On December 2, 2001, Enron Corporation filed for
bankruptcy protection under Chapter 11. Enron failed as a
result of a complex combination of business and governance
failures. As noted in the quotation from the board
report reprinted above, the failures involved organizations
and individuals both inside and outside of Enron. But outside
of the courts and sensational press, the question
remains as to how the system allowed it to happen. Why
did the many structures and safeguards within the U.S.
corporate governance system not catch, stop, or prevent
the failure of Enron?