Business Ethics - Case Study Analysis and Recommendations

This article discusses the ethical dilemma faced by Brenda in her company and provides recommendations based on Chris MacDonald's methodology. The article also discusses the relevant codes of ethics and professional conduct for accountants and ICT professionals.

Running head: BUSINESS ETHICS
Business Ethics
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Brenda’s Dilemma
Brenda is facing a dilemma with the fact that she noticed several junior management
employees making error to enter data while using the new accounting software adopted by
the company. The company expressly mentions it in its policy that the staff’s identity would
be kept confidential. Now, Brenda’s dilemma is to find a way to tackle this corporate issue
without disclosing the identity of the staffs.
MacDonald’s methodology of resolving issue
Chris MacDonald’s methodology has been applied in the given case study to resolve
the dilemma. It says that there are some standards that are to be considered for handling the
given issue. The most relevant standards under MacDonald’s methodology applicable to the
given case are listed below:
 Specific code to be made for specific businesses
Brenda’s company should adopt particular set of codes for its employees to
follow strictly and be open to penalty in case of breach. Such deterrence is essential
to safeguard the company from such ethical issues in near future. A set of fresh
standard of care must be incorporated for the employees of the company to follow,
focusing on their job role and requirement (Brussalis and Pallitto 2017).
 Employees to be involved in the policy making sessions of the company
It is now a widely accepted fact that companies should involve its employees
in the policy-making sessions and should ask for their feedback for shaping and
incorporating the set of rules and code of conduct. This additionally gives the
employees a sense of responsibility and makes them feel valued by the company
(Brussalis and Pallitto 2017).
 Specified Implementation
It is the ethical duty and responsibility of the every modern company to
specify the rules and regulars of the corporation to its employees. Brenda should
implement the code of conduct of the company for the better implementation and
subsequent results. An appendix providing the implementation schemes should be
attached to the code so that it is convenient for the employees to get a quick glance
of them as per necessity (Brussalis and Pallitto 2017).
 Employees’ formal education of the code of conduct
It is the duty of the company to educate the employees regarding the rules,
regulations and code of conduct o which the company stands erect. Such education
and training would facilitate the adoption and implementation the essentials code of
conduct which is a must for any corporate house. Here, Brenda should take the toll to
converse with the employees personally and ensure that they understand their
mistake and make sure not to recur it further.
 Rules of enforcement
Without further delay, Brenda must call for a one-on-one meeting with the
defaulters who have been making the mistakes. The defaulters must be made aware
of the consequences of the breach of their standard code of conduct and must be
warned for such continuing act. However, such employees must be given a second
opportunity to continue with their job and their salary should not be docked. This
would bring in some changes in the situation of the company (Liu, Mai and
MacDonald 2018)
Advice to Brenda
The APES 110 Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants states that it is essential
to follow the major and substantial principles of the company. In this case, Brenda should
ensure whether the defaulter employees are observing the major rules and regulations of the
company and may ignore the insignificant ones that do not affect the company in any way.

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The employees are supposed to carry out their duty with integrity, professionalism,
objectivity and confidentiality. Along with these aspects, competence and care towards the
work is extremely essential that needs to be followed by the employees, as stated in the
Section 100 of APES 110 Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants. Section 100 lays
down the professional code of conduct and the ethical process to resolve conflicts like the
one faced by Brenda presently. Section 100.18 of the Code specifically provides the
resolution for the ethical dilemmas and it lays down the aspects relevant for the resolution.
Section 100.21 directs the members to take professional help and advice from legal advisors
pertaining to the concerned ethical dilemma and issue, without disclosing the confidentiality
of the employees (Apesb.org.au 2018).
Brenda is advised to communicate with the employees who are making the error, let
them know about their mistake and give them the chance to rectify themselves; failure to do
so would attract penalty (Dellaportas et al 2014). While, Brenda must ask the management
to extend the time for the proper implementation of the newly introduced accounting software
as it is time consuming and complex (Acwa.org.au 2018).
Communication about the issue
Brenda must communicate with the defaulters to let them know their mistakes so that
the rectify themselves. Additionally, she should communicate with the team dedicated to
company governance, like the Board of Directors to allow the employees some extra time to
make use of the software better (Apesb.org.au 2018).

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List of ACS Code of Ethics and Professional conduct:
ACS Code of Ethics:
1. Competence
2. Honesty
3. Professional development (Acs.org.au 2018).
ACS Code of Professional Conduct:
1. Honesty: must hold trust in a professional capacity.
2. Professional development: employees are required to upgrade their skills and
knowledge as per the job requirement.
3. Competence: must be aware of the code of conduct of their organization and the
relevant laws that are to be followed.
4. Public interest: employees must let the stakeholders know of any probable conflict
about his actions in the course of employment that the potential to jeopardize a public
policy or interest.
5. Professionalism: one must refrain from a derogatory actions that would disrepute the
organization or make the company suffer substantial loss (Acs.org.au 2018).
In the given case, Brenda should apply the code of ethics of competency, honesty
and professional development to resolve the ethical dilemma in her organization.
Competency would require her make the defaulter employee know their responsibility and
code of conduct, honesty would require the employees to operate at their maximum
capacity professionally and professional development would require the defaulters to
upgrade their skill and knowledge. Public interest would require the defaulters to take the
responsibility of the error or conflict that is arising out of the wrongdoing that might affect the
business of the organization, eventually affecting the public, if related. With
professionalism, the employees would be aware enough not to indulge into unprofessional
or derogatory activities that harms the organization.

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References:
Acs.org.au. (2018). ACS - The Professional Association for Australia's ICT sector. [online]
Available at: https://www.acs.org.au/ [Accessed 10 Oct. 2018].
Acwa.org.au. (2018). Code of ethics and Practice guidelines - Australian Community
Workers Association | ACWA. [online] Available at:
http://www.acwa.org.au/resources/ethics-and-standards [Accessed 10 Oct. 2018].
APES 110 Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants
Apesb.org.au. (2018). Accounting Professional and Ethical Standards Board. [online]
Available at: http://www.apesb.org.au/page.php?id=12 [Accessed 10 Oct. 2018].
Brussalis, C. W., & Pallitto, J. R. (2017). MANAGEMENT CONSULTING 94-808. Cell, 724,
3517.
Dellaportas, S., Kanapathippillai, S., Khan, A., & Leung, P. (2014). Ethics education in the
Australian accounting curriculum: A longitudinal study examining barriers and
enablers. Accounting Education, 23(4), 362-382.
Liu, Y., Mai, F., & MacDonald, C. (2018). A Big-Data Approach to Understanding the
Thematic Landscape of the Field of Business Ethics, 1982–2016. Journal of
Business Ethics, 1-24.