Did I go too Far?
Dave,
This is a question of corporate values. If you violated a writen SOP and you get anything more than a counseling session, they're more interested in the perpetuation of beauracracy than business results. The higher-ups should perform a root cause analysis to understand why the heck an employee felt the need to perform self-help of such an extreme measure.
Dave, my recommendation is to ensure your immediate management is apprised of your situation. They should be escalating this issue to an Enterprise/Global level.
If you worked for me, you'd get a high rating for initiative.:9: