OL 215 Final Project Two Milestone One: Guidelines And Rubri

OL 215 Final Project Two Milestone One Guidelines And Rubricfor This A

For this assignment, due in Module Six, you will submit a one- to two-page document that will provide a profile of your chosen struggling company (from the list below). This milestone will serve as a rough draft and must cover the critical elements below. You are expected to provide a minimum of two to three paragraphs for each of the three critical elements, which include: management planning, employee’s perception and organizational culture, and communication. Be sure to focus on the company at the time of their struggle. Instructor feedback should be applied to your Final Project Two submission. Enron Enron Case Study Enron Scandal (4:48)

Paper For Above instruction

The Enron scandal is one of the most infamous corporate failures in American history, illustrating significant deficiencies in management planning, organizational culture, and communication. At the height of its success, Enron was celebrated as an innovative energy company, but its downfall revealed systemic issues that contributed to its collapse. The management planning at Enron was characterized by aggressive growth strategies, risky financial practices, and a clear focus on short-term gains. Executives prioritized increasing stock prices and shareholder value often at the expense of sound risk management and ethical considerations (Healy & Palepu, 2003). This aggressive planning created a culture where deception and misuse of accounting practices, such as off-balance-sheet entities, became widespread to mask financial losses and inflate profits.

The perception of employees within Enron was complex and ultimately tragic. During the company's rise, employees believed in the company's vision of innovation and profit-making, which fostered a sense of pride and mission. However, as the financial irregularities came to light, employees’ perceptions shifted from trust to confusion and betrayal. Many employees felt duped and helpless as the company's true financial state was concealed from them. Organizational culture at Enron was built on an intense competitive environment that promoted risk-taking and reward based on aggressive performance metrics. This culture limited transparency and encouraged unethical behavior, leading to a toxic work environment where dishonesty was normalized (Bazerman & Tenbrunsel, 2011).

Communication within Enron was a key factor in both its rise and its fall. In the early stages, communication was heavily controlled and focused on promoting the company's success to shareholders and the public. However, internally, communication often concealed the reality of the company's financial health. The leadership fostered a culture of secrecy, discouraging whistleblowing and dismissing concerns that could threaten the corporate image. The lack of transparent, honest communication contributed to the inability of stakeholders to accurately assess the company's true condition, ultimately leading to a rapid collapse when the fraudulent practices were exposed. Effective, ethical communication channels might have mitigated some of the damage or delayed the inevitable demise of Enron (Sims & Brinkmann, 2003).

References

• Bazerman, M. H., & Tenbrunsel, A. E. (2011). Ethical breakdow ns. Harvard Business Review, 89(4), 58-65.
• Healy, P. M., & Palepu, K. G. (2003). The fall of Enron. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 17(2), 3-26.
• Sims, R. R., & Brinkmann, J. (2003). Enron ethics (or: Culture matters more than codes). Journal of Business Ethics, 45(3), 243-256.