Question

How did the corporate culture of Enron contribute to its bankruptcy? Did Enron’s bankers, auditors, and attorneys contribute to Enron’s demise? If so, how? What role did the company’s chief financial officer play in creating the problems that led to Enron’s financial problems?

Answer 1

Answer:

Corporate Culture Of Enron:

The culture at Enron was not promoting integrity and core values of business ethics. The corporate culture of the company has been supporting unethical behavior of employees prevailing in the workplace. There have been no importance given to business ethics. The company punished the employees who appeared to be weak resource for the organization and department were forced to fire low ranking employees creating Job security issues for them. The employees then engaged in such illegal activities to keep themselves at the top rank even at the cost of company. There was also miscommunication in the organization about its performance to the stakeholders.  

Explanation:

Contribution of Banker's, Auditors and Attorneys:

Auditors were responsible for ensuring accuracy of financial statements. Anderson deceived many investors who relied on companies financial statements. Anderson certified financial statements of the company without questioning them about the relevancy and accuracy. Anderson was found guilty of obstructing justice by destroying Enron's related auditing documents. Attorneys helped to mold some of company's special purpose partnership. These deals lead to demise of the company. Merrill Lynch replaced research analyst after his coverage of the Enron company which dissatisfied the company executives. Merrill Lynch was subject to threats by Enron that it would loose $750 million from stock offerings.

Role Of CEO:

The CEO of the company contributed to the bankruptcy of the company by involving in unconsolidated partnerships and special purpose entities. He was involved in exploiting the market by using techniques that rapidly exploit deregulating markets. He tripled the staff of Enron for demeaning the Enron's Credit Rating.