Final answer:
The manager's obligation is to safeguard the information and use it responsibly. Disclosing it for personal gain or to competitors is unethical and often illegal. Businesses often have codes of ethics to guide the handling of sensitive information to maintain trust and goodwill.
Step-by-step explanation:
The question at hand concerns the ethical responsibilities of managers with respect to the information they have access to within an organization. As trusted members of a business, managers often have access to sensitive information including business and marketing strategies, decisions about capital equipment, and other internal data. However, with this access comes a great responsibility. The manager's obligation in handling such information is to safeguard the information and use it responsibly, ensuring it is not misused for personal gain or wrongfully disclosed to parties such as competitors. Sharing all information openly with employees or using it for personal gain is unethical and often illegal, and disclosing sensitive information to competitors could harm the company's competitive position and stakeholder interests.
Similarly, as a business becomes more established, the need for personal knowledge of individual managers by investors declines, because information related to the company's products, revenues, costs, and profits becomes more widely available. This greater transparency helps bondholders and shareholders to provide financial capital, trusting in the broader accountability structures of the firm rather than the personal relationships with managers. Lastly, organizations often establish a code of ethics to guide behavior regarding the handling of information, reflecting the values of society and the need to maintain trust and goodwill.