FIRST SEMESTER SESSION 2020/2021 (A201)

BPMN 3123 MANAGEMENT ETHICS

GROUP X

ASSIGNMENT 1

REFLECTION POSTING ONLINE VIDEO

THE CROOKED E: THE UNSHREDDED TRUTH ABOUT ENRON

PREPARED BY:

NAME MATRIC NUMBER

WONG MEI QI 262225

PREPARED FOR:

DR. MOHD NIZAM BIN M SARKAWI

The Crooked E - The Unshredded Truth About Enron (2003) movie narrates the rise and fall

of the Enron Corporation. This film offers the perspective of Brian Cruver, depicted as a

brilliant but naive young trader who was seduced by the company's "get rich quick" mantra.

The extravagant company culture is demonstrated through extreme office gatherings, ultra-

high-fee accounts and scenes of sexy female employees. We also clearly see that the change

in Brian Cruver’s personality, before and after. People and the environment are important

factors why Brian suddenly began to change his moral foundation to make money without

caring about the interests of others. Obviously, he didn't see what he was doing, because

power and money might blind people. When the company inevitably collapsed in the fall of

2001, this film shows how shareholders and employees suffered the most.

In Management Ethics Chapter 1, I learn about ethics is study of morality, it based on

well-founded standards of right and wrong that prescribe what humans ought to do, usually in

terms of rights, obligations, benefits to society, fairness, or specific virtues. This movie is

start with a conversation between Brian Cruver and Mr. Blue. Mr. Blue tells Brian that “this

is America” and that you see something worth taking, you just take it. In this scene, Bryan

seems to consider what Mr. Blue said by expressing respect and admiration. But I think this is

not morality because morality is standards that an individual or a group has about what is the

do and don’ts, good and evil or right and wrong. If that worthy things belong If that worthy

things belong to somebody else, then it's not meant to be ours so we cannot easily take it

away.

Multiple year later, Brian Cruver was hired by the Enron company Corporation and

placed in the Bankruptcy Department. When Greg wanted to introduced Brian to the rest of

the teams, the teams did not give any respond to him. Brian’s expectations were exceeded

until Greg told him that he was hired by mistake, and that most of his co-workers didn’t

accept him as part of the group. This show the team have a non-moral standard, they judge
what is good or bad and right or wrong in a non-moral way. When Brian's colleague asked

him how he know Mr. Blue, he telling them that Mr. Blue is a friend of his father, he also lied

that Mr. Brue has been interested in his paper made in business school and had recruited him

to Enron. His dishonesty indicates unethical behavior.

In Management Ethics Chapter 2, I learn about work ethics. Work ethics is the view

that values individual effort and believes that hard work does and should lead to success. In

the movie, we can say that Brian Cruver was a hard work person to subsist in Enron because

Enron is a company with no shortage of hardworking people. In the beginning, Brain Cruver

is a person who just graduated and not adapts to the new working environment causes he has

a bad performance. Liz Perry told him if he cannot improve his performance he would be

automatic go redeployed, then he realized and strive to do all of his work and believe that he

improves his performance will make him get a rich reward.

Besides, utilitarianism is an ethical theory that determines right from wrong by

focusing on outcomes. After Brian worked at Enron Corporation, he was greatly influenced

by the high standard of living of his colleagues and supervisors. He was smothered by the

expensive cars, over-the-top expense accounts and sexy female employees. His mentality was

changed to slowly become a utilitarianism person. He thinks that the upscale things are the

ones to represent that he was a success and capable people such as he planning a enough 300

guest wedding, buying a Lexus convertible and expensive watch.

In Management Ethics Chapter 3, I learn about Karl Marx theory which state that

capitalism and its private property system creates alienation among workers where rich get

richer and poor get poorer. In the movie, when the company was about to go bankrupt, the

top executives sell their stocks the lower-level employees bought them in large quantities,

which eventually caused the rich to continue to become wealthy and the poor to continue to
become poor. In capitalism, workers become alienated when they lose control of their own

life activities and the ability to fulfill their true human needs. Capitalism alienates workers

from their own productive work, the products of their work, their relationships with each

other, and from themselves. Lazarri is an employee of Enron. When they ask colleagues to

have lunch, Lazarri always refuse to have lunch with them because he is always busy dealing

with clients. Lazarri puts a lot of energy into Enron, but he just a bottom worker and live in

Enron Corporation.

In Management Ethics Chapter 4, I learn about ethics in the marketplace. Market is a

forum in which people come together to exchange ownership of goods; a place where goods

or services are bought and sold. It has three models of market competition which is perfect

competition, pure monopoly, and oligopoly. I think that Enron Corporation is pure monopoly

model. This is because at the end of the movie, when Enron Corporation announced the

largest bankruptcy in American history, all employees had to leave Enron. At least 10,000

employees lost their jobs, savings, and some people lost their homes. Not only that, many

companies and small businesses are also affected because Enron Corporation has important

connections to many industries.

In conclusion, I personally believe that if there is corruption in the workplace it is

because of wrong decisions. Wrong decision is defined as corrupt and unethical choices made

most of the times by people at the top. Company should know “DO and DON'T”, “GOOD

and EVIL” and “RIGHT and WRONG”, this is because once a mistake is made, it may have

an adverse effect on the company.