What observable artifacts or physical manifestations of culture existed in Enron? Provide examples.
One observable artifact or physical manifestation of the culture that existed in Enron was its financial extravagance as seen in their lofty spending's in parties as well as other events. The lofty spending of the company highlighted a shift from conventional corporate culture, where the top executives of the company cast the traditional business controls aside. Enron appeared to do many things extravagantly as they believed that appearance was everything to their clients as well as their competitors. However, as the company executives started engaging in fraudulent activities, a new culture that was characterized by dishonesty and lack of integrity emerged. The physical manifestation of this culture showed itself in some ways, the key of which was the creation of a sham energy trading floor that they even supposedly equipped with computers as well as other equipment.
What were Enron's espoused values both explicitly stated and norms?
The espoused values of a company act as a moral compass that is a guide for the entire organization, especially in matters concerning its interaction with other parties. Enron’s stated explicit espoused values comprised integrity, respect, excellence as well as communication. However, the norm was in contrast to the explicitly stated values as evidenced by all the fraudulent activities that took place in the company, where the firm rarely referenced its explicit values in its operations.
What were Enron's basic assumptions or core values of the organization?
The core values of the organization were respect, integrity, communication as well as excellence. These values were widely disregarded at Enron and were just mere words that the company did not consider as matters to take seriously. The reason why one can comfortably assume that they disregarded their core values is that these values could have saved the company from plunging into its demise. For instance, the value of integrity is evidently absent from the business processes of the company as well as its everyday operations. On the contrary, there was lack of integrity in every phase of the company as greed and corruption consumed the executives of the company, and led them to indulge into dishonest activities that were injurious to the company.
How did culture lead to the demise of the organization?
Enron cultivated a dishonest culture that caused unethical behavior leading to serious conflicts of the interests of the company as well as the interests of individuals. The corporate culture of Enron lacked integrity, which it is possible to attribute to the senior executives fostering and nurturing wrongdoings. For instance, it is implausible to say that the company’s executives had no idea of the creation of an energy trading floor that was a sham. Such a dishonest culture causes the corporate governance internal attributes to become weaker. Additionally, as the documentary highlights, the external auditor was also swallowed up in the whole scandal since he served as the internal auditor who acquiesced with the management’s wrongdoing. Additionally, greed for money characterized the dishonest culture of the organization. There was little or no regard for integrity as well as ethics. In this regard, such attitudes as these infused the entire company and affected the staff as well as those affiliated with the company. Enron’s organizational culture was in support of the various unethical practices such as cheating, as well as corruption. Therefore, ambition and greed blinded the company’s management thus causing them to make flawed decisions that plunged the company to its downfall. This culture ultimately led to the demise of the organization.
Works Cited
Hatfield, Patty, and Aaron Buchko. "Using" ENRON: The Smartest Guys in the Room" As a Live Case Illustration of Financial Concepts and Ethical Issues." Journal of Financial Education (2008): 68-94.
