The Fall of Enron Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The Fall of Enron - Essay Example It was 1985 when Kenneth Lay’s Houston Natural Gas merged with Nebraskan-Northern Natural Gas Company’s holding company, InterNorth, to form Enron. The two separate companies were primarily dealing with the distribution and transmission of oil and electricity in the United States of America. They were also active in the construction, development and maintenance of power plants, pipelines and other similar infrastructure worldwide (Wikipedia, 2006). Under the new company name, Lay was appointed as the Chief Executive Officer and wanted to expand Enron’s market share as he had envisioned for his former venture. Houston Natural Gas had previously been in the business of generating their revenues from junk bonds from which its proceeds were used in the formation of Enron. Kenneth Lay aimed at becoming the biggest player in the energy sector through successful trade earnings from futures contracts (NPR, 2006). To his advantage, Spectrum 7, an oil-well concern welcomed a partnership with Enron a year after its creation. Spectrum 7 was headed by George W. Bush, son of the then-Vice President George H. W. Bush. With falling gas prices in the mid 1980’s, Enron and other gas firms vigorously lobbied for deregulation. The deregulation action came into effect when buyers switched to the cheaper alternative – fuel oil. No doubt fluctuating gas prices allowed Enron to start marketing gas futures; securing gas prices at later date promised to their stakeholders. Similarly, the company lobbied once again for electricity just before selling electric power futures contracts (NPR, 2006). From then on, Enron was aggressive in expanding its services in the water utility sector by creating Azurix that partly collapsed on the NYSE in 1999 and shut down operations in 2001 (Wikipedia, 2006). Jeffery Skilling was hired in 1990 to lead the new division – Enron

The School as a Social System and the Application of Theories Essay

The School as a Social System and the Application of Theories - Essay Example There are 430 students currently enrolled in Pottsboro High. Aside from them, they also have a set of teachers, administrators, staff and maintenance personnel who interact with each other almost during the major part of the year. We can also consider the parents and guardians of the children as an integral part of the school thereby sufficing this condition. It is common to think that teachers influence their student's learning and behavior and the process is only one way. However, teachers are in fact influenced also by their students. One can say that the process is mutual wherein the teacher grasps more fully the meaning of life thru the acts and behavior committed by his students. Furthermore, if there were no maintenance personnel then the student and teacher would not find a suitable learning environment and the absence of a teacher and a student eliminates the need to have a maintenance personnel. In retrospect, each element contributes to the system: the teachers with their knowledge, the students with their acts and achievements, the administration with their management skills, the maintenance personnel with their service and the parents with their support in the development of the children and the school. They, however, also receive something which for the employees is salary and fulfillment. Pottsboro High aims to provid... The school is goal oriented. Pottsboro High aims to provide the students the opportunity to develop themselves to their full mental and physical capacity. They try to achieve this with activities such as sports and academic competitions. The teachers and administration also meets regularly to discuss performance and resolve issues all for the better functioning of the institution. The school has structure. Looking at the organizational chart of the school, one can see that the overall head is the principal. It then branches out to different heads of the department such as administration, teaching staff for a certain field such as Math and Science, Student Guidance and Relations and Security and Maintenance. The students are also divided into classes and levels that serve as an additional evidence that Pottsboro has a structure. The school is normative. When we say normative, we mean that there are certain norms that exist in the school. Rules and guidelines regarding behavior, use of school property and grading system are present and are made as reference by all the segments of the school. The school bears sanction. Erring, troublesome and cheating students are called to the disciplinary office or made to stay after class. The employment of underperforming teachers and staff can be terminated. These are just a few of the sanctions that the school can impose on its members when the rules and guidelines were not followed. The school also has a political facet and power relation inevitably enter into social relations. As earlier stated, Pottsboro has a structure and the higher the person is in the organizational chart, the more power he can exercise. Since this is the case, the Principal's decision is always final and executory.