Debate: Enron and Microsoft

Debate: Enron and Microsoft

Before beginning work on this discussion, be sure to have read Chapters 7 and 8 from your Bad Leadership: What It Is, How It Happens, Why It Matters text. Although publicly-held organizations have a primary responsibility to increase shareholder wealth, sometimes the pursuit of this objective can create unethical or illegal business practices. Enron and Microsoft have very different ethical foundations within their organizations. One organization harmed society, while the other organization contributed to benefit society.

Based on the first letter of your last name, address the prompts below using the following leader:

Last name beginning with N-Z: Bill Gates of Microsoft

For this discussion, you will be using the video recording feature in Canvas. You will want to click the “Record/Upload Media” button in the toolbar that looks like this:. You will record and post a video in this discussion thread addressing the following components:

• Defend how the leadership of your assigned company approached the concept of being a publicly held company that has an obligation to maximize shareholder wealth.
• Determine the long-term goals your assigned leader projected to the public.
• Discuss the ethics of your assigned company’s business practices.
• Describe how your assigned leader judged their actions.
• Evaluate how society benefited from their decisions and why.