Introduction

Business Ethics case study: I chose to analyze the following case studies “Facebook and Our Fake News Problem”, “Google’s Handling of the Echo Chamber Manifesto” and “Wells Fargo Banking Scandal”.

“Facebook and our fake news problem” The rise of fake news has reached unprecedented levels, raising serious concerns about the way citizens receive news and form opinions. Fake news has been known to move public opinions, at a time when a majority of the people get their news from social media platforms. The 2016 USA elections is a major scenario where fake news tarnished the images of a popular politician by claiming that Hillary Clinton was running a child prostitution ring from a pizza shop.

“ Wells Fargo Banking Scandal” is good to look into because it brings out the company’s practice of setting daily sales goals which put undue pressure on employees and led to them meeting “unrealistic sales targets”, which led to thousands of employees opening millions of accounts for customers under pretenses or without customer consent, often abusing customer identities. The act of creating many users accounts with the same password can also make personal accounts vulnerable to hackers, who can access individual accounts and steal cash from user accounts.

“Google’s Handling of the Echo Chamber Manifesto” with gender bias and paycheck disparity between genders in major companies, the Google “echo chamber” appeals to me because it raises the issue of gender discrimination in workplaces and the consequences of workers trying to take a call of action. I can relate to this because I was engaged with a company where there was a major pay disparity between males and females, they also had different stereotypical roles for women like having them in secretarial and coffee ladies while men worked in the managerial parts despite some women having more academic accomplishments and better grades.

Business Ethics case study

Facebook and Our Fake News Problem

Summary

This case study delves into the possibility of Facebook fake news influencing the 2016 election, during this time lot of headlines, some of which were very wrong received massive sharing and comments shaping public opinion. Fake news ranged from “The Pope supports Donald Trump” to “Hillary Clinton runs a child pornography ring in a pizza place.” rise of fake news has reached unprecedented levels, raising serious concerns about how citizens receive news and form opinions.

The rise in fake news has multiple sources like Social media platforms, Facebook gives these stories the same visibility as news publications like The New York Times, these posts typically have higher engagement rates (comments and reactions), leading them to gain higher visibility and spread in users’ news feeds. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg initially downplayed the issue, saying it was a “very crazy idea” that fake news on Facebook is affecting elections.

Since the 2016 U.S. presidential election, the targeted spread of misinformation online, especially on social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook, has generated great interest across multiple disciplines. Much of this interest reflects a deeper concern that the spread of “fake news” fuels political polarization, reduces trust in public institutions, and undermines democracy [1].

The average American spends more than 7.5 hours (460 minutes) per day on media consumption, including watching TV, streaming video or music, gaming, interacting with social media, or browsing the Internet from desktop or mobile devices[2]. Summarizing these facts, several commentators have suggested that Donald Trump would not have been elected President had it not been for the influence of fake news.

Analysis

Facebook dominates our culture in ways that cannot be fully expressed. It is plausible to say for sure that it did not affect the 2016 presidential election or many other important events. Due to its market and cultural dominance, the platform is undoubtedly impacting the world. If such domination is indeed Facebook’s goal, the company has a moral obligation to ensure its users aren’t seriously misled. When Facebook’s products are used so frequently, and the company acts as the de facto media aggregator for its consumers, it puts itself in a position to be accountable for the stories users share.

Unlike the average American, Zuckerberg should be prepared for this challenge. If Facebook intends to continue using the term “news feed” to describe its platform, it is best to take all possible steps to ensure that the content that appears in that feed is not materially inaccurate[3]. Although Zuckerberg initially downplayed the potential impact of fake news on elections, Facebook is taking steps to address the problem. It implemented a new system that allows users to flag stories they believe are false and then forward those stories to third-party fact-checkers.

Business Ethics case study

Google’s Handling of the Echo Chamber Manifesto

Summary

In August 2017, Google fired James Damore, a male software engineer, after he released an internal memo that relied on inaccurate gender stereotypes to criticize Google for implementing its diversity and inclusion programs. The memo was leaked to the media, sparking a public outcry and adding to an already tense time for gender diversity in Silicon Valley.

Damore said he was trying to point out that sometimes conservative views are frowned upon at Google because of its liberal “echo chambers.” The memo also alleges that Google discriminates against certain employees and offers advancement opportunities “only to people of a particular gender or race,” and that Google has lowered the bar by hiring different candidates. Damore believes that for Google to have a truly diverse culture, it needs to create a safe space for more conservative views. He referred to scientifically unfounded gender stereotypes that support this argument. The stereotypes he uses include: women are more neurotic than men; women are less able to deal with stress; women are better at relationships than men because men are better at “doing things.”[4]

Analysis

Damore violated the company code of conduct by being a pretty public, blatant, willful, and ongoing violation of the company’s code of conduct. Going against the company’s code would have his employment terminated. If I were Google CEO Pichai I would have terminated his employment too because after making such remarks because it would impact how he would effectively work with female employees or minority colleagues. It would empower others with similar stereotypical views to continue with the trend and probably no woman would want to volunteer to do a project with him.

Organizations should look for conduct that seriously violates company mission and values ​​or interferes with employment, for example, a potentially unethical behavior when people express their controversial views in the workplace in harassing or demeaning ways.

A more diverse work culture often stifles employees from speaking out because employees are concerned about their future in the company after speaking out against the administration. They are also faced with the problem of getting volunteers to work on a project with them. And the effect of the projects they may be currently working on. To avert the outcomes leaders need to employ more diverse people in terms of “diversity of thought” this can pose the issues of groupthink which can hinder true innovation.

Business Ethics case study

Wells Fargo Banking Scandal

Summary

There was a lot of management pressure on employees to meet sales quotas: hourly follow-ups, pressure to manage unethical behavior, and a bonus-based compensation system. Bank branch employees do whatever they can to achieve the sales target set by the company. They started using their contact information on forms to prevent customers from spotting scams. The employees are accused of setting up fraudulent checking and savings accounts by transferring funds from existing accounts to new ones. This is achieved through “fixation” – the process of setting a customer’s PIN to “0000” so that bankers can easily control their customers’ accounts and keep them in the dark[5](Tayan, 2019).

Many employees resigned under intense pressure to engage in unethical selling practices, and some were even fired for reporting misconduct through the company’s ethics hotline. Management was aware of these aggressive sales practices as early as 2004 and detected incidents as early as 2002.

Analysis

Stumpf turned employees into liars and fraudsters by tricking them into opening checking and savings accounts by transferring funds from existing accounts to new accounts. He also made employees live in fear that failure to meet their sales goals will lead to their dismissal or career-threatening criticism.

To encourage ethical behaviors leaders, need to Lead by example, If managers want their employees to behave ethically, they need to understand that it starts with them, employees tend to follow the example that management gives them. They should also be kind to employees, and managers do need to consider how they currently work. When management emphasizes the importance of ethics at work but does not treat its employees fairly it promotes double standards.

Despite there being systems to report unethical behavior, Wells Fargo employees did not report the incidences this might be as a result of Employees being unsure who to report a hostile work environment to, for example if the problem first arises with human resources or legal representatives. Individuals may also feel that colleagues and supervisors treat them differently when reporting an incident by excluding them from meetings, projects, or even social events.

To encourage ethical behavior rather than unethical behavior, Managers should strive to make their company a learning organization. These organizations see failure as an opportunity to learn and develop a culture that supports employee voices on ethical and operational challenges.

Business Ethics case study

Conclusion

Big corporations should put measures that follow up on small matters before they mushroom into big problems that cost the company’s reputation or lead to heavy fines like the Wells Fargo situation. The banker’s image was tarnished, and the CEO was forced to resign and suffered millions of dollars in fines. I have also learned that huge corporations are not immune to internal failure and while some may attempt to hide it, in the long run, everything comes into light and they pay heavily for it. The refusal of Facebook CEO on the knowledge of the platform being used to show fake news show utter arrogance on their part despite big damage being done.

Using the right channels to address grievances, even when they are contradictory to the company directives can lead them to correct the mistakes without necessarily firing the employee. It is also important to hire people with diverse thoughts or abilities in projects to minimize one-sided projects and get the other view.

A healthy compliance check helps those who implement them to avoid mishaps. The markets are more likely to trade value than past performances. Ethics is a real business risk and a separate business function from compliance. Ethics is the responsibility of the CEO and the board, while compliance is usually managed by the general counsel’s office. When the reward at hand encourages the wrong behavior, the behavior that the system motivates should be evaluated and changed [6].

References

[1] Hunt Allcott and Matthew Gentzkow, (2017) Social media and fake news in the 2016 election – JSTOR. (n.d.). Retrieved May 9, 2022, from https://www.jstor.org/stable/44235006

[2] Allen, J., Howland, B., Mobius, M., Rothschild, D., & Watts, D. J. (2020). Evaluating the fake news problem at the scale of the information ecosystem. Science Advances, 6(14). https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aay3539

[3] David Stockdale Why we should hold Facebook responsible for fake news. Center for Digital Ethics & Policy. Retrieved May 9, 2022, from https://digitalethics.org/essays/why-we-should-hold-facebook-responsible-fake-news

[4] Case study 2.docx – Google’s Handling of the “Echo Chamber Manifesto” Case Study- 2 Google’s Handling of the “Echo Chamber Manifesto” Prem Kishore | Course Hero. (n.d.). Retrieved May 9, 2022, from https://www.coursehero.com/file/41569174/Case-study-2docx/

[5] Tayan, B. (2019, February 6). The Wells Fargo cross-selling scandal. The Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance. Retrieved May 9, 2022, from https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu/2019/02/06/the-wells-fargo-cross-selling-scandal-2/

[6] boldnew2014. (2019, February 19). Ways managers can encourage ethical behavior. Management Training Institute. Retrieved May 9, 2022, from https://managementtraininginstitute.com/ways-managers-can-encourage-ethical-behavior/

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Business Ethics case study