Our study of ethics in business can sometimes seem esoteric and removed from day-to-day management responsibilities, but media are filled with real-life examples of unethical business behavior that harms the businesses involved, as well as their shareholders, customers, employees, and other stakeholders. This paper assignment asks you to find such an example, examine what went wrong, and apply the materials we’ve been reading to develop preventions and solutions. Take an in-depth look at the situation through the lens of secular legal and ethical principles but also through the lens of a Biblical worldview.
Identify a news story that has been published within the 30 days preceding the due date of this assignment that describes a breach of business ethics. You may find this through a web search, library research, professional journals, professional association websites, newspapers, etc. The breach may be criminal, based in tort, or otherwise unethical.
Your paper will:
• Briefly explain the situation and the parties involved.
• Identify your ethical standard; explain how this situation violated that standard.
• Explain how you would have prevented this situation and would now respond, including support from scholarly and Biblical sources.
Sample Answer
Case Study: Recent Data Breach and Failure to Protect Customer Privacy
This response will examine a recurring breach of business ethics involving data security and customer privacy, which is a prevalent issue in recent news reports. For this analysis, we will focus on the continuous news of large-scale data breaches in the healthcare sector, such as the repeated reports of millions of patient records being compromised.
1. The Situation and Parties Involved
The Situation: A major data breach at a healthcare-related company or business associate (e.g., electronic health records vendor, medical billing service, or a health network) results in the unauthorized access and theft of Protected Health Information (PHI) and Personally Identifiable Information (PII) belonging to millions of customers/patients. This sensitive data often includes names, addresses, Social Security numbers, medical records, and financial information.
The Primary Parties Involved:
The Company (e.g., Conduent Business Solutions, a large medical system, or a specific EHR vendor): The entity responsible for storing and protecting the sensitive data that failed to implement adequate security measures, leading to the breach.
The Customers/Patients (Stakeholders): The individuals whose private, sensitive information was stolen, putting them at risk of identity theft, financial fraud, and emotional distress.
The Cybercriminals/Hackers: The external parties who exploited the security vulnerabilities to illegally obtain the data.
Regulators (e.g., SEC, HHS’s Office for Civil Rights): Government bodies responsible for investigating the breach and imposing fines for non-compliance with privacy laws like HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act).
2. Ethical Standard and Violation
Ethical Standard: Fiduciary Duty and Justice (Secular)
The ethical standard violated is the Fiduciary Duty of Care, which mandates that a company must act in the best interests of its stakeholders, especially when handling sensitive assets like customer data. This is rooted in the broader secular principle of Justice, which requires fair treatment and the avoidance of imposing foreseeable harm on others.
Violation of the Standard:
The company violated its fiduciary duty by failing to invest adequately in modern security infrastructure, maintain timely patches, or conduct rigorous audits, leading to a preventable breach.
This is a violation of Justice because the company prioritized maximizing profit or minimizing operational cost over the fundamental right of its customers to privacy and security, thus imposing a massive, foreseeable harm (identity theft risk, credit monitoring costs, distress) on millions of people who entrusted them with their most personal information. Legally, this also violates federal law, such as the HIPAA Security Rule, making it a criminal or tortious breach.