Assessing Brilliance in Innovation Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Assessing Brilliance in Innovation - Case Study Example It would be within the next year that Enron would begin to go through some major financial difficulties. It will be argued here that the basic tenets of a successful company require three key aspects: profit; sustainability of innovation; and good leadership. First, one should begin with a short history of Enron. In the case of the Houston-based Enron Corporation, a multi-billion dollar institution encountered a crisis situation. The denial of top corporate executives Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling led to Enron making excuses such as blaming Arthur Andersen, its accounting firm, for its failure. An integral part of understanding Enron's demise comes from learning a little bit about the company and how it grew over the years to its existing status. Houston Natural Gas merged with InterNorth, in July 1985, to form the Enron Corporation. Over the next fifteen years, Enron expanded rapidly, establishing many new businesses worldwide. The first sign of an innovative corporation is that it shows a profit. In about fifteen years, Enron grew from nothing to being America's seventh largest company. Enron employed over 21,000 individuals in more than forty countries. Enron's executives transformed this company, without actually building a company that made significant business profits. By doing this, Enron executives could exaggerate the company's cash flow. To create these profits, Enron's executives also used many accounting procedures that seemed to confuse watchdogs-and, to make themselves look better, they blindsided everyone who thought that Enron was on top of the world, by creating hundreds of fake companies. To prevent anyone from seeing any loss from Enron, they would transfer their debt to the fake companies. By doing this, Enron's debt would seem a lot smaller than they actually were. Like many large companies, Enron had its good and its bad side. In 2002 Enron's bad side was exposed to the nation. So the question is raised, what did Enron make' Enron didn't really make anything. Enron acted as the "middleman" in large natural gas and electricity deals. Enron always admitted it was hard to define their "business" in one sentence, but they finally came up with an explanation that they make commodity markets so that they could deliver physical commodities to their customers at a predictable price. Enron seemed to have trapped employees that worked with the company. The employees were forced to put their pension money into the Enron stock, which was overvalued. The employees at Enron were just doing their jobs, and in fact should not be held to blame. "Such high turnover [at the top of corporations such as Enron] suggests that the real problem isn't a lack of innovation-it's sustained innovation."1 Although many of the future business people attend curriculums that require business law classes, the Enron scandal has proven that corporate corruption is alive and well. Also, the company proved that it could not sustain its innovation over time, because its biggest innovation, mark-to-marketing accounting, was a fraudulent innovation. It was brilliant, in the sense that profits could be estimated and then banked upon, but it was also an illegal practice to put profits on the books that were not truly there. In addition, Enron

How americans learn about politics Research Paper

How americans learn about politics - Research Paper Example rmed at times, because their mind is not really open to receiving any information or knowledge concerned with the politics which is going on within their land. Americans feel disconnected with whatever is happening within their folds and there is solid evidence available which suggests the same ideology. One of the reasons why Americans feel disinterested in their political discourse is because their heritage is not as such. It has been proven with the passage of time that Americans do not have any affinity with politics and hence their family structures have the same ideology for a long period of time now (Alter 2008). They believe that since they have never been a part of the political movements and discussions, it is best for them to remain alienated with such perspectives. The Americans are of the view that if they take part in these movements or angles, they would surely lose out to the professionals who have a much better say and role within the political make-up of the American regions. Another reason is education which encompasses the role of schools and teachers. The schools do not encourage the students to come up with sound reasoning for the sake of becoming leaders. In fact there is absence of leadership within the related realms. The schools are not playing their roles in a manner which is seemingly fit. All they are doing is inculcating the assumptions that the students would not be served in an able manner if they get involved within politics and hence it is a good reason that they should stay away from such undertakings. On such a note, one can safely state that the students would not be encouraged to go out there and find a place for their own selves within the political arenas of today or even tomorrow. Much needs to be done to find true leaders. Another reason lies in the way popular culture has impacted upon the Americans. They are so busy within their lives that they find little or absolutely no time to be a part of the political process.