Wow! eBook
Resisting Corporate Corruption: Lessons in Practical Ethics from the Enron Wreckage
Author(s): Stephen V Arbogast (Author)
- Publisher: M&M Scrivener Press
- Publication Date: 25 Feb. 2008
- Language: English
- Print length: 264 pages
- ISBN-10: 0976404141
- ISBN-13: 9780976404149
Book Description
As scandals at Enron, WorldCom, and elsewhere became public, American business schools came under attack for inadequate ethical formation of the countrys up-and-coming managers. A less obvious but related problem has been the lack of realistic ethical training material. Now this author, a 32 year senior financial executive, has adapted the Enron story to address this pressing need. Drawing upon his own experience within a highly disciplined corporate culture, the author has extracted from the wreckage case studies that chart Enrons descent into fraud and ask students to consider how it could have been different. These 17 practical case studies dont just retell the Enron story they select pivotal moments when key individuals faced decisions that could carry the firm across another threshold of ethical decomposition. Students will get the opportunity to stand in the shoes of the young Ken Lay as he pondered how to handle Enrons first trading scandal. They will have the opportunity to consider how to oppose Jeff Skillings plans to introduce Mark-to-Market accounting and Andy Fastows ever-more aggressive use of Special Purpose Entities. Finally, they will have a chance to reconsider the tactics adopted by those who did resist. Was, for example, Sherron Watkins right to take her concerns to Ken Lay, or should she have made her case elsewhere? These cases capture the daunting financial complexity that masked Enrons problems for years. They are also constructed with an eye on the conflicting business, organizational and personal objectives that complicate real world ethics questions. As each case makes clear, ethics in the business world comes wrapped in practical matters that can make going along seem the smart move. These cases will provide students with practice in maintaining their ethical bearings in the face of such complexities and in how to chart a politically viable path of effective resistance.The 17 case studies are augmented by 4 extensive Essays that outline an approach to the cases and also discuss the connection between financial control and a firms ethical climate.
Editorial Reviews
Review
“Extensive research was done in these case studies to reveal the subtleties of corporate opposition to the truth. Rarely will employees do wrong when asked to do so outright, but when an inappropriate course of action is masked properly, it is rare for employees to challenge it. Readers of Arbogast s book will benefit from the authenticity and accuracy of the cases, hopefully helping them in their careers to either avoid or prevent another Enron from happening”. –Sherron S. Watkins, former Vice President of Enron, Time Person of the Year 2002, the Year of the Whistleblowers.
Arbogast has created a remarkable book by dedicating the study of ethical decision process within the context of Enron through a set of cases that address interconnected issues. In doing so he has captured the rich complexity of the problem of ethics that is seldom communicated or appreciated –Krishna Dhir, Dean of the Campbell School of Business at Berry College, Georgia
Arbogast has created a remarkable book by dedicating the study of ethical decision process within the context of Enron through a set of cases that address interconnected issues. In doing so he has captured the rich complexity of the problem of ethics that is seldom communicated or appreciated –Krishna Dhir, Dean of the Campbell School of Business at Berry College, Georgia
About the Author
Stephen V. Arbogast is Executive Professor of Finance, Bauer College of Business, University of Houston, Texas. From 1972 to 2004 he worked for Exxon and ExxonMobil Corporation and his last position there was Treasurer of the Global Chemical Division.
