Comparisons Between Enron and Other Types of Corporate Misconduct: Compliance with Law and Ethical Decision Making as the Best Form of Public Relations

Authors

Cheryl L. Wade, St. John's University School of LawFollow

Document Type

Essay

Publication Title

Seattle Journal for Social Justice

Publication Date

2002

Volume

1

First Page

97

Abstract

(Excerpt)

One of the most important lessons that Enron offers is that sometimes managers lie and boards fail to do their jobs. Enron’s most valuable lessons relate to corporate governance, financial disclosure, accounting practices, and the management of pension funds. One of the most illuminating lessons that Enron offers, however, may be found in the reaction of jurists, legal scholars, the media, corporate professionals, elected officials, and the investing public to the Enron collapse. The general sense of public outrage is as large as the huge financial loss suffered by investors and employees.

There is a lesson to be derived from the differences in social, political, and legal discourse surrounding Enron and similar discourse and reaction to other types of corporate misconduct. The social, political, and legal outrage over Enron is far greater than the reaction to the other kinds of corporate wrongdoing that I describe in this essay. I focus primarily on the problem of racial discrimination, comparing the relatively mild public reaction to allegations of racial discrimination in the corporate workplace to the furor created by the Enron scandal.

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Available at: https://digitalcommons.law.seattleu.edu/sjsj/vol1/iss1/8/