Enron Corporation was an American company in the energy sector. The company was based in Houston Texas, before it was declared bankrupt in 2001. Enron had employed approximately 20000 employees before its bankruptcy. Enron was among the leading companies in natural gas, electricity, and communications. In 2000, the company had claimed revenues of approximately $101 billion. Enron had risen to top ranks as the most innovative company for six years. It was later revealed that the top performance of the company was as a result of systemic, institutionalized and creatively planned accounting fraud and corruption. Following these the company was unable to pay its employees accordingly as well as clear government taxes.
The failure of Enron was based on power abuse, which led to fraud and corruption. These two vices are signs of failure for any company. They deem the ethical nature which every company is supposed uphold in its operations. Intentional presentation of the wrong data for a company is an illegal act (Tourish, 2009). These made the company have a lot of issues to settle with the public as well as the shareholders of the company.
Respect is a key aspect in leadership and every leadership structure should aim at gaining respect for every stakeholder in an organization. Respect dictates one to treat others as he or she would to be treated. In an organization, leaders should aim at respecting their junior staff as they would to be treated at the position of the junior staff (Schuler, 2002). In Enron, this would have been particularly vital as the leaders would have been sensitive enough to curb selfishness that would have led to the corrupt deals that they conducted on behalf of the company.
Communication is the other key ethical practice that leaders should uphold. It dictates the relationship between the junior staff and the management. Communication between the management and the employees should be characterized by humility to let everyone feel honored being part of the company. Incase, a junior staff notes a problem in the leadership of the organization, he, or she should be ready to communicate the problem with an immediate action taken to control the problem (Schuler, 2002).
In leadership, integrity is also remarkably crucial. It should be the aim of the leader to treat all situations in honesty and sincerely. Each company should aim at working with its clients or stakeholders openly. When the company decides on conducting a given activity, it should do so with a lot of determination with an aim of fulfilling its promise (DuBrin, 2010). For Enron, this virtue would have been particularly crucial in ensuring the company did not make choices that would have appeared blind to the stakeholders. It would have been extremely easy to deal with the situations that revolved around the company since everything was conducted with a lot of honest and consultations.
Excellence is the other virtue that any leadership should uphold. This means that leaders should aim at attaining the best for the companies which they lead. This can only be achieved by companies choosing to employ individuals who have the necessary academic qualifications and have the willingness to deliver quality results (Tourish, 2009).
Culture is also acutely crucial in an organization. The company would have developed an exceptionally stable leadership culture that would cultivate excellence in a company (DuBrin, 2010). This would combine all the forces named above to bring forth cohesion in the operations of the company.
If the management of Enron could have considered employ the above measures, it could have been easy to contain the problem. Respect would have protected mismanagement of funds while integrity would have stood against corruption. Communication would have aided in dealing with the problem within the company without exposing the weakness of the company. Therefore, through proper leadership it would have been possible to bring up Enron as one of the best companies in the world up to date.
References
DuBrin, A. J. (2010). Leadership: Research Findings, Practice and Skills. (6th Edition). Mason, Ohio: South Western Publishing Co.
Schuler, A. J.(2002, March 15). Enron's Corporate Culture and Why Culture Matters. Leadership Development, Keynote Speaking and Organizational Change Consulting. Retrieved November 3, 2012, from http://www.schulersolutions.com/enron_s_corporate_culture.html
Tourish, D. D. (2009, October 24). Charismatic leadership and corporate cultism at Enron. The Ross Institute Internet Archives for the Study of Destructive Cults, Controversial Groups and Movements. Retrieved November 3, 2012, from http://www.rickross.com/reference/general/general782.html
