Enron
Identify one of the examples of financial reporting misconduct associated with the Enron scandal
In the wake of the stratospheric success and subsequent fall of Enron, many were compelled to ask: how could this be possible, namely how could a firm which seemed so successful on the surface be so corrupt at its core? The answer, although not simple, can be boiled down to this: creative financial accounting. While Enron deployed many techniques to hide its falling profits, one of its most successful was the creation of "special purpose entities [or vehicles] -- subsidiaries that have a single purpose and that did not need to be included in Enron's balance sheet" and "were used to hide risky investment activities and financial losses" (Folger 2011).
It should be noted that not all SPV lack legitimacy, but rather that Enron used them for fraudulent, misleading, and therefore illegal purposes. "A corporation can use such a vehicle to finance a large project without putting the entire firm at risk. Problem is, due to accounting loopholes, these vehicles became a way for CFOs to hide debt. Essentially, it looks like the company doesn't have a liability when they really do. As we saw with the Enron bankruptcy, if things go wrong, the results can be devastating" ("SPV," 2014). An SPV is not supposed to be specifically created to hide troubled assets or...
From all facts and appearances, those Enron executives gave lip service to ethics, then went on their own way, making as much profit as they could while the company teetered on collapse. One final example from Enron's "Code of Ethics" is titled "Twenty-Twenty Hindsight" which carries its own irony without delving into its points. Lay writes on page 10 that if any employees' security activities or transactions "become the subject
Utility Ethics: Enron Utility Ethics at Enron Why utility ethics is a valid way of deciding right and wrong Utility ethics are considered to be universal, growth-driven, and offer service to the organization with the only consideration of the right and the wrong. Utility ethics is a valid way of deciding the right and wrong because growth does not always mean that it is right. The same perspective does not apply to failing:
Enron Leadership Enron collapsed very quickly in November 2001, and its failure should have been a warning to serious dysfunctions in the entire corporate and financial system, but this did not happen. Its executives admitted that they had falsified its records going back for at least five years, although in reality they had been doing so since the 1980s. When the company filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy it laid off over 20,000
Ethical Training -- Successes and Failures Ethical Training: Successes and Failures Ethics are often thought of as black and white, but that is really not the case. There are many shades of grey, and what is ethical in some instances may not be ethical in others. Additionally, there are concerns when it comes to what one person thinks is ethical vs. what another would find ethical. That is often why there are
Ethical Issues in Business and Society: Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room Enron manipulated the energy market in a manner that hurt consumers and did not reflect the state of real economic demand and supply. This was not capitalism, rather it was criminal behavior. It also used underhanded accounting measures that did not reflect its real losses to delude investors, including employees that had sunk their savings into the company. The
Ethical Dilemmas & Marketing Ethical Dilemmas Ethical dilemmas in international marketing Background of Marketing Ethics Ethical Issues in Marketing Modern Debate in Stakeholder Theory Ethical Theories Teleological Theories Virtue Ethics Ethics in Marketing Ethical dilemmas in international marketing Humanity has long struggled with the question of what constitutes ethical behavior. The answer to this question has not always been simple or easy especially in the midst of conflicting interests. Businesses desire and need to sell products to consumers but serious issues
Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.
Get Started Now