Learning Team Weekly Reflection
MGT-521
February 18, 2013
Learning Team Weekly Reflection
2. What was the culture at Lehman Brothers like? How did this culture contribute to the company’s downfall?
The culture at Lehman Brothers was one that rewarded employees for conducting business transactions that resulted in an appearance of profitability while disregarding all risks associated with those transactions. Managers at Lehman Brothers from middle managers, all the way up the chain to upper and executive management was enabling this behavior by rewarding employees for making questionable deals with customers. This system implemented to reward successful employees was corrupted by the company’s sole focus on the bottom line and their complete disregard for ethical standards. Lehman Brothers Code of Ethics states that “The Firm expects its employees and directors to compete aggressively in furthering the interests of the Firm. It also expects them to do so fairly, ethically and in a manner that fully complies with all applicable laws and regulations. To that end, no individual should take unfair advantage of anyone through manipulation, concealment, abuse of privileged information, misrepresentation of material facts or any other intentional unfair dealing or practice.” (Lehman Brothers Holding, Inc., 2004). This statement in their Code of Ethics was violated on many levels and ultimately led to their collapse.
3. What role did Lehman’s executives play in the company’s collapse? Were they being responsible and ethical? Discuss.
The executives at Lehman Brothers were ultimately the cause of the company’s demise. Actions of managers are projected down through the management ranks all the way through to the lowest level employees. By allowing employees to utilize business practices that were extremely risky or unethical only fueled the continued use of these practices. The fact that the company rewarded employees who conducted these risky...