Ethical Dilemma Case Analysis

People find it easier to cheat what is received as a large, faceless entity like a corporation or the government than to cheat a friend or acquaintance, experts say. Games, 2002) Ethics is so important within our society that most ethical values have been integrated into the laws of our land. Society has to have ethical behavior in order to keep the supportive order that has been set. An ethical dilemma is a situation in which a decision must be made about the appropriate behavior in which an Individual or company should make to support order.

It will often Involve an apparent conflict between moral Imperatives, If obeyed this would result In one person transgressing another.

The history of business In the united States is littered with tales of fraud, deceit and corruption, not only by the hands of a greedy few at the top, but also with the help of employees willing to go along with the charade. (Valentine 2002) Generally speaking, there are two major approaches that philosophers use in handling ethical dilemmas.

One approach focuses on the practical consequences of what we do; the other concentrates on the actions themselves. However, there are six core ethical values hat have been established to assist society with ethical behavior. Trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring, and citizenship are the six examples of ethical standards.

What Is A Dilemma

Unethical behavior is defined as conduct that is deferent from what others within or society believes to be appropriate behavior. There are many reasons why people act unethically.

Get quality help now

WriterBelle

Verified

Proficient in: Audit

4.7 (657)

“ Really polite, and a great writer! Task done as described and better, responded to all my questions promptly too! ”

+84 relevant experts are online

Hire writer

The most common reasons are that people have different ethical standard than those of society and people choose to act selfish. There are six steps to resolving ethical dilemma. The simple ethical framework approaches are to obtain the facts, identify the ethical issues from the facts obtained, determine who, what group or person is affected by the outcome of the dilemma, identify alternatives that the individual or persons who are Involved must use to resolve the dilemma, identify the consequences of these alternatives, and come to a decision about what is the appropriate action that should be taken to resolve the dilemma.

The six-step process has been condensed by Thomas White, author and professor of business ethics and director of the Center for Ethics and Business at Loyola Martyrdom university in Los Angels by offering a three-step strategy. (Martinez, 2000-2007) First analyze the consequences, then analyze the action and finally make a decision. The general focus Is on the legal Issues of what must be done versus what ought to be done. Resolving ethical dilemmas In workforce Is a fundamental problem that almost every management has when the company has a Lovers set AT employees. Ease under 4-B Walton our text (Arenas, Elder, Ana Basely 108-109) presents an ethical dilemma for Barbara Whitley.

She is faced with aging a decision about what is the appropriate behavior for the situation that she is presented with by Jack Bean. As being an auditor if she throws away the schedules as Jack (the supervisor) is suggestion she do, she is not conducting herself in a professional manner as society encourages the accounting profession to do for the public or client. Also, if she does not throw away the schedules this will likely cause difficulty among her and Jack. Using the six steps that assist in resolving dilemma listed previously. While resolving the dilemma, Barbara should be able to look into he background of the situation with an open mind, the origin of the dilemma and all the individuals involved within the conflict.

She should also look for any missing information that might be of importance to solving the dilemma. Then, Barbara should begin by gathering the relevant facts which come from her work, because this may contain material information that should be disclosed. Her hard work should not Just be thrown away. The ethical issue is whether to throw away the schedules that contain the misstatements as Jack is telling her to do. Easy enough to discover hat all parties are affected.

Barbara is affected because she is in violation of Rule 102 and her future with the firm may be affected and her performance evaluation by Jack will be affected more negatively than positive. Jack is affected because his future with the firm is affected as well as his performance evaluation of upper management. Green, Thresher and Company, Spas are affected because if the audit is completed late they will probably lose the appointment. If the client discovers the misstatement; they could also be sued for these material misstatements because they did not detect or disclose them. Delaney Fabrics will be affected, because they may not have the time to correct the misstatements, if they are not brought up in time.

Therefore, additional cost will be incurred if they have to adjust their financial statements if the misstatements exist and are not reported. Next, Barbara has alternatives with consequences of throwing the schedules away and taking the chance that the client will discover the misstatements and sue. She can tell Jack that she is not going to throw the schedules away and she probably will not get a favorable review. Where possible, try to speak with your manager or someone else you trust when in doubt especially if the decision you have to make affects the company. Make sure that you don’t assume that your company will tolerate you doing something wrong even if it benefits them.

(Mueller, 2007) She could talk to upper management about what Jack ask her to do and she could be accepted for doing what she feels is ethically correct or rejected by them for going over Jacks head to them. She could stop working on the engagement and be labeled throughout her career as being a problem with co- errors. She could even quit the firm and miss out on great knowledge as being an auditor. Finally she should decide what the appropriate action is by discussing the matter in depth with Jack for understanding only because anything else would be a violation of Rule of Conduct 102. Telling Jack that she will speak with upper management is a good approach for Barbara.

This will allow her to take the right steps of reproach for her professional field.