The first reason for the deficient attention to security exhibited by the management of iPremier is the focus on short term gains which is deeply imbedded in the company's culture. Many times in this case concern was expressed about what the stock price would be the following morning. There is too much attention on the stock price, which in turn plays back into the short-term focus. Companies that focus on a short-term "earnings game" often lose focus of their long term strategy, and thus causes more harm than good.
Another reason for the lack of focus on security within the management ranks is the fact that the ownership of the company’s incentive package encouraged that behavior. A number of employee’s compensation incentives should have been tied to security so that those numbers were pursued as aggressively as a climbing stock price. The company’s governing values, does not even include any reference to any value delivered to the customer; it only references the internal needs and wants of the management. A revised corporate mission and value statement should be considered and more resources directed to the IT department and other operational departments with focus on long term effectiveness.
A third area to study is the high turn-over rate in the management ranks. It appears most employees are fearful of losing their jobs, “unsuccessful managers did not last long”, and they appear interested in only boosting their stock option plan. Individuals are forced to perform almost immediately, or risk being cut and replaced by another new candidate just waiting to get their foot in the door. I think this short-term focus causes employees to do "whatever it takes to complete a project", which while this might make sense for a particular project it is not necessarily what is best for the company longer-term.
I would suggest that iPremier focus on determining the