Corporate Crime Case Study

(1. Discuss each of the three factors. Please explain each and discuss why they are associated with corporate crime. The three factors are A) A drive for profit, B) Structure of organization and C) Corporate Culture.) Money drives people to do things that they wouldn’t normally do. Companies especially want to succeed and make money. Some companies set this lofty goal for themselves and simply do not have the ability to live up to them. They strive for something they can’t have. This hunger makes people cut corners, lie, steal, and cheat all to attempt obtain something that is impossible. The structure of the organization also plays a key role in corporate crime. If a company is run very loosely with little contact between the higher-ups and …show more content…
In the tougher cultures is where we see more corporate crime. These business strive for the bottom line and in doing so often go wrong somewhere along the line.
(2. Next show how these factors can be used to understand the crimes illustrated in the documentary. Make sure to provide examples from the documentary as you build the argument that these factors help us to understand what happened in the case of Enron.) A lot of the problems with Enron stemmed from the man in charge of operations Jeff Skilling. Skilling was a man who devoted himself to Enron and at one point declaring “I am Enron!” Skilling pushed the company to gamble and take risks that other business wouldn't even touch like the power plant in India. His drive for profit consumed his life, and the lives of those he worked for. It is explained in the documentary that the stock traders at Enron took Skillings “Survival of the Fittest” mindset and became the big dogs of the market. They even fought amongst themselves for profits! The trader that was interviewed in the documentary said that if he had to step on some guy's throat to make money he would gladly do it. All the company cared about was the bottom line. The biggest example of this is when …show more content…
Based on what you saw in the documentary clips, discuss two additional factors that you think should be included in a theory of corporate crime. Be sure to support your ideas about the two additional factors using examples/evidence from the documentary.) I think that numbers mean everything when it comes to corporate crime. When looking at Enron, we see that they were allowed to use “Mark to Market” accounting. This allowed them to show investors and potential customers numbers that were completely fabricated. Which ultimately lead to the downfall of Enron. I believe that this type of fabrication shouldn't be allowed in modern business practices. Second, I think that the people involved need to have a tighter leash when it comes to the spending of the company. More reports and checks need to be made in large businesses to help prevent corporate