Learning from Enron

Cambridge Centre for Business Research Working Paper No. 274

17 Pages Posted: 20 Sep 2011

See all articles by Simon Deakin

Simon Deakin

University of Cambridge - Centre for Business Research (CBR); European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI); University of Cambridge - Faculty of Law

Suzanne J. Konzelmann

University of London - Birkbeck College - Faculty of Social Sciences, School of Management and Organizational Psychology; University of Cambridge - Faculty of Social and Political Sciences

Date Written: September 1, 2003

Abstract

This essay argues that the Enron affair has been misunderstood as a failure of monitoring, with adverse consequences for the drafting of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and the Higgs report. Where Enron’s board failed was in underestimating the risks that were inherent in the company’s business plan and failing to implement an effective system of internal control. Enron demonstrates the limits of the monitoring board and points the way to a stewardship model in which the board takes responsibility for ensuring the sustainability of the company’s assets over time.

Keywords: Enron, corporate governance, shareholder value, internal control, non-executive directors, monitoring board, stewardship

JEL Classification: G38, K22

Suggested Citation

Deakin, Simon F. and Konzelmann, Suzanne J., Learning from Enron (September 1, 2003). Cambridge Centre for Business Research Working Paper No. 274, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1930867 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1930867

Simon F. Deakin

University of Cambridge - Centre for Business Research (CBR) ( email )

Top Floor, Judge Business School Building
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Cambridge, CB2 1AG
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+ 44 1223 335243 (Phone)

European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI)

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Belgium

HOME PAGE: http://www.ecgi.org

University of Cambridge - Faculty of Law ( email )

10 West Road
Cambridge, CB3 9DZ
United Kingdom

Suzanne J. Konzelmann (Contact Author)

University of London - Birkbeck College - Faculty of Social Sciences, School of Management and Organizational Psychology ( email )

Malet Street
Bloomsbury
London, WC1E 7HX
United Kingdom
+44 (0) 207 631 6799 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://www.bbk.ac.uk/management/our-staff/academics/konzelmann

University of Cambridge - Faculty of Social and Political Sciences ( email )

ESRC Centre for Business Research
Cambridge, CB2 1TN
United Kingdom
+44 1223 337733 (Phone)

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