Being the head of a business, you really have to be wary of your personal decision making as they affect the business as a whole. Prime example being Mark Hurd, chief executive of Hewlett-Packard Co. Back in 2010, Mark Hurd was faced with accusations of sexual harassment of a fellow employee in his company. Mark has essentially, “violated the company’s business standards.” Shortly after this news was released to the public, stock shares plummeted at an alarming rate; and mere hours after trading had closed, stocks went down 8.3%.
The image and values a business is strongly correlated with the owner: the personal decisions of the owner affects the business, and outcomes of the choices made by the business affects the image of the owner. Not only did this stunt cost Mark his career, but it affected every single employee at HP as well as every single stockholder who held a share of HPQ. In a sheer instant, everything that Mark had worked so hard for came crashing down. Although Mark was later acquitted of the charge, the damage which had been dealt could not be recovered.