Life After Enron

By Leah Packard

Everyone has heard of the Enron scandal that took place in 2001. Enron was an energy company that filed for bankruptcy and came to stand for corporate fraud and corruption. When the market started to dip in 2000, Enron stock began to drop as well so few realized there could be an issue. What the public did not know was that executives were dumping millions worth of stock because they knew the actual state of the company. A few months later the company posted a $638 million loss. Not only was the company failing quickly, but investors and employees soon discovered that senior executives had received over $750 million in salaries, bonuses, and stock options the year before the company declared bankruptcy.
For my book report, I read a book titled Life After Enron: Not Business as Usual, Rise of the New Ethics Class by Stephen G. Austin and Mary Steelman. After reading the book I realized that it would have been extremely valuable for those associated with the banking bailouts taking place right now in America because many of the problems addressed in the book seem to have occurred within the banking businesses as well. The book was written in 2004 and could predict the The book is filled with charts about a problem or an issue for a company and a solution for each problem. Many issues are covered in the book but one of my favorite chapters is called “Tone at the Top” because it gives examples of successful businesses that have succeeded without corruption at the top. One example is Chick-fil-A, who built its company based on Christian values. The book explains that if corporations would use “faith-based principles” to structure their companies, they could succeed in the long run while not practicing in behaviors that test the code of ethics.
Overall, I enjoyed this book and would recommend it to others who would find an interest in corporate ethics and suggestions for building a successful business. I feel the book is very relevant because although it references rebuilding the corporate community after the Enron scandal, I believe Enron is interchangeable with the likes of CitiGroup, Bank of America, and AIG, which are exampled of those involved in the banking bailout. Greed and corruption run our corporations, who have way to strong of a hold on the economy. Those who build success on lies and corruption will eventually fall, possible taking the American economy down with it. We need a structure like the one described in Austin and Steelman’s book.