6 CEOs talk about how business changed—or didn’t—after Enron

In 2001 the collapse of Enron, followed by WorldCom’s downfall led to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in 2002. Have things really changed much since then though? Six Pittsburgh-area CEOs ranging from Charles Bunch at PPG Industries to John P. Surma at U.S. Steel Corp recently accounted some of the effects of these events within the past few years.

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) was intended to change corporate America in such a drastic way as to avoid events like the collapse of Enron from ever happening again. One way in which SOX did this was by putting a check system in place, in which it is now a requirement for the Chief Executive Officer and the Chief Financial Officer to sign off on reports that highlight anything going on within the company. Another check put into place was a provision that directly affected public company directors. 

None of the six Pittsburgh CEOs felt SOX really affected the way in which their companies go about business. For example, ethics is taken very seriously within the companies. Charles Bunch has “zero tolerance” for ethical violations at PPG Industries. Similarly, John Surma explained that U.S. Steel always had and always will sign off on what is happening within the company. Overall, the ethical considerations put in place by SOX did not have a major impact within these companies, but, “SOX seems to have given ethical conduct a higher profile in these six companies, and the CEOs seem to like that.”                                                                                    
All of the CEOs discussed different visions and challenges for their companies. Murry Gerber, chairman, president, and CEO of Equitable Resources expressed how he is pushing his employees to grow the company. Walter Turner, president and CEO of Koppers Industries expressed his greatest challenge is trying to run a traditional industrial company in an extremely regulated environment.

The companies may express different challenges and visions, but one thing they share is their donation of both time and money in volunteer efforts. Perhaps the most interesting is U.S. Steel who recently helped raise money for a hospital in Smederevo, Serbia by holding a reception, which included special guests like Prince Alexander.  Challenges and changes like SOX are constantly altering the business world, but focused visions are in place and volunteer efforts are making a difference for the major CEOs in Pittsburgh.

[Unkovic, Dennis. “6 CEOs.” Pittsburgh Quarterly. Summer 2008. 111+]