Corporate Crime
Corporate crimes are crimes committed by corporate officials that are in the interest of the corporation. They can be hard to detect and can include embezzlement, falsifying financial statements and bribery. Three main factors were made to assist in understanding the theory of corporate crime, such as the drive for profit. This is important because all companies want to pursue making money in any way possible, yet some choose illegal and deceitful actions as others do not. Using the structure of organizations, the second factor, corporations strive to survive in competitive environments to achieve their fundamental goals. No matter what method is being used to obtain profit and since corporations have multiple employees with different jobs, this makes it difficult for officials to detect who is responsible for illicit behavior. The third factor, corporate culture is also important in corporate crime because most employees follow the rules and actions their corporate officials provide for their business. If corporate officials are setting the roots for their company, their actions and beliefs can lead to an attitude in which the type of behavior shown is acceptable. These factors explaining the theory of corporate crime are present within the Enron scandal, which will be explained throughout this essay. The Enron Company was considered to be one of the most innovative and corrupted nationwide companies of natural gas, oil and energy-trading networks. With the appetite for money, it deemed itself for corruption and mismanagement, driving itself into bankruptcy by spending more and making less. Enron’s negligence caused damage to the environment when thousands of people lost their retirement savings and pensions, leading individuals to a poor economic status and even suicide, losing the trust of customers towards the business and executives who lead the company, which are major components to a company’s success. Ken Lay, Jeff Skilling, and Andy Fastow’s visions