Enron is an energy-based company in Houston, Texas that deals with the energy trade on international and domestic based. Enron Corp. Is one of the world’s largest energy, commodities and Services Company was created out of merger of two major gas pipe line in 1985. Enron was created by merge between Houston Natural Gas and Internorth. Houston’s gas’s CEO Kenneth lay headed the merger of the two companies. After that Kenneth lay become the CEO of Enron. Earlier Enron was Enron was solely involved with the distribution and transmission of electricity and gas of United States. In merger, Enron incurred a large amount of debt, and which resulted deregulation, after this Enron was no longer had the rights of its pipelines. The company had to find a way to generate profits and cash flow. Kenneth lay hired Jeffrey Skilling to work for Enron as an accountant. Skilling suggested the practice Continue reading
Business Ethics Case Studies
Case Study: The Collapse of Lehman Brothers
Lehman Brothers Inc operated at a wholesale level, dealing with governments, companies and other financial institutions. Its core business included buying and selling shares and fixed income assets, trading and research, investment banking, investment management and private equity. In September 2008, Lehman Brothers filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The company became insolvent with finances totalling $639 billion in assets and debt worth $619 billion; it became the largest bankruptcy in history. The company employed 25,000 employees worldwide including 5,000 and was the fourth largest US financial bank at the time of the bankruptcy. It also became the biggest victim of the subprime mortgage disaster that had put the global financial sector into meltdown. History In 1844 23 year old Henry Lehman the son of a cattle merchant immigrated to the United States from Rimpar, Bavaria. He set up home in Montgomery, Alabama where he opened a dry-goods shop. In Continue reading
Case Study on Business Ethics: Madoff Investment Scandal
Bernard “Bernie” Lawrence Madoff is an American investment adviser and stock broker who operated Madoff Investments in an unethically acceptable manner. He used the company as a front to commit a Ponzi scheme which fleeced investors of over $65 billion. This has been regarded as the largest Ponzi scheme ever. Madoff grew up in a humble background and he established the Madoff Investments Company with support from the father in law. A few friends and family members also supported Madoff with the operations and growth of the business. Madoff used the returns from investment to support several charitable and political causes which his firm believed in. However, in 1999, there was concern that the profits made by Madoff Investments surpassed the normal profits expected from a firm in such a venture. Markopolos, an expert in investments informed the exchange commission that it was not possible to achieve the level of Continue reading
Case Study: The Rise and Fall of Enron
Background on the History of Enron Enron was an American Gas Company that was originally called Natural Gas Company in the early 1930s. InterNorth was a holding company that was located in Nebraska and in 1979 purchased Natural Gas Company. In 1985, Enron was born following the merger of InterNorth and Houston Natural Gas. Following the merger, in 1987 Enron discovered that oil traders in New York have overextended the company’s account by $1 billion dollars, which they were able to work down to $142 million. This put Enron in massive debt. For the new company to survive, Enron needed new, innovative, and strategic business plans to generate profits and improve cash flows. In 1988 Enron opened its first overseas office in England. “Come to Jesus” was a gathering by the top heads at Enron to come up with a new strategy to get the company out of debt and Continue reading
Case Study on Business Ethics: The AIG Scandal
American International Group, Inc is a company whose operation began back in 1919. It was established back then by Cornelius Vander Starr as an insurance agency in Shanghai, China. AIG left china in 1949 after Starr had established himself as the westerner the sell insurance to the Chinese people. AIG headquarters then shifted from china to New York City, which is still the headquarters up to date. It is from here that AIG began its expansion tapping into other markets such as the Latin America, Asia, Middle East and Europe through use of its subsidiaries. It was in 1962 when Starr transferred management of AIG United states holdings to Maurice R. Greenberg. Greenberg introduced policies that made the company shift from its original personal insurance background to anew high market corporate targeted cover. The new management under Greenberg went on to focus mainly on selling AIGs’ insurance packages through independent Continue reading
Business Ethics Case Study: The Volkswagen Emissions Scandal
Over the last few decades, there has been great concern regarding the sustainability and conservation of the environment. Environmental pollution and globalization have become the concern of most environmental protection agencies. The harmful and mortal effects of nitrogen oxide, which is a pollutant found in car exhaust have led the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to tighten emission control considering the attention paid to conservation and saving the green. These concerns have made the EPA constantly announce restrictions for standard emissions for all types of vehicles the sports car, heavy-duty trucks, automobiles, and other types of cars. These stringent measures are necessary considering that nitrogen gas emitted is harmful to human health and results in diseases such as asthma, premature death, bronchitis, and respiratory and cardiovascular. In 2015, the scandal regarding diesel cheat damaged the image of the Volkswagen Company. In light of the discovery of the diesel dupe of Volkswagen Continue reading