Business Law 308 – Enron Study Questions Fall 2008 Professor Zucker

 

Assignment: After viewing the film, Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room, write a six to eight page paper addressing the five focus questions below.

Due: December 8, 2008, 4:00 p.m. (Monday Class) December 9, 2008, 9:30 a.m. (Tuesday/Thursday Class) Format: Use Times New Roman 12-Point Font. Black ink, white paper, 8.5” x 11”, double spaced, one (1) inch margins top/bottom, left/right. Use a cover sheet,

following the example below. Staple ONE TIME on the top, left corner of the document. NO BINDERS OR COVERS.

Weight: Ten (10) percent of final course grade.

1. Pick five people discussed in the film. For each, explore the following: a. Who is this person? What is his/her background? b. What was his/her relationship to Enron? c. Why was he/she discussed in the film? d. What happened to him/her? e. Where is he/she now (if you can find out)?

2. Consider the circumstances of the current financial crisis. Using the internet, look for

any parallels to the Enron debacle. What happened to the economy and the stock market just prior to the Enron collapse? Are there any corporate executives currently under investigation for allegedly contributing to the collapse of the current markets? Discuss.

3. Enron's highest ranking corporate executives were clearly aware that Enron was engaging in fraudulent practices (as detailed in the film). How should the drive to maximize corporate profits be balanced with ethics and basic honesty?

4. The film highlighted the ability of unscrupulous Enron energy traders to take advantage of California’s then “messy” partial deregulation of energy prices and manipulate the price and supply. Research the issue of deregulation of California’s energy prices under California Governor Gray Davis. Briefly discuss what it is, how Enron energy traders took advantage of it, and what effect it had on the price of energy in California.

5. The film discussed the famous Milgram experiment of 1963. What is it and why was does the author discuss it in the film.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room

Answers to Discussion Questions

Zucker, Bruce Tuesday/Thursday 9:30 a.m.

Business Law 308: Fall 2008