Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/63444
The fall of a global corporation is a textbook case of management failure—and business professors are hurrying to incorporate the lessons of Enron into their own classrooms. Here, professors from three management disciplines analyze what went wrong. What brought about the sudden collapse of energy giant Enron? Along with many other interested observers, management profes- sors have been consumed by that question. Was Enron a failure of strategic management and organizational leadership? Harvard's Christopher Bartlett thinks so. He believes that the company amassed and then squandered an unprecedented store of intellec- tual capital, and he warns other businesses that they must learn how to attract and cherish this valuable business commodity. Or, was Enron brought down by ethical lapses? That's the posi- very accounting woes. Mary Ellen Oliverio of Pace University examines generally accepted auditing and accounting principles— and how they were not applied by Enron's auditors. All three pro- fessors examine how business schools might use the lessons of Enron in their classrooms, and what students and executives might learn from Enron's mistakes. tion of O.C. Ferrell of Colorado State University. Had Enron executives practiced ethically sound judgment, he says, they would not have struggled with the accounting systems and off-balance- sheet partnerships that ultimately caused the business to fail. Yet, many believe that Enron's demise can be traced to those PHOTO BY TODD YATES/BLACK STAR BizEd MAY/JUNE 2002 41