An Assistant Controller in a Medium-Sized Manufacturing Company

This case study is about an assistant controller, who works at a medium-sized manufacturing company, Kirk, who is responsible for corporate social responsibility. Kirk had demonstrated promise and the senior managers had allowed him to join higher-level conferences and meetings.. In one particular meeting with a prestigious consulting firm about the monthly financial statement summary. However, Kirk became concerned when mentioning the new manufacturing facility, cost per unit and waste disposal costs. Know how Kirk have handled the situation.

BUS 5115: BUSINESS LAW, ETHICS, AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY- WRITTEN
ASSIGNMENT UNIT 3
Corporate Social Responsibility
University of the People
BUS 5115 – Business Law, Ethics, and Social Responsibility
Instructor - Whitnie Wiley

BUS 5115: BUSINESS LAW, ETHICS, AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY- WRITTEN
ASSIGNMENT UNIT 3
Relevant Facts
In this essay there is an analysis of a case study that focuses on Kirk, an assistant controller, who
works at a medium-sized manufacturing company. Kirk had demonstrated promise and the
senior managers had allowed him to join higher-level conferences and meetings. In one
particular meeting with a prestigious consulting firm about the monthly financial statement
summary. However, Kirk became concerned when mentioning the new manufacturing facility,
costs per unit and waste disposal costs. John, the chemical engineer, stated that the current waste
disposal facilities would not be able to cope with the new manufacturing facility in a manner that
would meet the new industries standards, but they would meet federal standards. However,
environmentalists are putting pressure on the government to raise the federal standards. Henry,
Kirk’s line manager, noted that unit costs would increase if upgrade to the waste disposal facility
was actioned. Bob, the company’s President, was not in favour of upgrading the waste disposal
facility and commented that they already had superior facilities to the nearest competitor. Kirk
did not pay attention to the rest of the meeting.
Ethical Issues
Ethical issue is the term used when decisions, activity or scenarios that cause a conflict with a
society’s moral principles (My Accounting Course, n.d.). In this case, Kirk’s personal
environmental concerns do not match that of the company and senior management. While the
present waste disposal facility is up to federal standards, which is legally binding and
enforceable by law (Congressional Research Services. 2021), they are not up to the higher
standard set by the industry or International Standards Organisation (ISO) which are not legally
binding. Any standards issued by the ISO regarding environmental issues, listed as ISO 14001,
aim to improve the company's processes and outcomes in terms of environmental safety (PPM,

BUS 5115: BUSINESS LAW, ETHICS, AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY- WRITTEN
ASSIGNMENT UNIT 3
n.d.). Therefore, the focus of the company is more to comply with the legal requirements, keep
costs low and maintain better facilities that its competitors over the maximum possible effort to
protect the environment or consider the environmentalists push for higher legal standards.
Stakeholders
A stakeholder is a group or individual that has an interest in a business and can either affect or be
affected by the operation of the business (Fernando,2021). The stakeholders in this case would
include the owners, shareholders and employees of the manufacturing company will have an
interest in the success of the company. They would all want the business to do well to have a
return on investment and potential pay rises. The company’s customers and suppliers would also
be interested, customers would want the business to continue as they would want the products
and the supplier would hope the business grows so they would need increased amounts of
materials. Furthermore, the government wants business to grow as this will help economic
growth, environmentalists and local residents would have concerns about the disposal of the
waste in the area and other effects on the local environment.
Possible Alternatives and their Ethics
As Kirk does not share the same ethical view of most of his colanguages and seniors, there are a
few options open to him.
Option One: If Kirk is truly passionate about this issue, he could state he would leave the
company if it did not take its environmental commitments seriously. However, it is very unlikely
that management would consider Kirk's resignation as sufficient negotiating power against the
cost of the upgrades. Furthermore, Kirk could be a whistleblower and pass on the information to
the environmentalist about the business lack of interest in upgrading the waste disposal facility.

BUS 5115: BUSINESS LAW, ETHICS, AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY- WRITTEN
ASSIGNMENT UNIT 3
This could bring pressure onto the company. However, this is an unethical action to leak
confidential information.
Option two: Kirk complies with the views of the senior management and ignores the
environmental issue. With this option he avoids any conflicts, but he will sacrifice his own
personal ethics. However, he may be able to continue to work well and gain promotion and more
influence in the company and later try to asset change at a later date.
Option three: Kirk raises his concerns to senior management, and he can point out the benefits of
complying with the high industry standards. These would include marketing the company’s high
ethical standard and commitment towards protecting the environment and become an industry
leader in eco-friendly operations. This could greatly improve the public image of the company
and safeguard against possible changes the environmentalists might achieve in their pressure on
the government. As the company is more interested in unit costs and profit, Kirk can reexamine
the financial data to see if there is a cost-effective method of improving the company’s
environmental protection commitment but still maintaining a healthy profit margin. Finally, he
can continue to work his way up through the company to a position where he could affect
change.
Constraints
The constraints to this case study are the possible opposition to Kirk’s environmental concerns
due to the views of senior managers and financial concerns. The company’s profit driven
objective is more important to them than the environmental protection and the view that they
meet the legal requirements and the fact that the business has better facilities than its
competitors.
Recommendation

BUS 5115: BUSINESS LAW, ETHICS, AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY- WRITTEN
ASSIGNMENT UNIT 3
Taking into account the utilitarian perspective which is an approach to distinguish between right
and wrong actions (Nathanson, n.d.), the third option would create the greatest benefit to the
largest number of people. This option does not risk Kirk’s position or future at the company and
does not harm the stakeholders of the company. Raising concerns and working towards a
position to effect change would be the best possible outcome.
References
Congressional Research Services (2021). An Overview of Federal Regulations and the
Rulemaking Process. Congressional Research Services.
https://sgp.fas.org/crs/misc/IF10003.pdf
Fernando, J. (19th August 2021). Stakeholder. Investopedia.
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/stakeholder.asp
My Accounting Course. (n.d.) What are Ethical Issues? My Accounting Course.
https://www.myaccountingcourse.com/accounting-dictionary/ethical-issues#:~:text=What
%20Does%20Ethical%20Issues%20Mean,question%20from%20an%20ethical
%20standpoint.
Nathanson, S. (n.d.). Act and Rule Utilitarianism. Internet Encyclopaedia of Philosophy
https://iep.utm.edu/util-a-r/

BUS 5115: BUSINESS LAW, ETHICS, AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY- WRITTEN
ASSIGNMENT UNIT 3
PPM. (n.d.) Covering the Gap: ISO Standards vs Government Regulations. PPM Consultants.
https://ppmco.com/covering-the-gap-iso-standards-vs-government-regulations/
#:~:text=These%20standards%20are%20not%20enforceable,does%20not%20guarantee
%20EPA%20compliance.%22