Ms. Druyun served nine months in a minimum security federal prison, paid a $5,000 fine, had three years of supervisory probation, and performed 150 hours of community service.  The author contends, and rightfully so, that if Ms. Druyun was a military officer she most likely wouldn't have retired with her full pension as she ended up doing. However, what about Boeing?  The scandal eventually led to the firing of Boeing CFO Michael M. Sears and the resignation of Boeing CEO Phil Condit. Sears was also sentenced to four months in prison and Boeing ended up paying a $615 million fine for their involvement.  As we saw throughout the class, in a lot of our case studies the fines in ethics matters appear rather trivial and are often just a fraction of the organization's annual sales.  In this case, a $615 million fine for Boeing seems like a small price to pay to land the substantial government contracts that they did while courting Ms. Druyun and her family.

1. Are monetary fines enough to deter unethical and illegal behavior or  needed to see more prison terms in order for corporate ethics to be taken seriously?

Answer rating: 100% (QA)

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