In 2011, Wells Fargo Financial Services Attempted to Gain Competitive

In 2011, Wells Fargo Financial Services attempted to gain competitive advantage in the marketplace by "cross-selling" banking services to its existing customers. It created an employee sales program wherein financial rewards were offered to sales representatives who met or exceeded sales goals. In 2016, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau found that more than two million bank accounts or credit cards were opened without customers' knowledge or consent. In the end, more than 5,000 employees were terminated. Wells Fargo's CEO John Stumpf rebuffed suggestions that he resign, saying, "I think the best thing I could do right now is lead this company, and lead this company forward." Were CEO Stumpf's comments an example of appropriate leadership in this instance?

A) When a company is performing profitably, the need for continuity of leadership is important. A leader's or board's decision to change leadership is not an appropriate response when it is employees who are responsible for ethical issues.
B) In this example, the CEO acted as a real leader by refusing to resign and continuing to lead the company in the face of the fake accounts scandal.
C) The tone at the top is an important aspect of a company's ethical tone. The company's financially competitive culture and the leadership team's failure to discover and remedy the problem and cause involving the incentive compensation program meant there was a need for new leadership at the top to send an ethical message.
D) A harsh penalty of resignation or dismissal of CEO Stumpf would send the wrong message to employees and customers.