Read the case Enron, Ethics, and Organizational Culture located in the text and answer the following questions at the end of the case:
Based on what you read in the chapter, how would you explain Enron’s ethical meltdown?
It is said that when one securities analyst tried to confront Enron’s CEO about the firm’s unusual accounting statements, the CEO publically used vulgar language to describe the analyst, and that Enron employees subsequently thought doing so was humorous. If true, what does that say about Enron’s ethical culture?
What role do you think culture played at Enron? Give specific examples of things Enron’s CEO could have done to create a healthy ethical culture.
Compare your organization’s ethical culture to that of Enron’s.
Enron, Ethics, and Organizational Culture
In any organization there exists an organism that requires nurturing to survive. That organism is known as “culture.” Culture is a living, breathing thing that grows and develops from the inputs that are provided to it. Enron was under the control of what was thought to have Upper Managers that were to have ethical and moral believes that followed the corporate rules and regulations. The top executives at the helm of affairs at Enron created a toxic corporate culture by using corruption, greed and deception. By failing to sustain an open relationship and trust with its employees, the executives were inevitably driving the company to its gloomy end. Money is power and can do major damage if the rules and belief systems are not upheld.
The normal personality’s significant and unique theories since time immemorial has been the idea of truth, a profoundly established philosophical conundrum[1], whose idea itself has upset the sensible esteem controlled by the zones of learning. Truth itself distracts a generous job in our every day discussions, yet its multi-dimensional nature has confused even the most significant scholars like Plato and Aristotle and also late logicians who have bombed in revealing this secret lying at the core of human culture. Despite the fact that the word ‘truth’ is labeled with the reason for an utilitarian job, we people shape it into a frame perceived by the applied system of our human personality, also called an outline. Thus the subject of the estimation of truth engaged with any announcement is accepted to be a result of the social constructivism dependent on convictions and our raising. Over the previous years, truth has been managed exclusively as far as its methodology towards a variety of learning regions. The ‘degree’ is a supporting of the assorted points of view that reality holds in an assortment of regions of learning. In this manner, it shows not just a distinction as truth yet in addition a similitude associated with interpreting the presence of truth. My paper dares to disclose the degree to which truth has been given shifted criticalness in three unmistakable regions of learning; arithmetic, expressions and morals as far as the attributes which characterize them.
Since the conceptual idea of truth has presented to be an all inclusive quandary, different hypotheses have been planned to check reality estimation of any announcement. Arithmetic is frequently viewed as the dialect of certainty[2]and surely understood for its faultlessness and theoretical idea. What influences mathematicians and savants to trust that arithmetic is nearest to the supreme truth is its consistent structure of technique and decisions, and its effect on feasibility to accomplish a completely right or mistaken answer. The scientific truth is bound by specific guidelines and obstructions which envelop this territory of information, consequently a progressively obliged methodology based on unadulterated rationale, and deductive-thinking impacts reality associated with a numerical point of view. “In science an announcement must be valid or false” is a stereotypical saying and mirrors the general understanding which characterizes the result. Most mathematicians concur the way that the set hypothesis frames the firm establishment whereupon the mind boggling structure of math has been raised. However, what interests these mathematicians is that can such a dynamic territory have any genuine applications? A look into the historical backdrop of science would definitely state the above inquiry. For instance, various speculations in the past were believed to be a unimportant hypothetical marvel however today observe a firm position in reality. The Non-Euclidian Geometry was first considered as an optimistic part of science, however today has cut its way into the speculations of relativity. In the present worldwide circumstance, the number of inhabitants on the planet has crossed the six billion stamp and undermines to exponentially advance up through the populace outlines. For instance in China, so as to check the populace surge in the nation, the administration has squeezed after having one infant for every family. From the numerical view-point, the target truth lies in the way that so as to reestablish the living space around us it is fundamental to make such a stride in light of a legitimate concern for the who and what is to come. From the moral position, their rendition of truth is totally antipodal on the grounds that the premise of a fact esteem in this announcement is an impression of ones passionate self as opposed to a projection of a coherent personality. In morals, thus, a contention is a talk undertaking where individuals should be induced what I accept as opposed to demonstrating the genuineness engaged with my recommendation. I feel that my perception into this precedent is a projection of the degree to which one occasion holds an alternate position from the scene of reality esteem supporting the case. What characterizes an unmistakable line of contrast among math and morals as deciphered from the above precedent is the clashing idea of good sentiments and that there are no discernible certainties to put together reality esteem with respect to in a moral perspective. The distinction in good sentiments among individuals might be lead by the psychological contraption of the person. Since morals is viewed as a matter of individual concern, impacted by past learning and encounters of the individual, the ethical contrasts would clarify that in morals, there is no basic truth to be found. In any case, what characterizes profound quality in morals is the situation of moral relativism, the conviction that moral view-indicates are relative some culture. A standout amongst the most resentful good issues within reach is premature birth. Each individual concurs the medicinal systems which finish into a premature birth. Yet, there is by all accounts a similarly appalling reaction with regards to concurring the ethical quality of fetus removal. So, the matter of premature birth has its concurrence on restorative science yet doesn’t contact upon the zone of therapeutic morals. In this way, at all purposes of time, the whole situation is an overall portrayal of an announcement and it is an appearance however not the truth. I have constantly watched myself making empty and additionally candidly determined guarantees and dependably have the announcement “Guarantees should be kept” at the back of my brain. This is by all accounts an ethical standard, however it can’t be sorted as a genuine case. In any case, on close perception, reality factor inside the announcement demonstrates close relations between such an announcement and a numerical recommendation. On the off chance that the wonder of guarantee is known and the genuine quintessence of its commitment is comprehended, there exists a connection between thoughts. In spite of the fact that relativism and subjectivism are parallel in specific terms, craftsmanship as a zone of learning has been considered as a portrayal of the real world. Friedrich Nietzsche truism “We have craftsmanship all together not to kick the bucket of reality”, reluctantly affirms the way that this world has workmanship so as to experience reality.
Despite the fact that the methods for knowing have cleared the way for the course to accomplishing truth in these three territories of learning, where thinking, feeling and observation have overwhelmed the way to deal with a definitive reality in math, morals and expressions separately, reality esteem in every one of its announcements has a specific closeness. The type of suppositions which are used in ended up being genuine is a common perception in each of the three zones of learning. The sort of truth that craftsmanship is endeavoring to pass on to us might be totally not quite the same as the ay an individual may see it. Thus how would we judge a bit of craftsmanship on the off chance that it holds totally extraordinary conclusions in the psyches of 2 individuals? When seeing a show-stopper, it might bring out a feeling, and the acknowledgment of this feeling might be a sign of reality. In any case, there is a typical view-point among individuals that photography has upset the manner in which truth is seen since it depicts a significantly more precise image of the whole situation. Since the photograph is a simple perception and appearances are genuinely misleading. It is set up that reality engaged with a work of art isn’t biased yet a projection of the people individual translation, henceforth talks about the watcher. Truth as far as craftsmanship is an impression of excellence and is totally without any type of rationale.
Truth has been molded from multiple points of view relating as per the general inclination of the individual challenging reality in his psyche. There is one single truth in connection to an announcement and through the investigation into three particular territories of information, I have comprehended that the strategy for moving toward the subject is the thing that characterizes reality engaged with it. Plato himself contended, as it were, that there is a distinct response for anything to be viewed as great or terrible, on the off chance that one activities his deductive thinking abilities rather than what the Sophists trusted that such explanations involve abstract truth and is completely founded on human translation and his craving.