2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

This case study examines the Enron scandal through the lens of engineering ethics, focusing on the role engineers played in enabling, and failing to prevent, corporate misconduct.

Drawing on the documentary “Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room,” student analyses, and guided classroom reflections, the presentation explores engineers’ involvement in unethical practices, including market manipulation and the creation of artificial energy shortages.

The session begins with an overview of the Enron scandal, then shifts to the engineer’s role. The primary goal here is to interrogate why the engineers made the choices they made. Once the particulars of the case are in hand, the discussion shifts to strategies for leading students through scaffolded learning toward more ethical responses.

We briefly introduce key ethical theories and offer some surface-level connections between the theories and the engineers’ actions in the Enron scandal. The last portion of the session highlights missed opportunities for ethical intervention and considers how a more substantial commitment to professional responsibility, transparency, and accountability might have changed the outcome. The discussion also examines systemic contributors (e.g., corporate culture, deregulation, and lack of diversity) that fostered ethical blind spots.

By reframing Enron as a cautionary tale for engineering education, this presentation aims to equip future engineers with the ethical awareness and courage needed to act as moral agents within complex, hierarchical organizations. The reality is that our students will face the same systemic factors, so we must strengthen engineers’ preparation beyond traditional ethics training.