Enron collapse becoming teaching tool in classes
By Sam Eaton
Staff Reporter

The collapse of the Enron Corporation has become a major teaching tool in business classes this semester, said some professors in the M.J. Neeley School of Business.

Don Nichols, an accounting professor, said he discussed the Enron situation in his principles of financial accounting class.

“The concerns that we have in the accounting class have to do with whether the financial statements were properly stated and whether the audit mechanism failed,” Nichols said.

When Enron collapsed in December it left thousands of investors in financial turmoil and turned into a national scandal.

But The New York Times reported Feb. 6 that finance and accounting professors around the country are hopping on the Enron bandwagon and using it as a prime teaching example.

TCU professors said they are no exception.

Stan Block, professor of finance and decision science, said he used Enron several times to illustrate points in his financial management class.

“We use Enron as an example when explaining specific principles,” Block said. “Enron’s the prime example right now.”

Nicholas Wear, a freshman business major, said his accounting class had discussed Enron as a real-life example to illustrate the lectures.

Block said Enron is being used now in the classroom and would continue to be used as a model.

“Enron is turning into a teaching tool now, and even more in the future as material is developed in textbooks,” Block said. “It’s going to be around for a very long time.”

Nichols said Enron is a good example of a recent case that could be studied in class, but it’s not the only real-life case studied.

“There are things that happen from time to time that show us the importance of accounting failures or business failures that may have been influenced by accounting,”

Nichols said. “Enron is the current big topic for everybody now, so that’s the one I’m talking about.”

Sam Eaton
s.m.eaton@student.tcu.edu

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