The birth and formation of EnronThe Enron Corporation was born during the recession following the oil and energy crises of the 1970s. Houston Natural Gas Company (HNG) CEO Kenneth Lay engineered a merger with Internorth Incorporated (Internorth) (Free, Macintosh, Stein, 2007, page 2), Internorth CEO Samuel Segner resigned six months after transferring the title and responsibilities of CEO to Kenneth Lay. Enteron was born shortly after when the HNG/Internorth merger first changed to Enteron and then quickly shortened to Enron in 1986. This newly formed company owned the second largest pipeline network in the United States employing 15,000 workers with assets of $12.1 billion of dollars; however, this was compounded by large debts with a first-year loss of $14 million. During the first few years the newly formed company struggled as a traditional supplier of natural gas within the regulated energy markets. The US government's change in policy relating to energy markets, with market deregulation brought about by a new policy, opened up new possibilities for the ailing company and paved the way for its rise to power. During the 1980s U.S. government policies such as the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Orders 436 and 636 along with the Natural Gas Wellhead Decontrol Act of 1989 (NBGWDA) deregulated the markets in which Enron operated, eliminating the constraints imposed to markets by regulation to avoid a repetition of the economic problems of the energy crisis of previous decades (The History of Regulator, 2004). As natural gas prices fell by more than 50% following deregulation due to increased supplies, Enron began charging other companies to use its massive pipeline network (Culp and Hanke, 2003, page 8) . .Stella......middle of sheet......2004). Transformational approach. In P. G. Northouse, Leadership theory and practice (pp. 169-201). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.Pojman, L.P. (2006). Ethics: discovering right and wrong. Belmont, CA: ThomsonWadsworth.Ruined by Enron. (2002). Revolutionary Worker, n. 1136. Retrieved April 19, 2008, from http://revcom.us/a/v23/1130-39/1136/enron_workers.htm.Sarbanes-Oxley Act. (2008). Retrieved April 26, 2008, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarbanes-Oxley_Act. Smith, C. R. (2002). Enron and Bill Clinton. Retrieved April 19, 2008, from http://archive.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2002. The history of regulation. (2004). Retrieved April 19, 2008, from http://www.naturalgas.org/regulation/history.asp#dereg. Tyner, A., Krach, L., & Foth, L. (2007). A powerpoint presentation on the theory of punctuated equilibrium. University of St. Thomas, EDLD 822: Policy Development.