Assessing Business
Ethics and Organizational Culture
Article: Madsen, S.
& Vance, C. (2009). Unlearned lessons from the past: an insider’s view of
Enron’s downfall. Corporate Governance, 9(2), 216-227.
Define
“organizational culture.” Please be very specific (and be sure that
you provide references for your description of culture).
Evaluate Enron’s sense
of business ethics and business operations in the context of the organization’s
culture? Specifically, what went wrong?
What should have been
the role and responsibility of company leadership (the Board of Directors, the
CEO Ken Lay and others)? In what ways did key executive players (e.g., Lay,
Skilling, and Fastow) work to negatively reshape the culture, and with what
adverse consequences?
How might Human
Resource Management (HRM) have played a central role in setting the “moral
compass” at Enron, helping to form and shape the organizational culture
(perhaps avoiding the Enron debacle altogether)?
