Case Assignment

Keys to the Assignment

Choose an ethical issue raised by the Enron case study - e.g., Enron's accounting fraud, the company's reward systems, its use of "special purpose entities," or Enron's "deal making" culture.

Introduce the test.

Briefly discuss why utility ethics is a valid way of deciding right and wrong.

Apply the test

Step 1: Identify the alternative actions that are possible and the persons and groups (the stakeholders) who will be affected by these actions.

Step 2: For each of the most promising alternatives, determine the benefits and costs to each person or group affected.

Step 3: Select the action in the current situation that produces the greatest benefits over costs for all affected.

Step 4: Discuss what would happen if the action were a policy for all similar situations.

Draw a conclusion. If the same action is selected in Steps 3 & 4, then the action is an ethical one. If different actions are selected, decide whether the individual action will produce the greatest good and the least harm, for all affected, over the long term.