Agency Theory,Reasoning and Culture at Enron: In Search of a Solution |
| |
Authors: | Email author" target="_blank">Brian?W?KulikEmail author |
| |
Institution: | (1) Department of Management and Operations, Washington State University, Todd 337, Box 644736, Pullman, Washington, 99164-4736, U.S.A |
| |
Abstract: | Applying evidence from recently available public information on Enron, I defined Enron’s culture as one rooted in agency theory
by asserting that Enron’s members were predominantly agency-reasoning individuals. I then identified conditions present at
Enron’s collapse: a strong agency culture with collectively non-compliant norms, a munificent rare-failure environment, and
new hires with little business ethics training. Turning to four possible antidotes (selection, objectivist integrity, integrity
capacity, and stewardship reasoning) to an agency culture under these conditions, I argued that the currently available ethics
literature would have made little difference toward averting Enron’s collapse if any of the recommendations from the relevant
ethics literature had been implemented. I conclude by identifying new directions for business ethics literature in order to
make it more implementable under the conditions identified at Enron. Essentially, we need a way to clearly determine (1) the
difference between connivance and commitment, (2) what is meant by balance with regard to the multiple dimensions of ethics
and legal theories, and (3) the proper balance between agency and stewardship reasoning.
Brian E. Kulik is a Ph.D. candidate in Management at Washington State University’s School of Business. His work focuses on
the prevention of corporate corruption, corporate governance and ethics, teamwork and diversity, and research methods. His
research to date has appeared in the Western and National Academy of Management conference proceedings and the journal Organizational
Analysis. He earned M.S. degrees from Washington State University and The University of Cincinnati, and M.B.A. from The University
of Denver. |
| |
Keywords: | agency theory Enron integrity integrity capacity organizational culture stewardship theory unethical behavior |
本文献已被 SpringerLink 等数据库收录! |
|