Resisting Corporate Corruption : Lessons in Practical Ethics from the Enron Wreckage

As scandals at Enron, WorldCom, and elsewhere became public, American business schools came under attack for inadequate ethical formation of the country's 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 Enron's descent into fraud and ask students to consider how it could have been different. These 17 practical case studies don't 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 Enron's first trading scandal. They will have the opportunity to consider how to oppose Jeff Skilling's plans to introduce Mark-to-Market accounting and Andy Fastow's 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 Enron's 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 firm's ethical climate.

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.