Ethical Behavior Analysis of Bernie Madoff & Enron
Ethical Behavior Analysis of Bernie Madoff & Enron Ethics, ethical values, and social responsibility should all work in unison in a corporate business structure. These key traits are better defined as maintaining overall good business morals, obtaining employees who possess personal ethical values, and finally to behave ethically and with sensitivity toward social, cultural, economic and environmental issues. For a business to better ensure these quality business traits a code of ethics should be adopted by the business. In the cases of Bernie Madoff and Enron, the most well-known financial scandals in history, I feel, gave a major hand in pushing business all across America to have and enforce the code of ethics.
Bernie Madoff just might be one of the smartest and conniving people in the world. My statement may sound contracting as this man is currently serving time in prison for securities fraud, but I will further explain my opinion. This man was able to manipulate peoples’ minds and have them invest into his Ponzi scheme. This proclaimed investor had taken millions upon millions of dollars from major corporations. These people were investing into Madoffs hedge funds, or Ascot Partners. Madoff reported to his clients that these hedge funds would provide double digit returns (Lenzner, 2008). The financial statements that he was providing to his clients should have been a major signal that there was just something that was not right because there was no way that these hedge funds could produce such return. I feel that people liked what they had seen on paper and that was the end of it. This man’s lack of ethics cost people their entire life savings. It also cost Madoff his freedom as he was sentenced to 150 years in prison.
I do not think that Madoff was all to blame, as people beneath him in his corporation should have seen this coming. This is where the code of ethics really applies because if someone, or even Madoff, had any integrity I
Bernie Madoff just might be one of the smartest and conniving people in the world. My statement may sound contracting as this man is currently serving time in prison for securities fraud, but I will further explain my opinion. This man was able to manipulate peoples’ minds and have them invest into his Ponzi scheme. This proclaimed investor had taken millions upon millions of dollars from major corporations. These people were investing into Madoffs hedge funds, or Ascot Partners. Madoff reported to his clients that these hedge funds would provide double digit returns (Lenzner, 2008). The financial statements that he was providing to his clients should have been a major signal that there was just something that was not right because there was no way that these hedge funds could produce such return. I feel that people liked what they had seen on paper and that was the end of it. This man’s lack of ethics cost people their entire life savings. It also cost Madoff his freedom as he was sentenced to 150 years in prison.
I do not think that Madoff was all to blame, as people beneath him in his corporation should have seen this coming. This is where the code of ethics really applies because if someone, or even Madoff, had any integrity I
References: Forbes.com, S. (2002, April 02). Enron 's endgame. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/2001/11/28/1128enron.html Lenzner, R. (2008, December 12). Bernie madoff 's $50 billion ponzi scheme. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/2008/12/12/madoff-ponzi-hedge-pf-ii-in_rl_1212croesus_inl.html Mallor, J. P., Barnes, A. J., Bowers, T., & Langvardt, A. W. (2013). Business law: The ethical, global, and e-commerce environment (15th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.