Moral Personhood
As a leader, I would respond by acting with the key personhood features of ethical leadership of honesty, transparency, and accountability. I would openly acknowledge the issue, take responsibility for addressing it, and demonstrate through what is put in place of the importance of integrity by prioritising ethical conduct over short-term business gains. I would treat all individuals involved fairly, ensuring that any investigation is impartial and respectful, and clearly communicate that exaggerating product performance is inconsistent with GlobalTech’s values and the recent behaviours are not part of the culture of the organisation moving forward. By modelling ethical behaviour, and taking responsibility for what has occurred in my role,  I would build trust and show that integrity is non-negotiable.

Moral Management
From a moral management perspective, a really important thing here is not to focus on the bad apple(s) but what were the systemic and cultural factors that enabled these behaviours. I would take immediate steps to investigate what has occurred, including reviewing sales practices and holding those responsible accountable through proportionate and fair corrective action including where indicated an educative response rather than some just using a some heads should roll approach. Part of this would be to also look at the cultural settings and performance KPIs that would encourage such behaviours.  I would collaborate with the sales department to listen to the ‘whys’ of what happened, to address systems and process issues that facilitated the behaviours, and to clarify ethical expectations and provide additional training on ethical decision-making and compliance.

To prevent future issues, I would work with the team and our audit team to strengthen internal controls, introduce clearer reporting guidelines, and reinforce ethical performance metrics. Building a stronger ethical culture would involve consistent messaging from all levels of leadership, ongoing ethics training for staff in our sales area given it is a high-risk area if it involves sales performance bonuses, review our performance framework to address any unintended consequences regarding rewarding such conduct, and seek ethical behaviour rewards/recognition to ensure that integrity is embedded in everyday business practices at GlobalTech Ltd.

Moral Personhood

To handle the situation ethically, I would conduct a fair and transparent investigation to determine how the exaggeration of product performance occurred. The investigation would be free from personal bias towards any staff involved and would focus on understanding the facts in the first instance. I would also seek to determine whether the conduct was intentional and identify any factors that may have motivated or encouraged the behaviour if it was.

I would demonstrate integrity and fairness by ensuring that all employees are treated consistently and given the opportunity to explain their actions. Decisions would be based on evidence rather than assumptions, and the organisation would be open about the steps being taken to address the issue.

Moral Management

Assuming that it was intentional, to address the ethical breach, I would examine whether there are common factors among the employees involved. For example, if those involved were predominantly new hires, I would review whether our recruitment, selection, and onboarding processes are effectively communicating the organisation's ethical expectations.

To prevent similar issues in the future, I would review whether the organisation's stated mission and values accurately reflect the ethical standards we expect employees to uphold. I would also assess whether any existing policies, procedures, or performance measures unintentionally contradict the ethical culture the organisation is trying to promote.

Based on the findings, I would implement improvements to recruitment and onboarding processes, review organisational values and policies, and ensure that systems and procedures consistently support ethical decision-making. These changes would help strengthen the ethical culture at GlobalTech Ltd and reduce the likelihood of similar issues occurring in the future.