Article
ID: CBB426496883

Enron and the California Energy Crisis: The Role of Networks in Enabling Organizational Corruption (Winter 2021)

unapi
Corruption Energy resources and technologies Business history Digital tools and use set 21st century United States California (U.S.) Enron

We provide an analytically structured history of Enron's involvement in the California energy crisis, exploring its emergence as a corrupt organization and its use of an interorganizational network to manipulate California's energy supply markets. We use this history to introduce the concept of network-enabled corruption, showing how corruption, even if primarily enacted by a single dominant organization, is often highly dependent on the support of other organizations. Specifically, we show how Enron combined resources from partner firms with its own capabilities, manipulating the energy market and capitalizing on the crisis. From a methodological point of view, our study emphasizes the growing importance of digital sources for historical research, drawing particularly on telephone and email records from the period to develop a rich, fly-on-the-wall understanding of a phenomenon that is otherwise hard to observe.

...More
Citation URI
https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB426496883/

Similar Citations

Book Gavin Benke; (2018)
Risk and Ruin: Enron and the Culture of American Capitalism (/isis/citation/CBB966988024/)

Book John Carreyrou; (2018)
Bad blood: secrets and lies in a Silicon Valley startup (/isis/citation/CBB233577951/)

Article Benke, Gavin; (2008)
Where Is Enron? Changing Perceptions of Geographic Relationships in the Deregulation of California's Energy Market (/isis/citation/CBB001211715/)

Thesis Sawin, Janet Laughlin; (2001)
The Role of Government in the Development and Diffusion of Renewable Energy Technologies: Wind Power in the United States, California, Denmark and Germany, 1970--2000 (/isis/citation/CBB001562381/)

Thesis Wolfson, Mariel Louise; (2012)
The Ecology of a Healthy Home: Energy, Health, and Housing in America, 1960--1985 (/isis/citation/CBB001567387/)

Book Mary Beth Meehan; (2021)
Seeing Silicon Valley : Life inside a fraying America (/isis/citation/CBB831744975/)

Book David Vogel; (2018)
California Greenin': How the Golden State Became an Environmental Leader (/isis/citation/CBB569183355/)

Article Brown, Mark B.; (2013)
Public University Funding and the Privatization of Politics (/isis/citation/CBB001320491/)

Article Pietro Cerreta; (2014)
The Gravity-Powered Calculator, a Galilean Exhibit (/isis/citation/CBB961449681/)

Book Dvera I. Saxton; (2021)
The Devil's Fruit: Farmworkers, Health, and Environmental Justice (/isis/citation/CBB347232041/)

Book Kate Nearpass Ogden; (2015)
Yosemite (/isis/citation/CBB091586116/)

Book Darren Frederick Speece; Paul S. Sutter; (2019)
Defending Giants: The Redwood Wars and the Transformation of American Environmental Politics (/isis/citation/CBB502336211/)

Article Peter S. Alagona; Alexis M. Mychajliw; (2022)
Southern California’s Three-Bear Shuffle: Survival, Extinction, and Recovery in an Urban Biodiversity Hot Spot (/isis/citation/CBB370513471/)

Article Swift, T. Kevin; (Summer 2014)
Shale Gas Production: Effects on Investment and Competitiveness in the US Chemical Industry (/isis/citation/CBB775593811/)

Article Arent, Douglas A.; (Fall 2010)
The Role of Renewable Energy Technologies in Limiting Climate Change (/isis/citation/CBB401488120/)

Article Shimizu, Hiroshi; Kudo, Satoshi; (2011)
How Well Does Knowledge Travel? The Transition from Energy to Commercial Application of Laser Diode Fabrication Technology (/isis/citation/CBB001211695/)

Article Sovacool, Benjamin K.; Brossmann, Brent; (2013)
Fantastic Futures and Three American Energy Transitions (/isis/citation/CBB001320573/)

Article McNeill, Corbin A., Jr.; (Fall 2001)
Economic Determinants and the Role of Industry in the Future of Nuclear Power (/isis/citation/CBB704939792/)

Article Brian Frehner; (2017)
Gasland; FrackNation; and Fracking: The New Energy Rush (Film Forum) (/isis/citation/CBB060239550/)

Essay Review Richard S. Tedlow; (Winter 2020)
Review Essay: The Sky above and the Mud below: Two Books about Steve Jobs (/isis/citation/CBB639995937/)

Authors & Contributors
Benke, Gavin
Mary Beth Meehan
McNeill, Corbin A., Jr.
Swift, T. Kevin
Vogel, David
John Carreyrou
Journals
The Bridge: Journal of the National Academy of Engineering
Environmental History
Business and Economic History On-Line
Spontaneous Generations
Science as Culture
Science and Education
Publishers
The University of Chicago Press
Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy (Tufts University)
University of Washington Press
University of Pennsylvania Press
Rutgers University Press
Reaktion Books
Concepts
Energy resources and technologies
Business history
Environmentalism
Public policy
Environmental policy
Silicon Valley (California)
People
Muir, John
Jobs, Steve
Galilei, Galileo
Time Periods
21st century
20th century
20th century, late
19th century
20th century, early
Places
United States
California (U.S.)
Japan
Germany
Denmark
Institutions
Enron
Theranos (firm)
Exploratorium
Public universities and colleges
United States. Department of Energy
Yosemite National Park
Comments

Be the first to comment!

{{ comment.created_by.username }} on {{ comment.created_on | date:'medium' }}

Log in or register to comment

Creative Commons License REST API