Assessment Task 2 – Case Study Analysis

Contents

1. Introduction 

2. Ethical issue 

2.1 Maintenance 

2.2 Employees 

2.3 Financing 

3.  The ethical boundaries 

4.  Alternative courses of action 

5.  The best course of action 

6.  The responsibilities of a financial professional 

7. Conclusion

8. References 

Introduction

1. The Ethics of the company are driven by the code of ethics that all the financial professionals have to follow so as to ensure that the company does not go wrong on the ethical Grounds. The code of conduct says that the integrity e of the professionals depends upon the ability of them to follow the right thing at the right time. Even when the things are not going right a proper set of rules and principles needs to be followed by the staff of the company e in making valuable decisions so as to conduct organizational business. The basic focus of the code is to understand the responsibilities of conducting the business ethically while following the requirements of the law in accordance with all the necessary compliances. None of the professionals should ever give up the code of conduct so as to increase the company's business. (Code of Conduct and Code of Ethics for Finance Professionals, 2019)

Ethical issue

Maintenance

It was observed that there was asbestos identified on the lining off the air conditioning system and it was observed that they are highly dangerous for the patients as they are the reason for cancer. Button identification it was found that the asbestos was still intact and presented no danger. A Three yearly check were recommended so as to remove the extra stores and replacing it with an appropriate lining that would cause the company higher than the estimated budget. 

When Hamid approached Jane on replacing the asbestos, Jane got angry and fired Hamid from the office. Not only this but Avneet also recommended review of the asbestos straightaway Jane said that there is no. Reviewing them as they e didn't have that much money that year and said that they don't have time for the instructions before the financial and budgets. With this it can be concluded that Jane is the person for the ethical issue who is going against the code of conduct while taking wrong ethical decisions because the asbestos have to be replaced as they are highly harmful for the patients. (Code of Conduct and Code of Ethics for Finance Professionals, 2019)

Employees 

As per the case it was observed that Jane wanted to remove Berth and Rose because of the reason that both were not adding that productivity to the entity. 

Both were removed from the entity without giving any prior notice also they have their own responsibilities in life that have to be fulfilled. This is one of the major ethical issues that were conducted in the entity. (Business, 2019)

Financing 

It was observed that Shady Oak was following accounting policies which were out of date. There was no difference between the current assets and noncurrent assets of the entity for which Avnet wanted them to be properly disclosed. Also for the purpose of reviewing the loan in the six months Avneet inform Jane to do so. Also for the audit of the entity Avneet asked Jane that the auditor will able to detect that. 

Jane ignored such relationship and felt it as unnecessary as she felt that the bank has mortgaged their property over $3 million there is no need to review the same as the bank would never know that and they will never get hurt. For the audit concern she was totally unethical as the answer was it was her brother in law who would be the auditor. (Code of Conduct and Code of Ethics for Finance Professionals, 2019)

The ethical boundaries

Ethics is that part of philosophy that deals with the human behavior and character. It is the basic science of morals which creates difference between correct or incorrect. It is a basic set of rules and regulations while considering the codes of conduct that regulate the human behavior. Theoretical ethics also known as normative ethics are the set of rules that define in discovering the right from wrong and also help in developing rules and principles which help in in creating meaningful decision making principles in the organization. 

The basic informal guidelines which begin the constitution of what is correct or incorrect in the organization are called as norms. These are the basic expectations on a collective basis where the members of an organization have from each other. 

The collective representations of what constitutes a good life are called as values. Values help a person to understand the difference between good or bad in an organization. Overall values have high level of influence on the person's behavior.

Code of ethics and professional responsibilities involves integrity, objectivity, competence, fairness, confidentiality, professionalism and diligence. All the principles have to be followed by the professional running an entities business so as to ensure that none of the code of ethics are not violated by the company. For the purpose of establishment the highest principles in standards these code of ethics have to be followed by the professionals. (Turner, 2017)

Various stakeholders have been directly and indirectly affected by the decisions that were taken by Jane in Shady Oaks. Berth who was there in the company for over 20 years was a lawyer employee for the company and Jane wanted to remove him immediately because he was slowing down because of his age, it has been already mentioned that he had to pay off his debt for the house he owns in the next five years still he was thrown out of the entity. Such unethical behavior by the senior officials of the entity e is highly disregarded by the stakeholders of the company.

Jane was the moral agent of the company who shall be held accountable for all the actions and responsibilities that can cause unjustified harm to the Entity. Earlier only to the people who are responsible morally were sign this duty. As the moral agent one need to have the understanding of making decisions in respect to the company and to ensure that nobody gets harmed with the decision taken in the favor of the company. (Turner, 2017)

Alternative courses of action

It can be observed that Jane is a deontologist as all the decisions taken by her are towards her obligations and duties that have to be fulfilled by her while making decisions for the organizational benefits. As per the rules followed by a deontologist their duty and obligations have to be fulfilled by any means and that is what they think is ethically correct. Here in these situations Jane is aware of the fact that all the decisions that are ethically incorrect have to be taken as she was fulfilling her duty irrespective of what was ethically correct in somebody else dictionary.

It was observed that the company needed to remove Berth and Rose because of the reason that they were not productive and were slow in their workings. Both of them had their own personal responsibilities and were the most loyal employees of the company, therefore they should have given ample amount of time so as to find any other job before they were thrown out of the company. 

We understand that the company was in losses and wanted to reduce their expenses and should have removed the unnecessary workforce from the entity. On analyzing the company’s situation it was necessary for them to reduce the unnecessary expenses of the company, since as per the case it was mentioned that their productivity was not up to the mark therefore their removal became import for the company. (Board, 2019)

The asbestos regarded as the most dangerous and have to be replaced urgently, ethically if something is harmful for the patients then it should be the priority for the company to take appropriate action rather than letting it go. 

Since the cost of replacing the lining was over the maintenance budget of Shady oaks, it can be observed that the maintenance budget decided by the company was $400,000 and the expenditure to change the asbestos was getting over the budget for the company and which is one of the consequence that the company would consider over ethical lenses that the company is facing.

Non-disclosure accounting policies and stating that the auditor is a relative of the Concern person of the entity is absolutely unethical and there should be proper measures to be taken so as to appoint a proper auditor who can provide true and fair view of the entity to the various stakeholders and potential investors. (Business, 2019)

This will provide a truthful image of the organization to the various stakeholders and then these stakeholders could withdraw their investment or loan from such organization which would get the organization in more trouble.

The best course of action

The reason behind Jane believed in employee cost cutting and other financial activities was because of the reason that the company was not earning that profit and was not satisfactory as per her requirement. In the first year the budget was finalized and need-based admission policy was not adopted. In the next year it was their plan to adopt need based admission over time based policy. But avneet it was not aware of the fact that decision has already been taken by the board regarding the adoption of the time based admission policy which will be continued by the entity for the next year as well. Even on proving the facts that time based policy will be helpful for the company to increase its revenue Jane didn't believe it. If this policy was adopted by the company then the revenue will automatically increase as 50% of the times the capacity of the entity remains vacant, with such a policy it will be able to occupy the vacant capacity and generate revenue for the entity. With the generated revenue neither Berth nor Rose would have been fired nor the asbestos would be used again even if they are harming and this will definitely e solve all the problems of shady Oaks. (Business, 2019)

Since only the increased revenue can solve the most problems of shady oaks and there are no other ways of increasing the revenue for the company and it has been observed that as soon as the revenue will increase all the important problems faced by them can be fulfilled. It has been considered as the best alternative because more revenue will generate more employment and therefore the entity will be able to work smoothly. (Board, 2019)

The responsibilities of a financial professional

A financial professional is a person who is regarded and appointed the company on a position which requires proper knowledge and expertise while considering ethical understanding of the various issues that occurs in day to day business activities in the organization. 

The responsibility of a financial professional is integrity and honesty while conducting and providing his professional services to the various clients associated with the company. The trust that the stakeholders and the employees of the company have on the financial professional is because of his personal integrity. (Turner, 2017)

Professional ethics are regarded as the various set of values that an individual should possess within himself that includes kindness, responsibility etc. Their responsibility includes the professional behavior with their employees, creditors and stakeholders. It includes their social responsibilities towards making decisions for the Welfare and wellbeing of the people working around them. For the purpose of increasing the overall productivity of the organization social responsibility e helps in building good team so that each and every team made can work together so as to achieve their individual goals while considering in the achievement of overall objectives. Many a times the professional forget their responsibilities so as to just increase the revenue of the company e while not considering their social and ethical responsibilities towards the entity. (Turner, 2017)

As per the social responsibility that has been provided for the financial professional towards their employees has not been fulfilled by Jane who has ruthlessly removed Hamid, Berth and Rose without any prior notice. Jane has breached the ethical requirements for job security and has not used the basic understanding of the personal responsibilities that all the 3 respectively will be facing. All the three employees of the company  were the loyal professionals who had given majority of the time for the company, even she is not considered anything and has violated every aspect of the ethical requirement that one professional has to follow. (Code of Conduct and Code of Ethics for Finance Professionals, 2019)

Avneet has fulfilled all the ethical and social responsibilities towards the organization by providing all the ethical requirements to be in stated in the company to his senior Jane. Avneet has focused towards all the ethical requirements including requirements for employees, banks and auditors. Whereas on the other hand Jane has just focus towards cost cutting of the company by removing the employees of the company unethically and not focusing on the disclosure requirements that the company has to provide in the annual budgets and financial statements. She has not taken due diligence while following ethical requirements for the company. (Business, 2019)

Conclusion

It can be concluded that Jane (CEO) of Shady oaks who is a business professional who considers business as the most important priority of running a successful business. It was observed that she didn't have followed much of the ethical requirements in the entity. Change the revenue for the company was increasing as per the state regulations which are based on the inflation rate but were lower than the CPI index. Therefore this so needs to conduct some cost cutting for which she didn't followed any of the ethical requirements and did the same for Shady Oaks, it can be said that she was a good business professional but lacked ethical requirements which are also required by a financial professional so as to run the business. (Code of Conduct and Code of Ethics for Finance Professionals, 2019)

References

Board, C. (2019). CODE OF ETHICS & PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITY. Retrieved from https://www.cfp.net: https://www.cfp.net/for-cfp-professionals/professional-standards-enforcement/current-standards-of-professional-conduct/standards-of-professional-conduct/code-of-ethics-professional-responsibility

Business, M. S. (2019). Moral Agent. Retrieved from https://ethicsunwrapped.utexas.edu: https://ethicsunwrapped.utexas.edu/glossary/moral-agent

Code of Conduct and Code of Ethics for Finance Professionals. (2019). Retrieved from https://www.jpmorganchase.com: https://www.jpmorganchase.com/corporate/About-JPMC/ab-code-of-ethics.htm

Turner, P. (2017, September 26). Professional Ethics & Social Responsibilities. Retrieved from https://bizfluent.com: https://bizfluent.com/info-8275553-professional-ethics-social-responsibilities.html

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