved for Enron are collective rationalization, stereotypes of out-group, illusion of invulnerability, deceit to increase shareholders’ investments and self-censorship. The causes of the case study are illusion of unanimity, self-appointed mindguards, complicated transactions, belief in inherent morality of the group and direct pressure in dissenters. The solutions to the case study are challenge the norms, discuss with trusted associates, forbid related-party transactions for the senior officers, monitor the power of CEO and assign the role of critical evaluator. When there are symptoms of groupthink, there must be solutions to prevent and solve. TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1.0 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Purpose of the report 1.2 Company Background 2.0 SUMMARY OF THE CASE STUDY 3...
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...Running head: Enron Annual Analysis Analysis of Enron Principles of Management Abstract Enron Creditors Recovery Corporation was an American energy company based in Houston, Texas. Before its bankruptcy in late 2001, Enron employed around 21,000 people (McLean & Elkind, 2003) and was one of the world's leading electricity, natural gas, pulp and paper, and communications companies, with claimed revenues of $111 billion in 2000. Fortune named Enron "America's Most Innovative Company" for six consecutive years(Fortune, 2000, pg.45-50). It achieved infamy at the end of 2001, when it was revealed that its reported financial condition was sustained mostly by institutionalized, systematic, and creatively planned accounting fraud. Enron has since become a popular symbol of willful corporate fraud and corruption. The following is the 2000 annual report analysis that talks about the ethics, corporate responsibilty, organizational policies and applicable theories. ethics According to the 2000 annual report, the company values are as follows. “We have an obligation to communicate, take the time to talk to one another and listen. We believe that information is meant to move and that information moves people”(Enron, 2000, pg.55). The company had a good ethical philosophy of communication. Still if employees would communicated from the beginning some corrections would have been made and possibly the company would stills stand today. “We treat others as would like to be treated ourselves...
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...Enron Enron was once named America’s “most innovative” company six years in a row by Fortune magazine. Enron started as a natural gas distributor after Houston Natural Gas (HNG) was acquired by rival InterNorth in 1985. Shortly after the merger, Kenneth Lay, CEO of the combined company, announced that HNG and InterNorth would become known as “Enteron.”A few days later, Lay learned that the word “enteron” had an inconvenient meaning so he shortened it to “Enron”. At the time, Enron had the most extensive natural gas pipeline in North America; running from Canada to Mexico and across the United States, for a total of 40,000 miles of pipe. Enron wasn’t going to be just a natural gas distributor though. In 1990, Jeffrey Skilling joined Enron as a full-time employee after working for McKinsey & Co. as a consultant. Skilling was born in Pittsburgh and was a whiz kid from the start. Skilling was a production manager at the age of thirteen, and later graduated from Harvard University’s MBA program in the top 5 percent of his class. Before Skilling started working for Enron, he sold Lay the idea of making Enron into a commodity broker. In other words, Enron would become a place where consumers and producers could enter into long-term contracts. In 2000, Enron was a completely different company; only 3 percent of revenues came from delivering natural gas and more than 90 percent of the revenues were generated by Enron’s Wholesale division. Enron Wholesale Division was pretty much...
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...has been determined and accepted by almost everyone in the financial management industry and by those of us that invest or have our jobs supply financial instruments such as IRAs, Roth IRAs, 401Ks, etc for our retirement that it is imperative that our financial portfolio be diversified in such a manner that when part of the portfolio drops in value other parts of the portfolio will climb so that we may maintain, protect and continue to grow our funds in preparation for retirement. For example, why was the ENRON collapse such a disaster to most of the employees at ENRON? ENRON management had put pressure on everyone in the company retirement program to put all of their retirement savings into ENRON stock, so when the stock collapsed from its record highs these employees lost everything. If many of the employees at ENRON had invested in a diversified portfolio most of the money they placed in their retirement accounts may have been protected from the collapse of the ENRON stock. What does “Diversified Retirement or Stock Portfolio” mean? Simply put it means having a retirement account that is spread out over a range of stocks, bonds, cash and even precious metals. If the stock market goes down, in theory the bonds and precious metals will stabilize or go up at a rate that equals or reduces the losses due to the stock market dropping. With sound portfolio management as one part of the market drops and other parts climb individuals will start investing in the areas within...
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...The Enron Scandal and Moral Hazard Prof. Leigh Tesfatsion Department of Economics Iowa State University Ames, IA 50011-1070 http://www.econ.iastate.edu/tesfatsi/ Last Revised: 3 April 2011 The Enron Scandal and Moral Hazard • Enron, the 7th largest U.S. company in 2001, filed for bankruptcy in December 2001. • Enron investors and retirees were left with worthless stock. • Enron was charged with securities fraud (fraudulent manipulation of publicly reported financial results, lying to SEC,…) • QUESTION: In what ways are security market moral hazard problems at the heart of the Enron bankruptcy scandal? Brief Time-Line of the Enron Scandal • Enron was a Houston-based natural gas pipeline company formed by merger in 1985. • By early 2001, Enron had morphed into the 7th largest U.S. company, and the largest U.S. buyer/seller of natural gas and electricity. • Enron was heavily involved in energy brokering, electronic energy trading, global commodity and options trading, etc. Brief Time-Line of the Enron Scandal…Continued • On October 16, 2001, in the first major public sign of trouble, Enron announces a huge third-quarter loss of $618 million. • On October 22, 2001, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) begins an inquiry into Enron’s accounting practices. • On December 2, 2001, Enron files for bankruptcy. : Oct – Dec 2001 Regulatory Oversight of Enron Auditors Arthur Anderson Audit Committee (Directors) SEC Company Report Shareholders Enron Board...
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...Enron Corp.: Credit Sensitive Notes Solution Posted on January 28, 2013 by admin — No Comments ↓ This case investigates an innovative bond issue by Enron. The coupon on the bond is indexed to the company’s credit rating, making it a credit derivative structure.« Hide by Sanjiv Das, Stephen Lynagh Source: Harvard Business School 16 pages. Publication date: Feb 28, 1997. Prod. #: 297099-PDF-ENG Case Study 2 – Enron and Arthur Andersen Enron Corporation Case Study 2 – Enron and Arthur Andersen Enron Corporation began as a small natural gas distributor and over the course of 15 years grew to become the seventh largest company in the United States. Soon after the federal deregulation of natural gas pipelines in 1985, Enron was born by the merging of Houston Natural Gas and InterNorth, a Nebraska pipeline company. Initially, Enron was merely involved in the distribution of gas, but it later became a market maker in facilitating the buying and selling of futures of natural gas, electricity, broadband, and other products. However, Enron’s continuous growth eventually came to an end as a complicated financial statement fraud and multiple scandals sent Enron through a downward spiral to bankruptcy. During the 1980s several major national energy corporations began lobbying Washington to deregulate the energy business. Their claim was that the extra competition resulting from a deregulated market would benefit both businesses and consumers. Consequently, the national government began...
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...The Enron Scandal and Moral Hazard Prof. Leigh Tesfatsion Department of Economics Iowa State University Ames, IA 50011-1070 http://www.econ.iastate.edu/tesfatsi/ Last Revised: 3 April 2011 The Enron Scandal and Moral Hazard • Enron, the 7th largest U.S. company in 2001, filed for bankruptcy in December 2001. • Enron investors and retirees were left with worthless stock. • Enron was charged with securities fraud (fraudulent manipulation of publicly reported financial results, lying to SEC,…) • QUESTION: In what ways are security security market moral hazard problems at the heart of the Enron bankruptcy scandal? Brief Time-Line of the Enron Scandal • Enron was a Houston-based natural gas pipeline company formed by merger in 1985. • By early 2001, Enron had morphed into the 7th largest U.S. company, and the largest U.S. buyer/seller of natural gas and electricity. • Enron was heavily involved in energy brokering, electronic energy trading, global commodity and options trading, etc. Brief Time-Line of the Enron Scandal…Continued • On October 16, 2001, in the first major public sign of trouble, Enron announces a huge third-quarter loss of $618 million. • On October 22, 2001, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) begins an inquiry into Enron’s accounting practices. • On December 2, 2001, Enron files for bankruptcy. : Oct – Dec 2001 Regulatory Oversight of Enron SEC Auditors Arthur Anderson Audit Committee (Directors) ...
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...THE ENRON CASE EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This study is about the fraudulence that happened in Enron, the conspiracy and other charges, the scandal that brought down the former US energy giant in 2001. The study is going to answer the question : "Is the Enron experience an illustration of the market system working or failing?” on the basis of a normative economy inquiry.` NORMATIVE ECONOMY Normative economics is that branch of economic inquiry that deals with value judgments—with what prices, production levels, incomes, and government policies ought to be. To arrive at an answer, the economist weighs the results of various minimum wage rates on the groups affected by them—the unemployed, employers, taxpayers, and so on. Then, on the basis of value judgments of the relative need or merit of each group, the normative economist recommends a specific minimum wage rate. Of course, values differ from one person to the next. In the analytical jump from recognizing the alternatives to prescribing a solution, scientific thinking gives way to ethical judgment. Objective of normative theory is to define what the responsibilities of an organisation in respect of stakeholders, and to define why companies should take care of other interest than just the shareholders interest. this theory is linked to moral, values and philosophic purposed. According to Freeman's normative theory, Evan and Freeman (1990), they define stakeholders as those groups which are vital to the survival and success of the...
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...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...
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...InterNorth, Inc merged together to sell natural gas to most gas companies as well as businesses. This merge renamed the companies to Enron which was quickly grew as the largest natural gas company in the US. “Enron’s vision is to become the world’s leading energy company-creating innovative and efficient energy solutions for growing economies and better environment worldwide.” (www.thesmokinggun.com) Enron became a multibillion dollar company out of Omaha, Nebraska founded by Kenneth Lay, Andrew Fastow, and Jeffrey Skilling which relocated in Houston, Tx. In the late 90’s, the gas market changed from government regulations to competitions deciding on the price of energy. With the new change, Enron began selling its product to businesses as the intermediary instead of the primary supplier. Enron began trading contracts from suppliers and issued long term contracts to pipeline companies instead of buying and selling natural gas. The company began to see large increase in revenue and began investing in other businesses. This mass change within the company began the rise and fall of Enron. The rise and fall of the company was because of failure by unethical management decisions and business choice. Enron began borrowing money from to invest in new business projects to maintain its constant growth. To keep the earnings from the eyes of investors, Enron began to create partnership with other businesses that would allow their debts to remain off record which made the company look...
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...The Enron and Corporate Governance Company Enron Corporation Industry Energy Founded Omaha, Nebraska, USA (1985) Founder Kenneth Lay Employees approx. 22,000 (2000) Fate Bankruptcy, 2001 Website enron.com To write about Enron I was inspired by documentary movie “Enron: The Smartest Guys in The Room”. It explains in details how negligence and ‘cheating’ in corporate governance can lead to disaster for whole nation. The case of Enron became classical example of the company where executives can manipulate whole industry using ‘creative accounting’ and corporate governance. Enron bankruptcy is the greatest knowing corporate failure in the US from the time when the crash of numerous savings and loan institutions in the 1980s. This scandal showed the necessity for important improvements in accounting and corporate governance in the country, along with a tight control at the moral values in the culture of business in whole and of enterprises in the country. Actually, one can find a lot of reasons why this collapse happened. And there is the problem of interest between the two roles played by Mr Andersen, as auditor but also as consultant to Enron; the lack of attention shown by members of the Enron board of directors to the off-books financial entities with which Enron did business; and the lack of truthfulness by management about the health of the company and its business operations. In some ways, the culture of Enron was the primary cause of the collapse...
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...Enron – “The Smartest Guys in the Room” Who were the smartest guys in the room? Kenneth Lay, the founder of ENRON. Louis Borget, the CEO who diverted company money to offshore accounts. Jeffrey Skilling, the CEO who implemented the mark-to market accounting. J. Clifford Baxter and Lou Pai, the executives who Skilling hired. Andrew Fastow, the CFO who created companies solely to do business with Enron. The auditors, who turned the head when the money came rolling in. Are these the smartest guy in the room? In the beginning ENRON was a natural gas supplier in Houston Texas moved gas through pipelines to locales throughout the United States. In 1984 Kenneth Lay joined the company. In the late 1980s and early 1990s it started trading. It became one of the largest energy companies in the world. But it was scandalous from the beginning. Within a few years after the company was found the first scandals began. This scandal involved two traders betting on the oil markets which resulted in consistent profits. It was also discovered that the CEO, Louis Borget, had been diverting company money to offshore accounts. Lay encouraged them to continue making money for the company after the auditors discovered their schemes. Only when it was discovered that the traders gambled away ENRON’s reserves did the traders get fired. Lay denied knowing anything about the issues. After Borget leaves the company Lay hires Jeffrey Skilling who implements mark-to market accounting...
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...task Enron: How the Failure of Leadership, Culture, and Unethical Behavior Brought a Giant to its Knees Background A company with humble beginnings, Enron began as a merger of two Houston pipeline companies in 1985. Although Enron faced a number of financially difficult years, the deregulation of the electrical power markets took effect in 1988, and the company redefined its business from "energy delivery" to "energy broker." Enron quickly changed from a surviving company to a thriving one. Deregulation allowed Enron to become a matchmaker in the power industry, bringing buyers and sellers together. Enron profited from the exchanges, generating revenue from the difference between the buying and selling prices. Deregulation allowed Enron to be creative—for the first time, a company that had been required to operate within the lines could innovate and test limits. Over time, Enron's contracts became increasingly diverse and significantly more complex. Customers could insure themselves against all sorts of eventualities—such as a rise or fall in interest rates, a change in the weather, or a customer's inability to pay. By the end, the volume of such financial contracts far outstripped the volume of contracts to deliver actual commodities, and Enron was employing a small army of Ph.D.s in mathematics, physics, and economics to help manage its risk. As Enron's products and services evolved, so did the company's culture. In this newly deregulated and innovative forum, Enron embraced...
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...Re: Enron: The Smartest Guys in The Room Enron: The Smartest Guys in The Room is a movie about one of the US largest corporations, Enron, that went bankrupt in 2001. The movie starts with the story of Enron Corporation founder who was the chief executive officer of Houston Natural Gas, Kenneth Lay. Kenneth Lay established Enron in 1985. He had a close relationship with George Bush senior and his son, George W. Bush. While George W. Bush was Texas’ governor, he helped Kenneth Lay in subsidizing Enron International. Kenneth Lay successfully built natural gas power energy in East Texas. At that time, Enron stocks increased sharply from before. Enron involved in government energy market deregulations. Two years later, Enron committed in a scandal which known as oil scandal where two traders was betting in Enron stocks. Even though Enron stayed in stable share and obtain high profit, the bets put Enron in danger. Those two traders were fired by Enron after they gambled in Enron’s reserves. On the other hand, Kenneth Lay refused to admit his involvement in this act, but in fact he attended the meeting that discuss about oil scandal issue. Another scandal which is presented in the first part of this documentary film is Louis Borget, Enron’s CEO fraud in diverting company money into his personal account offshore. Auditors tried to uncover this problem and Kenneth Lay also encouraged him to keep making millions for Enron. However, Louis Barget was put in jail by the court for a year...
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