Employees, competitors and the board are other important stakeholders who must be taken into consideration as well. There are a number of outcomes that must be noted for this evaluation. To the shareholders, the outcome of Dunn's actions was overwhelmingly positive. The company earned a high governance score, its stock price increased, and the risk posed by the leaks was mitigated. To Dunn, the actions were ultimately negative, but she performed her task to the best of her abilities, and this was valuable. To the board of directors, the outcome was somewhat negative, but neither Keyworth nor Perkins suffered much, both continuing to be incredibly wealthy people and neither having faced criminal prosecution or other infringement upon their freedoms. Their egos were the main victims of the investigation. The company suffered somewhat in the short run, in particular for the negative publicity it faced. That publicity, however, had little bearing on long-run earnings -- the company has earned record profits in four of the five years since the scandal became public (MSN Moneycentral, 2011). If anything, removing the leak assisted the company's profitability because it removed a competitive disadvantage that was providing critical information to the firm's competitors. Thus, when the consequences of Dunn's investigation are analyzed, there are few negative consequences and some overwhelmingly positive consequences. Those who suffered negative consequences were more than able to survive and thrive despite the setbacks. Even Dunn, who eventually faced charges for the investigation, saw those charges dropped and the attorney general who brought those charges faced a storm of criticism for doing so, indicating that the charges themselves may have been one of the most morally wrong things about the case.

From both the deontological and consequentialist perspectives, there is little case to be made that Dunn should have been forced to resign. In essence, she was forced to resign because she acted in the interests of the shareholders rather than the interests of the board. This was misplaced -- Dunn's role is to act as agent to the shareholders,...

That the criminal charges were dropped indicates that they should never have been brought in the first place, confirming that while the actions of her investigators were legally questionable, they were not outright illegal. The resignation was therefore not demanded by either major standard of ethics. It was instead demanded to satisfy bruised egos. The greatest harm of the investigation was ultimately to Dunn, although it is hard to argue that she suffered substantially either -- she is still a wealthy person who lives a relatively good life, illness aside.
Dunn should not have been forced to resign. This resignation request was ultimately not in the best interests of the shareholders, and it is to the shareholders that the board has a duty of care as agent. The resignation request appears to relate more to the board members acting in their own interests rather than the interests of the shareholders. That itself raises far more ethical questions than any thing that arose from Dunn's investigation, and indicates that Perkins and his supporters were perhaps negligent in their duties as board members.

Works Cited:

Alexander, L. & Moore, M. (2007). Deontological ethics. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Retrieved February 5, 2011 from http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/ethics-deontological/

Driver, J. (2009). The history of utilitarianism. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Retrieved February 5, 2011 from http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/utilitarianism-history/

Friedman, M. (1970). The social responsibility of business is to increase its profits. New York Times Magazine. Retrieved February 5, 2011 from http://www.colorado.edu/studentgroups/libertarians/issues/friedman-soc-resp-business.html

Kaplan, D. (2006). Suspicions and spies in Silicon Valley. Newsweek. Retrieved February 5, 2011 from http://www.newsweek.com/2006/09/17/suspicions-and-spies-in-silicon-valley.html

MSN Moneycenral: HPQ. (2011). Retrieved February 5, 2011 from http://moneycentral.msn.com/investor/invsub/results/statemnt.aspx?Symbol=hpq