Resisting Corporate Corruption by Stephen V. Arbogast - Book review

Resisting Corporate Corruption

Cases in Practical Ethics From Enron Through The Financial Crisis

By: Stephen V. Arbogast

Published: March 4, 2013
Format: Hardcover, 552 pages
ISBN-10: 1118208552
ISBN-13: 978-1118208557
Publisher: Wiley-Scrivener











"Stunned and outraged at the scandalous behavior visible during the financial crisis, I wondered how this could have happened a scant six years after Enron's collapse. Nothing seemed to have changed. Was this in fact true? If so, was this because the important Enronlesson lessons had gone unheeded? The 2nd edition attempts to find this out", writes Executive Professor of Finance at the C.T. Bauer College of Business, Stephen V. Arbogast in the revised and expanded second edition of his outstanding case study based book Resisting Corporate Corruption: Cases in Practical Ethics From Enron Through The Financial Crisis. The author utilizes twenty-seven business case studies and eleven essays to provide a comprehensive range of study in business practices, controls and oversight, and ethics issues.

Stephen V. Arbogast recognizes that the events of the 2007-08 financial crisis were caused by the same ethical failures that plagued Enron. The author points out that upper management was not preventing or stopping unethical practices within their organizations. Laws and regulations were not deterring the unethical behavior in any way either, writes the author.

The question of whether the lessons from the failure of Enron were being ignored, or if the fundamental nature of the financial industry led to these ethical failures is what Stephen V. Arbogast seeks to address and answer. The author provides a methodology and toolkit for students, heads or corporations, business leaders, and members of the legal community to incorporate ethics training into their courses and organizations.



Stephen V. Arbogast (photo left) understands the critical importance of ethical behavior to organizations and to the leaders and employees within that company as well. For the lessons of Enron, and of the financial meltdown to not be repeated, the author presents the cases in the book as an instructional toolkit to resist the temptation to act in an unethical manner. He also examines the course of action taken by both those who acted without ethics, and of those who sought to bring the issues to light through acting as a whistleblower.

Stephen Arbogast offers the cases in two overarching sections with the goal of considering the actions and behaviors of top corporate leaders, managers, and employees. The first section looks closely at the failure of Enron, and its ethics based causes. The second major section examines cases involving the financial crisis of 2007-08 and the companies involved in that series of events. The two major sections are as follows:

Section I: The Enron Cases

* Demolishing financial control, neutering the gatekeepers
* Business model failures, accounting manipulations
* Resisting corruption at Enron

Section II: The Financial Crisis Cases

* New business models undermine standards and controls
* Consequences for gatekeepers and firms
* Financial firms and resisters

For me, the power of the book is how Stephen V. Arbogast a complete framework for the study of ethical behavior in organizations, with case studies of events surrounding the collapse of Enron and the actions of leaders and staff members during the financial crisis. The author creates and builds upon a methodology for researching the critical elements of each ethical breakdown, and establishing a solution that would lead the organization on a more ethical road. With the methodology in place, the next step is the application of the toolkit to real world cases involving ethics based decisions.

Stephen V. Arbogast demonstrates how to incorporate ht methodology into their own and the company's actual decision making and behavior. The addition of the financial sector cases in this second edition enable students and business leaders to examine choices, actions, and events earlier in the process, and later when the outcomes of those behaviors made their impact. In each case, students can decide whether viable solutions and alternatives were available. At the same time, the author makes clear that ethics are still, if not more than ever, relevant in corporate management and governance. The author also asks and considers the question of whether the financial industry model establishes the conditions that lead to unethical behavior.

I highly recommend the essential and landmark book Resisting Corporate Corruption: Cases in Practical Ethics From Enron Through The Financial Crisis by Stephen V. Arbogast, to any students and faculty in graduate or undergraduate business course, law schools, top corporate executives, business leaders at all levels and sizes of companies, public sector decision makers, and students and faculty at any other organizations or schools offering business ethics instruction seeking a comprehensive and decision making based book through the medium of case studies. This book provides the background and the skill set to guide students and business leaders toward more ethical decision making in any industry.