It is essential for individuals and those representing an organization to understand what is an ethical dilemma. Wells Fargo financial corporation was involved in a dramatic ethical issue due to millions of unauthorized bank account openings. As explained in The PLUS Ethical Decision-Making Model, “many organizations battle to develop a simple set of guidelines that make it easier for individual employees, regardless of position or level, to be confident that his/her decisions meet all of the competing standards for effective and ethical decision-making” (n.d). The Wells Fargo scandal is evident prove that employees lacked ethical judgment and management supervision. The seven ethical decision-making steps foster straightforward thinking that …show more content…
When it comes to the Ethical Decision Model, it does not just pertain to the employees who opened these accounts but also leadership who either failed to realize what was going on or decided to sweep it under the rug by just covertly firing some employees. Wells Fargo did take the first step in recognizing the problem but failed to define it, which explains why these unethical behaviors continued for so many years. When the corporation was initially aware of what was going on, they should have acted immediately and strategized a solution that would dilute the possibility of it occurring again. Instead of defining the problem, which would have foster, a proper solution but company decided to just terminate …show more content…
The implementation and education of the ethical decision-making model promote moral awareness and company values that can mitigate ethical dilemmas to an extent. The aftermath was devastating for Wells Fargo not just economically but for its image. The corporation can introduce this model in training courses for new hires and current employees. Also ensuring management comprehends the prominence of ethical decisions and are aware that they are the wheels of the car, therefore, lead by example. If the corporation initially had prioritized ethical values and decision-making evaluations at every level of the business, this scandal could have been prevented at least its magnitude. Contracting ethical officers and on-going training would have educated employees on the proper decision making steps. This dilemma safeguarded that Wells Fargo will take a different approach with its management team, ensuring they are trustworthy and promoting the company values, as customer satisfaction and trust is the
In the article Wells Fargo’s Reaction to Scandal Fails to Satisfy Angry Lawmakers it mentions how lower-level employees were mainly affected by this unethical behavior and that more than 5,300 employees had been fired due to the unethical practice. Some employees were fired that did not participate in the unethical practice during the scandal were affected as well as a result of not being able to attain the sale goals. Stated in the article, How The Wells Fargo Phony Account Scandal Sunk John Stumpf, “Two former employees filed a $2.6 billion class action suit, alleging branch workers were unfairly fired when they could not meet Wells' aggressive sales quotas.” Customers also suffered because they trusted this bank and its employees to do their job right and they were taken advantage of.
“The most polite and gentlemanly treatment of all customers, however insignificant in their business, is insisted upon. Proper respect must be shown to all- let them be men, women, or children, rich or poor, white or black- it must not be forgotten that the company is dependant on these same people for its business.” When Henry Wells was alive, there were 8,000 workers at Wells Fargo. Today, there are 150,000 or more employees at Wells Fargo. There are 6,000 branches and from 1990-1998, their stock went up 1,197% (Smith).
Wells Fargo Unethical News Wells Fargo was founded in 1852 and are widely known and is one of the banks with the most branches nationwide I think it would be safe to assume that they should be one of the most trusted as well, but unfortunately that is not the case after the huge scandal they have recently faced. In recent news Wells Fargo is facing a huge scandal after confirmation of unethical practices since 2011Wells Fargo employees have secretly opened millions of unauthorized bank and credit card accounts without customers knowing it these unauthorized accounts were made in order to hit sales targets and receive bonuses says Richard Cordray, director of the CFPB. (Egan).
In these type of high profile, corporate fraud whistleblowers have always been ignored. The fact that in 2017 Wells Fargo rehired nearly 2,000 employees who had quit or were fired from the job mainly for reporting the fraudulent actions proves that Wells Fargo was aware of the ongoing fraud in the bank. When the employees were investigated for being engaged in these acts, the employees in a large number said that these were done to meet the so-called “eight is great” sales target or to obtain performance bonuses this is where the primary responsibility rests. Its true that employees were not directly forced to take these actions and individuals are ultimately responsible for their own actions but
While the organization blatantly made mediocre managerial decisions, such decisions merely reflect the competitive business environment the financial services industry has grown accustomed to. When it comes down to it, the employees of Wells Fargo did what most individuals would do when faced with the terrifying reality of potential unemployment. In the fast paced, money driven, cut throat environment that is known as twenty first century Corporate America, the lines often blur in terms of ethical decision making. Wells Fargo deserves to receive the blame in this situation in order to demonstrate that the big business taking advantage of the individual is intolerable and that the consumer demands a change. Modification of organizational behavior,
Furthermore, the employees’ motivation was to keep their jobs, and if they could make extra money also, it would be a win-win situation. The self-interest view of ethics fit the behaviors exhibited in the Wells Fargo's case more so than the utilitarian view of ethics. The Wells Fargo incident may have had a temporary success, but the hefty fine along with the bad publicity will not serve as an overall
In an attempt to save face Wells Fargo released the statement, “Wells Fargo's culture is focused on the best interests of its customers and creating a supportive, caring and ethical environment for our team members," but in reality is this what Wells Fargo actually stands for? At no point should an employee be threatened by public embarrassment if they do not reach such ridiculous quotas. They seem to have a complete disconnection somewhere along the road between corporate and the actual everyday operations of Wells Fargo. In order to avoid this happening again in the future, they should see to it that they adhere to company culture, and receive input in their decisions further down the chain of command. Running any business should be more than just appeasement of the Board of Directors, because otherwise the ethics of everyday operations are put at risk.
To begin, The Wells Fargo cross-selling scandal arose from the opening of millions of fake savings and checking accounts on behalf of Wells Fargo customers without their permission. The deception became widely known in late 2016 when the corporation was penalized a total of US$185 million by different regulatory organizations, including the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). Additional civil and criminal proceedings are expected to cost the corporation $2.7 billion by the end of 2018. The establishment of these bogus accounts is still having legal, financial, and reputational consequences for Wells Fargo and former bank officials as late as November 2022 (Wikipedia contributors, 2023). Importance of Ethics in Managing Business
If I were the CEO of Wal-Mart, I will ensure high ethical employee behaviour. Every level of management and non-management employees must fully understand the ethical implications of their decisions as it relates to their personal and professional values. Corporations need to implement a Business Code of Ethics and review with all employees. Also, an excellent tool for learning is case studies and role-playing. The key in this learning is to make the Code accessible and position it as a helpful tool for all employees.
Consumers place great trust in the financial institution that they use to store their assets. Banks are expected to be protective, responsible, and professional when dealing with client’s money. However in 2016, Wells Fargo received extensive scrutiny when it was discovered that employees had fraudulently opened more than 2 million bank accounts and credits under their clients’ names without permission for four years. Employees claimed that they were required to meet certain quotas for the company to maintain their job security. Wells Fargo violated many key tenants of business ethics by sacrificing their image, their clients’ trust, and morals to stay competitive in the banking sector in the United States.
Having an understanding to ethical consideration and accountability will improve customer satisfaction, employee performance, and the continuum for accountability ("Ethical Leadership: Fostering An Ethical Environment And Culture",
The then CEO John Stumpf was forced to resign following insurmountable political and public pressure. Federal prosecutors also issued subpoenas and congressional hearings were held, for which then CEO John Stumpf attended. Additionally, on February 21, 2017, Wells Fargo terminated four high level executives involved in the scandalous news. The SEC’s investigation consists of warrants against bank executives for possible violations of GAAP principles and the Sarbanes-Oxley Act for inaccurate accounting practices. The SEC will probe possible violations of employee whistleblowing protection under the Sarbanes-Oxley and Frank-Dodson Act.
Recently Wells Fargo’s scandal of creating phony accounts has raised ethical concerns in the corporate world. Wells Fargo employees opened more than two million unauthorized bank and credit card accounts to meet sales projections. The company was charged with huge fines and earned a bad reputation that will take years to rebuild. According to the Deontological perspective on ethics least some acts are morally obligatory.
Ethical Dilemmas in the Workplace Business ethics issues are evolving. New issues come up and organizations must give guidance to employees about those issues. Ethics starts where the law and regulations end, so individuals are confronting the situation where no regulation or law exists. Moral dilemmas happen around our daily life, in the office, community, and in our society. Within any workplace, the codes of conduct will shape the ethics of the organizations.
However, as we discussed in class, there are so many situations where ethical decision-making occurs, and there are so many factors that influence why we do what we do. Because we work with a multitude people with interesting and diverse lives and backgrounds, and because we come in with our own baggage and experiences that influence how we act and react, we make split-second decisions all the time that can have profound effects on our work and our consumers. Having so many opportunities to look at my own actions, this particular assignment has been so rewarding and interesting for me. This is the first time in any of my assignments where I have been forced to look at how ethics is involved in our