Ethics for a long time has been the fabric that binds different and yet interrelated components of the society together. It stipulates the good or the wrong actions that govern behavior. In realization of the significant value of ethics, many organizations tend to create a culture where ethical practices are appreciated and valued by the workforce form all levels (Sabiu et al., 2019). However, this is not the case with all. This paper opines atypical examples of an erosion of the ethical observances as it occurs in Centennial Home Mortgage, Inc, which serves as a case study herein.
Firstly, the total incidence is an unethical issue, no doubt. In any given case, the loss of customers’ private information into the public knowingly or inadvertently calls for immediate action to ensure the leaked information does not cause harm or in any way (Nankervis et al., 2019). However, this does not case with the manager’s immediate supervisor. Under the ethical environment, she had the moral obligation to inform the Human Resource officer who happened to be her husband for quick action.
Ideally, the practices of the manager’s immediate supervisor and those of the company’s top executives violate the Utilitarian theory of ethics. For instance, just days after the controversial breach, the few executive leaders decide to sell over a million worth of shares without an iota of consideration on the over 14 million of their customers whose confidential information was exposed.
Accordingly, the whole situation is marked with egoism. Firstly, there is no action so far which the leadership has taken to address the situation which saw over 14 million customers’ crucial information like security number leaked into the public. Also, the selling of the company’s over &1. 8 million shares immediately after the crisis is self-serving.
Furthermore, the conduct of the manager’s supervisor is unethical. Even after being informed by the manager about the disasters, she fails to take a corresponding moral duty to help address the problem at hand. Instead, she reports back only for the dismissal of some employees because they are not “likable.” Further, she intimidates the manager on the same.
Equally, like any other organization, the integral stakeholders, in this case, are the over 14 million customers whose personal details got spilled in the air. They together with the “unlikable” employees are indeed the most hurt in this situation. On the contrary, the top executive leadership is at the receiving end of getting benefits of sold shares despite the loss of the customers’ details.
Accordingly, while whistleblowing in such a situation can help save the customers and the employees under intimidation, this situation can result in the loss of one’s jobs. This is because the structure of leadership encompassing the Human Resource Manager and his spouse as an immediate supervisor could serve a conspiracy for dismissal.
Lastly, to remedy the situation, first, I would stop any dismissal claim of any employee and engage in a forensic study of the whole situation. Secondly, I would make aware of the customers of the job at hand and engage with the relevant government bodies to ensure that lost details are not compromised in any way. These actions will ensure that the welfare of the majority is managed first.
To sum, in the dynamic modern workforce, management must centrally focus on the ethical practices that will shape the behavior of human resources towards achieving the foundational goals in which the organization was set. As such, reverence to the critical role of every stakeholder must be looked at to achieve set objectives.