In establishing company ethics, the company should always remember that customer is king but employees are the bridge towards satisfying the customers. It will therefore not make sense if the company sets up ethics to be adopted by employees for the sake of their customer but neglecting their needs. In setting up company ethics for Enron, the past should be factored, to prevent a similar occurrence from happening. It should be noted that it is not all about pleasing potential investors while ignoring issues of internal management. There has to be a strong accountability procedure for the organization to minimize on mismanagement of funds.
Having ethics to govern the company depends mainly on its objectives; it will be up to the company to pump such ethics into employees rather than allowing them to come up with their own behaviors. The best way of imparting such ethics is by practicing them. It will be challenging to tell employees to observe a practice that the top management is not observing. Employees have a tendency of observing their top managers and behaving just the same way. Apart from having such ethics written down on a paper, it will be necessary for the top managers to practice the same. For instance, if the company sets its arrival time at the office to be 7.30am, then the managers and supervisors should be there earlier or by that time. If employees have to maintain a certain dress code, then such should be reflected on the managers. The same should also be applied on how the managers want their frontline employees to address their clients. If a manager talks rudely to an employee, they should not be surprised when employees address their clients in a similar way.
Work ethics for Enron should include having realistic relations with their investors and stakeholders. To prove to their investors that what is being presented in their books of accounts is correct, they should have more than one external auditor to present financial reports. They should be more realistic when it comes to presenting financial position of the company to the board. Such meetings should be done frequently and if possible allow a section of employees to attend them. This will ensure that the company gains back its soiled reputation. This is a critical moment where customers have to be treated with utmost care (Miller & Vandome , 2010). Investors on the other hand will need a proof that their money shall be safe. This therefore means the company should also include them in some of their meetings just to assure them that what is being presented on paper is a true reflection of the company’s financial position.
The main ethical challenge of the company being to win potential investors by assuring them of their financial position, the company needs to invest more on reputed auditors. Company managers need to act as good examples to their junior employees by practicing what is on paper (Johnson, 2011). The company should also aim at improving its public relationships by treating their customers well. What the public is looking out for is whether Enron has learned its lessons. This could be a great comeback for the company if they assure the public that they have changed for the better. Top managers should also be under thorough scrutiny to ensure history does not repeat itself.
Miller, F. Vandome, A. (2010). Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room. New York: VDM Verlag Dr.
Mueller e.K.
