Business Ethics - the Ceo's Private Investigation

Introduction

"The CEO's private investigation" focuses on what the potential Corporate Executive Officer Cheryl Tobin responsibilities should have been prior to her accepting the position as the new CEO for Hammond Aerospace. I say this because Cheryl Tobin had heard rumors of unethical practices from peers while she was working for Boeing. Although they were just rumors I believe that Cheryl should have revealed them prior to accepting the coveted position. I believe this because they obviously bothered her enough to launch her own private investigation.

Essentially this case revolves around the hiring of a new Corporate Executive Officer after the sudden death of a very successful and much liked CEO named James Rawlings. What occurred following the hiring of an outsider named Cheryl Tobin seemed to be very disturbing because she had preconceived notions of how Hammond Aerospace had became one of the leading Aerospace companies in the world? Subsequently Cheryl's preconceived notions stemmed from rumors that she heard while she was working at her previous job with Boeing. The rumors were that Hammond Aerospace company sales executives had developed a slush fund that inevitably was used to help close the deals with pertinent foreign officials. Although there was no proof that any of the allegations were justified. What Cheryl did do when she assumed the position as the new leader of Hammond Aerospace was that she decided to conduct her own inquiries in regards to the rumors. Cheryl did this by questioning her executive administrative assistant Jackie Terrell who subsequently was also James Rawlings assistant. She also inquired her suspicions to Hank Bodine who was the internal candidate for the CEO vacancy. This essentially frustrated the situation even more because in Hank's mind she was making accusations immediately following her assuming her new duties. She also inquired her suspicions to Geoffrey Latimer the general counsel for Hammond Aerospace. During which Latimer try to reassure Cheryl that he supported her however an investigation would essentially harm the company and force the board of directors to take control of the company.

Background

What seemed to occur is that the once very small aerospace company named

Hammond started to flourish uncharacteristically over more prevalent companies like Boeing, and Lockheed Martin. However it should not be considered ironic that during the rise of this small company rumors began to surface. The rumors were focused on the company's unethical practices designed to help close sales. The unethical practices that were alleged revolved around the companies' sales teams' use of possible slush funds to sweeten the deals or essentially bribe foreign executives for the business. This practice violates the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, and the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. While the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act was designed to stop bribery as means of obtaining foreign business the Sarbanes-Oxley Act increased the accountability of corporate directors.

Coincidently what occurred next was the current Company Executive Officer James Rawlings passed away while sponsoring a golf trip with three of Japan's airline executives. The golfing expo was an outing that Rawlings was using to help close a five billion dollar order for thirty passenger jets. This forced the board of directors for Hammond to hire a new CEO to run this flourishing company. They hired an outsider named Cheryl Tobin over an internal frontrunner named Hank Bodine. This is where I believe the major ethical issue occurs because Cheryl Tobin was hired and she already had suspicion that unethical practices were occurring and she said nothing to the board of directors during the hiring process. Although it is apparent that Tobin has the intestinal fortitude to do the right thing in regards to ethical situations I believe that she made an extremely poor decision by deciding to conduct her own private investigation because her duties are the day to day functions of the company not the investigating of her sales staff. By making inquiries on day one as the new CEO she is setting herself up in regards to her senior level staff. I believe she should have asked the board of directors to conduct an audit on the company prior to accepting the position as the CEO. This essentially would account for any of the company's wrongdoings prior to her arrival. This would inevitably prevent her actions from being interpreted as trying to discredit the previous well liked CEO.

Analysis

The question that needs to be answered is should Cheryl