Who's Watching?

As a society, it is our responsibility to see that the institutions and entities that we find ourselves depending upon are functioning in ways that will not hurt us in the long run. I see this trend all the time—of news being reported weeks, months, even years after the fact regarding the corruption or wrongdoing of a once upstanding corporation. And who often receives the blame for these actions? Oftentimes, it is the CEO, board of directors, and any other individuals in administrative positions simply because they are seen by our society as carrying most of the weight of the company upon their shoulders.

However, based on chapter two of The Rise of the Rogue Executive, there are watchdog agencies present to guard from such scandals. The piece reads, “To be sure, all the misdeeds, the cheating, and deceptions still represent seemingly small numbers of individuals and organizations” (25). It’s easy to throw around statistics and claim that because these incidents occur so seldom in the grand scheme of things, it’s not a big problem after all. Nevertheless, when controversies arise as in the cases of WorldCom and Enron, fingers are pointed, positions are relinquished, and most importantly, thousands of individuals are affected negatively, losing jobs, retirement plans, and dignity in the business world. That is why, in my opinion, I blame the lack of oversight in the Enron case. Regardless of the cries against government regulation and intervention, I believe that there should be some interaction with the state in terms of acting as the all-important watchdog.