個案資料

It is possible to follow rules and commit fraud, a lesson that former Enron CFO Andrew Fastow learned the hard way. In this Ivey Business Journal Q&A, the world’s most infamous finance executive explains how a good kid from a good home, who received a good education from good schools, ended up a willing participant in one of the largest corporate frauds in U.S. history. Today, he accepts full accountability for the damage caused by flaws in his character that enabled him to justify questionable interpretations of accounting laws. He says that the media portrayed Enron as “a bunch of sinister guys sitting in a dimly lit room trying to think of ways to rip people off. It wasn’t that way. When we did these creative deals, they weren’t hidden. We had parties to celebrate them. We got awards for them…. I like to think that I wouldn’t have done what I did if it had dawned on me that my actions were potentially criminal. It just never did.” Fastow believes that many unethical business behaviours happen in a grey area, where we rationalize fraudulent behaviour because we’ve technically followed the rules. Although he still sees questionable behaviour in politics, tax avoidance, and business, he’s optimistic that improvement is possible — less through legislation than cultural change. After all, business schools did not even offer comprehensive courses on ethics when Fastow did his MBA.

• Enron
• ethics
• accounting fraud
• corporate governance
• leader character
• business schools