Ethical Lapses in Today's Business Term Paper

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Most companies are today setting up certain 'ethical codes of conduct', which the employees, right from the top echelons, are expected to follow; in fact, it is considered a business imperative to follow a code of ethics within the various operations of the firm. (Ethics in Business)

What prompted this sort of measure was the fact that not only were quite a few companies suffering losses from the breach of trust that the lack of ethics was inflicting, but also because of the fact hat investors and consumers were also suffering. The recent wave of scandals that rose from the series of frauds and the feeling of a lack of ethics among the top personnel in companies on Wall Street that came to light has brought the attention of the entire world on the changing ethics in the major companies of today, and this has led to a need to change this trend and bring ethics in business back to the forefront. (a New Regard for Ethics on the Job)

When Enron wanted to develop its company, and became involved in the concept of the 'new growth model', it was decided that the company would only take the lower road to attaining profits and to expand its business. (Geisst, 398) Kenneth Lay, one of the most important people of Enron, in other words, the Chairman and the Chief Executive had to prepare to appear before the Court in order to prove his innocence and proper behavior according to the existing code of ethics followed by any company of Enron's standing, which had come under question in 2002. (Enron Lapses and Corporate Ethics)

What was his crime, and what was he accused of? Kenneth Lay was accused, in a 11 count indictment, of lying to the public, including investor in the company, and also of indulging in 'wire frauds', as well as in 'security' frauds, and in making false statements to the general public.

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He then pleaded 'not guilty' to all the charges, and was subsequently released on a $500,000 bail. However, the Securities and Exchange Commission further accused Lay in another civil complaint of more than $90 million. Though Lay continued to deny all the charges that were being heaped upon him, and also said that he was sad that he was not able to save his company, the government felt that there must be severe punishment awarded to the perpetrators of corporate crime wherein there is a breach in ethics, and therefore, Lay, who had been caught quietly selling 918,000 shares of Enron to unsuspecting shareholders, giving false reports of the company's real health, and of defrauding three Banks in order to obtain stock. (Lay surrenders to Authorities)

The result of Kenneth Lay's dishonesty was that 4,000 people were left without jobs, all of a sudden, and the life savings and pensions of a great number of people were also completely wiped out. The Company Enron went bust, and it owed its creditors more than $65 billion. The punishment that Lay faces today is a maximum sentence of 175 years of imprisonment. (Enron's Ken Lay: I was fooled) the 'WorldCom' Boss, Bernie Ebbers, was accused of masterminding the gigantic, billion dollar corporate accounting fraud that was perpetrated in WorldCom. As for the question "Why did Ebbers have to perpetrate such a fraud," the only answer is that he was the only individual within the company who had the capacity and the capability of planning.....

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