Analysis of Ethical Dilemmas: Business and Academic Case Studies

This case study examines two ethical dilemmas: one involving a certified public accountant (Johnny) and the other concerning a student (Mary Jo). Johnny violated accounting ethics by adding backdated documents to an audit file, contravening PCAOB standards. Mary Jo breached academic integrity by downloading and using test banks intended for instructors. The analysis identifies ethical violations, stakeholders (ABC company, PCAOB, Samantha, and the institution), and rationalizations for the behaviors. Alternative actions for both individuals are suggested, such as seeking help from colleagues or using alternative study materials. The report concludes that ethical dilemmas arise in various situations, and failing to speak up when confronted with ethical issues can have significant consequences. The case study emphasizes the importance of upholding ethical standards in professional and academic settings, with references to relevant literature.

Case Study

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
Question 1 : What standards and principles of ethics did Johnny and Mary Jo violate? ................1
Question 2 : Who are the main stakeholders in each situation aside from Johnny and Mary Jo?...2
Question 3 : How might Johnny and Mary Jo rationalize their behaviour as acceptable?..............2
Question 4 : What alternative actions would you recommend for Johnny and Mary Jo?...............3
Question 5 : Johnny and Mary Jo both failed to speak up when confronted with their ethical
dilemmas. ........................................................................................................................................3
Conclusion ......................................................................................................................................4
REFERENCES ...............................................................................................................................5

INTRODUCTION
Ethics are the values which influence each and every organisation in different level of
their career, education or personal life. There are various ways in which an individual deals with
a specific situation, considering ethics or ignoring the ethical values. The present report is in
context to two different scenarios' professional and student case scenarios, the report will analyse
the cases and provide an overview of ethics and ethical dilemma applicable on both the
scenarios.
Question 1 : What standards and principles of ethics did Johnny and Mary Jo
violate?
SCENARIO 1
Johnny is a certified public accountant, according to the Public Company Accounting
Oversight Board(PCAOB) all the companies should provide real time updates to them at the time
of inspection. Johnny violated an ethical value which is a policy by PCAOB, the accounting file
of ABC company was incomplete due to two missing documents a supporting worksheet and
signed engagement letter. Johnny added the backdates, tick marks and initials in the work papers,
and added those papers without explaining any actual dates or late addition of the papers. By
violating a legal policy of accountant practices, Johnny should be sanctioned by PCAOB. He
should be punished for not considering his duties. PCAOB can cancel his license or restrict his
accounting practices(Huang and et.al, 2018).
SCENARIO 2
According to the second scenario Mary Jo discussed an exam of the hardest class with
Samantha. Mary did not want to fail the exam but was lazy to study as it was her third exam this
week. Mary violated integrity code of their institution by downloading test bank for the textbook
from the website but it was clearly mentioned on the test bank's cover page that it is for
instructor use only. Therefore, it is clear that Mary has violated integrity code by downloading
and using test bank in order to pass the exam. The violation of integrity code of institution and
academic integrity policies is an offence, Mary can be punished for doing this. Mary JO can be
sanctioned by the university office as they are responsible for ensuring academic integrity. They
can suspend her from the university or fail her in the exam.
1

Question 2 : Who are the main stakeholders in each situation aside from
Johnny and Mary Jo?
SCENARIO 1
In the case of Johnny a certified accountant, ABC company and PCAOB are the main
stakeholders. The ABC company is an organisation in which Johnny work as an accountant, and
PCAOB, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board which is responsible for inspecting
the accounts of organisations and businesses. These two stakeholders can be affected by Johnny's
choice, if Johnny had mentioned actual and real time of the documents or completion of the file
ABC company had faced legal issues or penalties by PCAOB but he made second choice by
adding papers to the file without mentioning the actual time(Abrams and et.al, 2014).
SCENARIO 2
In the second case of Mary Jo, Samantha and institution are major stakeholders.
Samantha has downloaded all the text banks which were only for instructor use and she told
Mary Jo to download test banks. The institution has a specific integrity code for academics
according to the policy test banks should be used by the instructors of university. Mary Jo got to
know that Samantha has all the test banks she had two choices, Firstly she can inform university
office about this act of Samantha which would create a big problem for Samantha. Second choice
for Mary Jo is to download test banks and pass the exam. This choice can risk her result and
academic year, University office can take a strict against Mary for violating Integrity policy.
Question 3 : How might Johnny and Mary Jo rationalize their behaviour as
acceptable?
SCENARIO 1
Johnny can justify his behaviour by saying that he was busy working for so many audits
in the current season. He can also explain the inspector that the client who needs to sign
engagement letter was not available for signing the letter which made a delay in adding work
paper in to the audit file. He can ensure inspectors that this behaviour was not intentionally by
showing them his previous records and he can also ask a little time to correct the errors and add
all the necessary papers into the file(Russett and et.al, 2015).
SCENARIO 2
2

In the second scenario, Mary Jo took test banks from Samantha and used it as a study aid
which can be used by instructors only. Mary Jo can rationalize her behaviour by saying that she
did not know that the test bank is only for instructors or she can say that Samantha also didn't
know about it. They thought that it's only a study material for all the students. Mary Jo can also
tell university professionals that she won't repeat this again, it was not intentionally and she did
not want to violate integrity code of academics.
Question 4 : What alternative actions would you recommend for Johnny and
Mary Jo?
SCENARIO 1
Johnny can make an alternative choice for not violating the ethical code, he also had a
choice to take hep from other accountants if he was busy with other audits. This could be the best
alternative option for Johnny and it could be also useful for eliminating risk of sanctioning or
penalty(Little and et.al, 2018).
SCENARIO 2
Mary Jo also had an effective alternative choice in the case, Students can use various
types of study material in order to pass the exam. Mary Jo took test banks form Samantha instead
of this she can ask for notes or other study guide such as sample questions etc in order to study
for the exams. Mary Jo could also ask help from her classmates for studying and pass the exams.
It can be possible for each and every student to get good marks by taking class notes as well.
Question 5 : Johnny and Mary Jo both failed to speak up when confronted
with their ethical dilemmas.
SCENARIO 1
In the case Johnny, he had two alternative choices as ethical dilemmas. Johnny had two
choices as mentioned under -
 Not adding papers to the file without updated time and engagement letter
 Take add papers to the file without updated time and engagement letter
There were various contributed to his silence when confronted with their ethical
dilemmas, Johnny knew about the code of doing right according to his duty or job of accountant.
PCAOB has a major policy about audit and accounts files of organizations. Johnny did not
mention any information about updated or actual date of the papers added to the file. He knew
3

that his behavior was not ethical and it violated an ethical code of his duty. If Johnny wanted to
act ethically in the case or situation he could have showed his concern with the practices all the
accountant are doing at present. He could have also asked inspectors to focus on developing
strict policies against the accountants who violate the ethical code while working as an
accountant for any organisation or company.
SCENARIO 2
In the case of Mart Jo, it was clearly observer by University office that she has violated
code of integrity for the academics. There two choice or ethical dilemmas she faced -
 To take test banks form Samantha
 Not to take test bank from Samantha
Mary Jo took the test banks in order to pass the exams, which forced who violate code of
integrity and university policy which was the main reason for her silence while confrontation.
She knew her behaviour was not at all ethical and she did not have any justification for her act. If
she wanted to act ethically she couldn't have taken test banks from Samantha as they were for
instructor's use only(Wachs and et.al, 2018). Mary Jo could have informed University office that
Samantha had all the test banks which she uses as study aid in order to pas the exams.
Conclusion
The above report concluded that ethical dilemma can be developed in any situation, there
were two cases in this report. Johnny a certified accountant violated the ethical code by not
performing his duties and responsibilities ethically. He did not explain updated time and actual
time of the papers as well as the engagement letter was not signed by the client and he added it to
the file. Mary Jo on the other hand violated ethical code of integrity for the academics by taking
test banks from Samantha which is only for instructors.
4

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Wachs, M., 2018. Ethical dilemmas in forecasting for public policy. In Classics Of Administrative
Ethics (pp. 102-114). Routledge.
Little, D., 2018. The paradox of wealth and poverty: Mapping the ethical dilemmas of global development .
Routledge.
Russett, B.M., 2015. Ethical dilemmas of nuclear deterrence. In Bruce M. Russett: Pioneer in the Scientific
and Normative Study of War, Peace, and Policy (pp. 153-168). Springer, Cham.
Abrams, D.C., Prager, K., Blinderman, C.D., Burkart, K.M. and Brodie, D., 2014. Ethical dilemmas
encountered with the use of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation in adults. Chest,145(4),
pp.876-882.
Huang, H.L., Yao, C.A., Hu, W.Y., Cheng, S.Y., Hwang, S.J., Chen, C.D., Lin, W.Y., Lin, Y.C. and Chiu,
T.Y., 2018. Prevailing Ethical Dilemmas Encountered by Physicians in Terminal Cancer Care
Changed After the Enactment of the Natural Death Act: 15 Years' Follow-up Survey. Journal of
pain and symptom management, 55(3), pp.843-850.
5