Stonecipher, 68, had been retired for two years when he was called back to lead Boeing upon former CEO Phil Condit's departure. Stonecipher's efforts to restore Boeing's reputation after a government contract debacle included requiring employees to sign a code of conduct.

While Boeing acknowledged that Stonecipher did not violate any company rule, chairman Lewis Platt said the situation was a potential embarrasment to the aerospace giant.

David Gebler, CEO of business ethics consulting firm Working Values, which once had Boeing as a client, appeared on CNBC's "Power Lunch" on Friday to discuss the board of directors' decision to oust Stonecipher.* (SmartPros is the parent company of Working Values Ltd.)

According to Gebler, from an ethics perspective Boeing handled the situation well. "One of the challenges that we've seen from the scandals ... in the past few years is that when the board delays and doesn't act quickly there's more time for the scandal to ferment," said Gebler. He added that Boeing quickly investigated and responded to the situation, demonstrating its "commitment to integrity."

Gebler told CNBC that Boeing's response was reasonable in its "recovery from the Lockheed Martin scandal with regards to confidential information and disclosing a competitor's bid," and the Department of Defense issue that forced Condit to resign. "Boeing is very focused now on maintaining its levels of integrity with all of its stakeholders," he said.

Gebler added that Boeing has expected more from its top leader than its employees. "If you think of an organization with 160,000 employees -- how many people could actually embarrass the company? It's really just the top, top leadership ... the tone at the top and the expectations of leadership to maintain the highest levels of integrity."

Finding a replacement shouldn't be too difficult for Boeing, said Gebler, so long as the company looks for a candidate who understands the organization's values and how those values are linked to business performance.

"As was intended with Mr. Stonecipher, the intention of maintaining the high ethical standards is really the key job description. What Boeing has to do now is look at each of the key stakeholders -- its core customers, its employees, the Street, and develop both a communication strategy for the CEO and how to restore integrity for each of those groups," he said.

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