FLORENCIO L.

VARGAS COLLEGE
Tuguegarao City, Cagayan
THE GRADUATE SCHOOL
FINAL EXAMINATION QUESTIONS
Ethical Values in Business Administration

DENNIS M. PAMITTAN

Directions: The following questions below are written for you to provide
precise answer/s. Write/type the questions first before you answer it. Cite
your basis to make it valid (if necessary). In a letter size paper submit your
answer through email address at roniesugarol@yahoo.com in a pdf format.

[Case] The Equifax Data Breach

In 2017, from mid-May to July, hackers gained unauthorized access to servers used by
Equifax, a major credit reporting agency, and accessed the personal information of nearly
one-half the U.S. population. Equifax executives sold off nearly $2 million of company
stock they owned after finding out about the hack in late July, weeks before it was publicly
announced on September 7, 2017, in potential violation of insider trading rules. The
company’s shares fell nearly 14 percent after the announcement, but few expect Equifax
managers to be held liable for their mistakes, face any regulatory discipline, or pay any
penalties for profiting from their actions. To make amends to customers and clients in
the aftermath of the hack, the company offered free credit monitoring and identity-theft
protection. On September 15, 2017, the company’s chief information officer and chief of
security retired. On September 26, 2017, the CEO resigned, days before he was to testify
before Congress about the breach. To date, numerous government investigations and
hundreds of private lawsuits have been filed as a result of the hack.

Things to Answer:
1. Which elements of this case might involve issues of legal compliance?
Aspects of this case that might involve legal compliance issues include; adherence to IT
and legal ethics. For example, the failure of Equifax "To install a well-publicized security
patch to an "Apache Struts" ( Kess & Primoff, 2017) caused the vulnerability which paved
the way for the hackers. However, if they followed the company and IT legal laws strictly,
the inconvenience wouldn't have occurred. Another issue of legal compliance "involved an
IT systems administrator using an insecure password that did not comply with best
practices, or even Equifax's policies" ( Kess & Primoff, 2017)

Whichelements illustrate acting legally but not ethically?

The details in the case that characterize operating legally revolves around the act of filling
of private lawsuits against Equifax as a result of the hack, for Equifax managers to be held
liable for their mistakes, face any regulatory discipline, or pay any penalties for profiting
from their actions (Byars & Stanberry, 2018).

2. What would acting ethically and with personal integrity in this situation look like?

Acting ethically with personal integrity in this situation will mean generating long-term
business failure and consistently underperforming their competitors.

3. How do you think this breach will affect Equifax’s position relative to those of its
competitors?

The Equifax breach may serve as a warning to business clients doing business
with them, and those planning to do business with them may expose their
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 data/information to criminals to hack into their accounts to rub them. So they will
desist from doing business with them, but rather give credit to their competitors
and prefer to do business with them instead.

How might it affect the future success of the company?

The Equifax data breach may affect the company's future success by causing
customers to lose their trust in the company and diminishing the company's
reputation. When this happens, customers and stakeholders will stop doing
business with them to fear losing their investments. This, in turn, can lead to the
future collapse of the company.

4. Was it sufficient for Equifax to offer online privacy protection to those whose
personal information was hacked?

It wasn't enough for Equifax to provide online privacy protection to those whose personal
information was hacked. Hackers possessing the knowledge of "identifiers may increase
two forms of identity theft: new account fraud and account takeover. In new account
fraud, the hackers use the identifiers and possibly other information to open new credit
accounts in a person's name; the target does not find out until his credit rating is wrecked
after the bills go unpaid" (Kess & Primoff, 2017).

What else might it have done?

Equifax could have "provided authenticating information in a manner different than the
initial authentication; for example, after the user has inputted her password, send a
second verification code via text message that must be input to log in" ( Kess & Primoff,
2017). Equifax might have also frozen credit at all four identifiers. This would have
"generally stop new account fraud, as it puts a hold on the release of any credit scores
or other information from the credit reporting agencies to credit card companies, auto
dealers, or other vendors necessary to complete a transaction" ( Kess & Primoff, 2017)

5. Even if a certain company has improved a better version of managing people, why is
it, there are still employees not committed to do their function in relation to their job
position?

Every change initiative is going to encounter resistance. This is true no matter how much
you worked to build a guiding coalition before launch and no matter how well you
communicate and create enthusiasm after launch.

In fact, according to Shore, resistance to change is the most common reason why many
change initiatives fail.

“People are people—carbon and water. As such, we resist change. It’s important to
recognize that managing change is about upsetting people only at a rate that they can
tolerate. It’s all about physics. For change there must be movement. With movement
there is friction,” Shore says.

People resist change for many reasons. They may be uncomfortable with the unknown or
perceived risk. They may misunderstand or disagree with the goals and/or the strategy of
the change initiative. They may fear what change means for their role or even their job
security. They may lack trust in the management team or the organization.

6. In relation to question number 5, if you are in the supervisory position or middle

manager how you will address this issue to your company? Provide a concrete solution.

The Solution: Make a strategic and thoughtful assessment of how your change initiative
may impact your employees in order to identify potential resistance from the start.
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Tailor your communication strategy so that you can address that resistance as soon
as—or even before—it arises.

And most importantly, actively listen to and engage your employees throughout your
change management strategy. Active listening is the best way to avoid
misunderstandings, ensure that all parties have complete and accurate information, and
address fear, anxiety, and discomfort that comes with any change.

7. How was the implementation of continuous improvement of the ethics program work?

If a certain ethics program is being implemented, the process does not stop there.
There must be continuous monitoring of the implemented program. The very purpose
of this monitoring to seek room of improvements. If there are problems encountered
during the implementation, then we can address it. If there are some points that needs
to be improved, then improve it. This monitoring will surely help the organization in
improving its ethics program system. We should seek for improvements to ensure
smooth and quality flow of the process.

8. If power and politics in an organization are inevitable, what can members in an

organization do to stay in the organization and remain committed to the attainment of
organizational goal?

Focus On The Organization’s Priorities

When approaching any sort of conflict in the workplace due to politics and power, be
guided by the organization’s priorities. Ask ourselves, hat is it that you are trying to
achieve as a business? When feelings are running high, the objectivity of company goals
can help diffuse conflict. And it provides a common framework for finding solutions.

Office politics is an inevitable part of the workplace; however, it’s not always the
destructive force that we might think. If left unchecked, it can create a negative
environment, poor team morale, and decreased productivity. However, it can also be a
positive influence helping to achieve company goals, especially when managing change
programs.

To minimize the negative impacts, keep your finger on the pulse, be open and
transparent, and promote collaborative working.

9. In your own organization how effective ethical values induced to the employees?
How is the process of communicating towards employees and stakeholders?

Ethical values in an organization are set of moral guiding principals that determines how
a company conducts business likewise mirrors the kind of employees it has. Our ethical
values as individuals differ from one another and are sometimes relative depending on the
situation. As we start working in an organization, we are being oriented by our company
rules and policies which are our guide all throughout our stay in the company. In our
company, the HR being the person concerned in all the employees, discusses company
policies likewise company information. She makes sure that everything is being understood.
As she does the discussion, she would ask questions if there are problems or reaction or
point of information. This kind of discussion between the HR and employee ensures a
smooth entry of new comers in the organization. As time goes by, updated company policies
are being reiterated to us through email.

How is the process of communicating towards employees and stakeholders?

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A stakeholder communication plan is a strategy developed by an organization to better
connect with its stakeholders and to assess their feedback regarding major projects on the
company's agenda. As a general description, it identifies the people the company needs to
communicate with, the topics it needs to transmit, the way it would be distributed and its
frequency. The primary goals of a stakeholder communication plan are:

-To help the organization meet its goals and achieve its long-term objectives
-To maintain or improve relationships with the people who can influence the organization's
success, also called key stakeholders or target audience
-To improve the effectiveness of the company's operations

How to create a stakeholder communication plan

Consider following these steps when attempting to create a stakeholder communication
plan:

1. Identify the project's stakeholders

The first step is to determine who are the project's stakeholders, meaning the people with
a direct or indirect interest in the project or who can directly or indirectly influence it. The
exact stakeholders depend on each project's distinct characteristics, but as a general rule,
they fall into two categories:

Internal stakeholders: Those involved in managing and executing the project, such as the
project manager, project sponsors and the employees who have to complete the project
External stakeholders: Those unrelated to the company but with an interest in the project,
such as clients, competitors, contractors and regulatory government bodies

2. Set your objectives

This step in creating an effective stakeholder communication plan is arguably the most
important. That's because it aims to clearly set all communication objectives that help the
organization meet its goals. In general, the more precise you are in defining what the
organization needs to achieve and where it should be in the foreseeable future, the more
effective you are at communicating this information to stakeholders.

3. Establish your methods of communication

Once you've determined what the organization needs to communicate and who it needs to
send its messages to, it's time to decide the exact methods that you would use to implement
your plan. The most effective way to determine which communication channel is most
effective is to consider who the recipient is and what the message that you would be sharing
is.

For example, when attempting to communicate with an external stakeholder, you may use
a communication method like email or press release, whereas if you want to send a message
to the team in charge of the project's execution, you may want to communicate it directly
or use an online chat room, allowing team members to communicate with each other, share
updates and generally collaborate for the good of the project.

4. Use the gathered data to create your stakeholder communication plan

After determining who the project's stakeholders are, what your project objectives are and
what the most effective communication methods are with each stakeholder, you can use
the gathered data to start creating your communication plan.

First, you should divide communication by frequency and create columns for daily, weekly,
monthly, quarterly, yearly and ad-hoc communication, or another list of different
frequencies that makes sense for your organization. Then you should decide how often you
need to communicate with each group of stakeholders, what communication channel you
would use for each, the exact message you aim to communicate and any other detail that
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may be relevant to the communication.

5. Assign a communication plan owner

Once the communication plan is ready, you need to assign an employee to manage it going
forward. As various internal and external elements of the project change, the
communication plan owner needs to assess the changes and modify the plan accordingly.
Depending on the communication plan's size and complexity, you may assign multiple
owners, with each covering a specific type of communication or a specific stakeholder.

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[CASE]. Countries all over the world is suffering from a certain crisis like economic
recession, outbreaks, conflict zones and the like. Companies in these trying times shall
always decide for the whole company without compromising anyone of its component.
Despite of doing everything and the assistance of their respective government to their
employees and the company itself, some companies were doing a concrete solution in
order that their employees will have salaries to be received from them. The companies
provide to have a no work with pay and a rotational basis of doing services. However,
some benefits had been waived because of the mentioned crisis. Employees loomed to
have massive resignation despite the efforts made by their respective companies.

Thing/s to Answer
1. Is employees moved being ethical towards this crisis? How will you address this
company issues towards massive resignation of employees?

At the onset of the pandemic, the job market was full of uncertainty and mass layoffs:
millions of people lost their jobs, and those lucky enough to remain employed remained
put in their roles for survival. However, there still massive resignation despite the crisis.
Is this ethical? This is the question. I believe that in life, we are entitled on our own
choices. Our choice to remain or not in the company despite the crisis is not a question
of whether it is ethical or not. It is about our freedom to decided on what is best for us.
Now, the crisis has put the employer/employee relationship to the test. Workers expect
more from their employers. Is it wrong if we chose to leave the organization because of
better opportunities from other companies? I guess it is not because we make decisions
that will make us better not to settle for less. Whatever the reasons behind the resignation
should not be questioned because that is a choice.

2. How will you address thiscompany issues towards massive resignation of

employees?

Organizations should be reevaluating their future orientation given the new world of work.
Factors should be considered so that our systems are geared towards ensuring decent
and dignified work for all.One of the most important points is establishing a culture of
individualized working conditions. Organizations need to know the areas, abilities,
behaviour and rules where they cannot and will not compromise - such as high self-
responsibility and conscientiousness or ability for self-development but remain quite
flexible at working times, working places and workplace setups. Moreover, value your
people. The biggest asset an organization has is its people.

DENNIS M PAMITTAN
MBA

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