Bernie Madoff & ENRON

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Ethics, ethical values, along with social responsibility must all work in the unison in the corporate business structure. Those traits have been better termed like maintaining the entire best business morals, gathering employees who possess individual ethical values and at last for behaving ethically as well as with the sensitivity to social, cultural, economic along with environmental problem. For the business to ensure better such quality business traits the code of ethics must be followed through the business. In as scenario of Bernie Madoff & Enron, most well renowned financial scandals in the history, I believe, it has given key hand while pushing the business all within the America for having and also enforcing code of the ethics.

Bernie Madoff only may be one of smartest as well as conniving people in world. My words might sound contracting as the man has been presently serving the time within prison for the securities fraud however I would in addition explain my perspective. This man had been capable of manipulating peoples’ minds along with having them to invest in his Ponzi scheme.   The proclaimed investor has taken millions on millions of dollars from main corporations. Those people had been investing in the Madoffs hedge funds and Ascot Partners. Madoff has reported to its clients that those hedge funds might give the double digit outcomes CITATION Len08 l 1033 (Lenzner, 2008).

Financial statements, which he had been giving to its clients must have the key signal that there had been only something, which had not been right as there had been no way, which those hedge funds might produce those return. I feel that people have liked what they were seen on the paper along with that has been end of that. The man’s lack of ethics have coasted people their whole life savings. This in addition cost Madoff its freedom because he had sentenced to one hundred fifty years within the prison.

I do not believe that Madoff had been all to blame, because people beneath him in its corporation must have seen such coming. This had been where code of ethics actually implemented as when somebody, or even Madoff, was any integrity I do not feel this might have occurred. Taking social responsibility in consideration might have made Madoff to realize what he had been doing was wrong and also ultimately he had been disrupting the lives of people.   Madoff actually did not have any perspectives of ethics and social responsibility to his investors. All that he cared of had been the green dollar signs. I believe that his sons took the key stand through outing him towards public officials. For me, this has shown that minimum all ethic values had not been lost by this family. Madoff’s sons had been the ones, whom investors must thank for providing them the justice.

Enron had been the energy trading as well as communications organization situated in Houston, Texas. From 1996 to 2001 Enron had provided with name of America’s Most Innovative organization by Fortune magazine as this had been the 7th biggest corporation in United States. The issue, which led the organization to bankruptcy, had been because of the fact, which fraudulent accounting practices happen permitting Enron for overstating its earnings along with tucking away its high debt liabilities for having more appealing balance sheet CITATION For02 l 1033 (Forbes.com, 2002).

Enron’s accounting team has “cooked” books to every meaning of word therefore its investors might not see anything wrong with failing company. Such a poorly structured organization led the people to jail time, unemployment along with caused the retirement stocks towards being dried up. Enron was having the social responsibility towards their stockholders and apart from being up front as well as honest about failing organization they hid all financial flaw for keep getting money from their investors. As Enron has not been keeping the social responsibility this has just caused the organization to go deeper and deeper in debt. When they had been upfront at the turning point in which things had been bad too much of heartache might be prevented for those included, as employees, which did not know what had been even moving on. Those consequences that the organization along with employees faced had been because of the lack of code of ethics as well as social responsibility.

Enron scandal has opened eyes to rest of the organization that the accounting practices are required for having the solid process stocked full of checks & balances, segregation of duties, and also ethics. I feel that those traits might be the greater beginning for the accounting department’s code of ethics. Having people delegated towards some tasks would permit for the questions so as to be asked therefore preventing the fraudulent activity in longer run. Setting the ethical accounting practices such as enforcing laws of GAAP would in addition be the main contribution towards the organizations code of ethics. 

Finally, financial scandals of Enron & Bernie Madoff had both been totally avoidable, unnecessary along with the instance of the business practices at its worst. Every scandal exemplified what lack of business ethics, ethical values along with social responsibility may result in. In both the scenarios, individuals, which have decided they might blatantly lie towards its investors, did that for sole reason of extorting much more money out of investors. Whereas its plans worked in short term, they definitely ruined their company and also ultimately their lives within longer run.

References

BIBLIOGRAPHY l 1033 Forbes.com, S. (2002). Enron’s endgame. Retrieved from

http://www.forbes.com/2001/11/28/1128enron.html .

Lenzner, R. (2008). Bernie madoff’s $50 billion ponzi scheme. Retrieved from:

http://www.forbes.com/2008/12/12/madoff-ponzi-hedge-pf-ii-in_rl_1212croesus_inl.html