Lehman's Executives Played a Major Role in the Collapse of the Organization

Lehman’s executives played a major role in the collapse of the organization. They continuously made reckless decisions in their handling of daily operations. As mentioned by Anton Valukas, they knowingly manipulated the accounting device called “Repo 105.” They purposely omitted billions of dollars worth of assets in early 2008. They refused to sell assets at a loss. Instead they opted for conducting shady transactions between them and a phantom Company titled Hudson Castle. They purposely omitted assets to minimize the financial situation for shareholder wealth. The executives participated and encouraged reckless investing and openly rewarded associates for continuing in completing more of these types of deals. Any associates that would question these risky investments would be frowned upon. They were consciously making bad calls. One would like to hope that their desperate times called for desperate measures and they were simply trying to keep the company afloat through the real estate crisis.

The fact that an executive at Lehman’s Brothers knowingly and openly made bad choices shows how little character they have. They were not only irresponsible but also unethical. The ethical thing to do would have been to not omit losing assets and misrepresenting information. The ethical thing to do would have been to never lie to investors on the standing of the firms’ financial situations. They overpaid and over compensated themselves while leaving the ethical partners at a loss. It is no secret that misrepresenting assets and their standing is not only unethical but also illegal. These wrong doings were no accidents; executives purposely relocated assets into another account misrepresenting information. They let their pride get the best of their character and presided to cover up their failures instead of seeking aid. It is never a good ending when the biggest concern is a steady paycheck. These executives were not concerned over ethical behavior.