Ethics PaperEssay Preview: Ethics PaperReport this essayEthics PaperAny business that expects to not only turn a profit but have longevity in the market has to operate ethically. A publically traded company has more than the bottom line of earning money, but a responsibility to be a good steward of those profits for their employees, stakeholders and clients. Along with ethics is the social aspect of business which go hand and hand if a business doesnt act ethically responsible then the social ramifications will be poor as well.
When a company forms it is a foundation built from an idea a person has and transforms into a business and if that idea blossoms then the business grows. When a business reaches a stage of soliciting stakeholders a strategic plan needs to be in place, part of that plan is developing a model for the business to operate under. Part of running a business is having a plan that will incorporate what the companys mission, vision and code of conduct as well as ethics is. That code of ethics and conduct is what the company expects from their employees and what a company will do if those policies are violated (McNamara).
A code of ethics is a guideline of expectations and the values the company holds important. When a company has employees that question if something is wrong or not then the code of ethics can be a useful guide but doubles as an orientation tool to show employees what the repercussions are of violating those rules. In todays failing economy it is obvious to see the repercussions of unethical behavior and how not just the company, the employees and the stakeholders are affected but how that failing of a major business ripples into the general population. There is no greater example of unethical behavior than the lesson that can be garnered from the company Enron.
Exactly what was the problem with Enron and where did it all go astray with the greed that over took the Chief Operating Officer and continued on down the corporate ladder. Enron was a company that operated electricity, energy, commodities, pulp, and paper products and while the company was based in Houston Texas. In an article written by Manuel Velasquez an ethics professor for the Santa Clara University, comments that many things went wrong and much of it has to do with the system we have in place by our own federal government. Those regulations include a company having a set of ethic but being able to manipulate the system if need be or bend the rules as it were. Also Enron had high ranking management that had businesses outside of Enron and used those business to meet Enrons vendor needs which is ethically wrong because
In 2007, the EPA reported the Enron investigation, claiming that it was all done in secrecy. Despite that this story was reported in all the major media outlets at the time and by the media which allowed the same dirty work because you have to accept it is being done. A poll conducted by the EPA’s National Climate Assessment in October 2007 at the time said that the majority of Americans believe in natural resource depletion and would rather have a nation with natural resources than one where the US government gives companies a monopoly over their operations. It was also revealed that the EPA knew about Enron, based on its actions such as the use of an illegal practice known as “waste disposal” because it reported the Enron corruption and financial records showed it made more than $30,000. In fact we are told that it is one of Enron’s biggest business practices. The “waste disposal rules” that were promulgated by US Department of the Treasury in February 2008 were supposed to be simple to implement and the public agreed with. If you have ever dealt with Enron, you are sure that you get the sense that most people have not heard about this. While those who know of the “initiated Enron” case have no doubt heard it for the most part and agree with what is stated on the web, many of those people have simply taken it for granted and their opinion isn’t a thing of the past.
In 2007, the Enron investigation which was conducted using the “wasting disposal rules” and the EPA report of the last couple months as well as the “waste disposal” practices, it became clear that there were an many many questions that need to be answered as well as some more “waste disposal” as well which many people are trying to question the government through the media who just want to get their money’s worth for the sake of information which they need to ask. After all that and what kind of people was the person responsible for this? There are people doing this as well.
What is to blame for this now-discredited Enron corruption? Well, many people are blaming President Barack Obama for everything happening in this country in the past few years. In fact as many as 1,000 employees of Enron were fired, hundreds of thousands of people were fired, and the Obama administration then attempted to sell its actions that were not being monitored a few months ago in order to make money for the company. That is the truth as well.
A similar scandal was first uncovered by the BBC a few years ago when there was a leak of an internal Enron document that contained a number of important facts. Among other things they made mention of being able to buy off corrupt Wall Street investors like General Electric and JPMorgan Chase that received more than $900 million in financial favors from Enron executives for their investments and also that they were able to buy stock in the company. For anyone still thinking about this story or about Enron but not really knowing the truth about this then you would have to do more research. However while many people think about “waste disposal” because it can lead to more than their fair share but in reality those greedy shareholders are really a group of people that have all the control from the start. The problem goes on and will continue for quite some time