Ethical Theories and Motivation for Disclosure of Short Payments

Part A Question 1: Assume that Arnold wants to disclose the short payments to
staff immediately. Identify the theory of ethics that
best explains Arnold’s
motivation for wanting to do this. Explain why you chose this theory (300–400
words).
Answer: The behaviour of a person is motivated by many of the approaches. These
approaches regulate the behaviour of people and outline their priorities. These are known
as Ethical theories and play an important role here especially when it comes to the business
or profession. Every person is required to behave ethically and to perform the duties
accordingly. In general, ethical theories can be divided into two parts namely
Consequentialist & Non-consequentialist theories (Bbc.co.uk, 2019).
Here the most appropriate theory is deontology. The theory has been provided by
Immanuel Kant (Ethicsunwrapped.utexas.edu, 2019). It focuses on the duty of a person.
According to this theory, every person must follow ethical actions. This theory does not
consider the result and cost and benefit of action. Despite every other thing, it requires a
person to fulfil the duties and obligations associated with his/her designation (MacKinnon &

Fiala, 2016). Further, it believes that an ethical course of action is the one where a person
fulfils the duty and work in the best interest of the same no matter what consequence their
actions may lead.
Here this is to state that being the management accountant, Arnold is on the position where
the same needs to report true financials and related aspects to the stakeholders. This are
the expectations attached to his designation in the business. Now the issue is that Mr.
Goodrich is now allowing him to do so considering the negative outcomes. In such a
situation if Arnold wants to disclosure the same to staff, deontology theory seems as a
motivation behind this decision as it focuses on the duties rather than the consequences.
References:
Bbc.co.uk. (2019).
Consequentialism. Retrieved from:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/introduction/consequentialism_1.shtml
Ethicsunwrapped.utexas.edu. (2019).
Deontology. Retrieved from:

https://ethicsunwrapped.utexas.edu/glossary/deontology#targetText=Deontology
%20is%20an%20ethical%20theory,Don't%20steal.
MacKinnon, B. & Fiala, A. (2016).
Ethics: Theory and Contemporary Issues. USA: Cengage
Learning.

Part A Question 2: Mr Goodrich expects Arnold to show loyalty to the company
(and to Mr Goodrich) and not disclose the existence of the short payments (at
least, not yet). Is Mr Goodrich right to expect this, and what are the limits of
“loyalty” (300–400 words)?
Answer: As discussed above, different people have different approaches and they work
according to the different ethical theories. Some of them consider their duties whereas
some others develop their focus on the result. Under every theory of ethics, it is given that
people should act ethically. For managers of the company, it is required to behave ethically
and also to motivate employees similarly. Here Arnold is appointed on the position of
management account and the lead duty of his position is to carefully check accounts of the
company and to present the true and fair view of the same. If Goodrich would stop Arnold
by disclosing the existence of short payment then the same would not be in his rights. Here
Arnold wants to follow the duty to which he has been appointed and even being part of the
management of the company Goodrich cannot demand anything that breached the duty of
Arnold.
Here this is also necessary to mention that every employee is required to be loyal to his/her