“Ethical Dilemma at Northlake”
Week 3 – Case Study #1
Cecellia Dantzler
Synopsis: Frank, manager of corporate reporting at Amalgamated Forest Products, has threatened to go public with information regarding a falsified report on the effect of effluent controls on the discharge of wastewater from pulp and paper companies, which has angered his boss, Jim McIntosh and the company’s president, Jim Letourneau. Letourneau was to testify before a legislative subcommittee the following week and use the report, “Endangered Species: The Pulp and Paper Industry in the Upper Peninsula”, to give the industry’s perspective on proposed legislation. The section of the report which contained the falsified financial information was prepared by Tina
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The section of the report addressing the monetary impact of Amalgamated installing emission control equipment had been falsified. The numbers used in the report were over exaggerated in order to show that Amalgamated would suffer severely financially should this legislation be passed. Recommendation #1: Amalgamated has three mills in the community. These three mills and the corporate offices provide jobs to many of the 10,000 people of Northlake. The company is a major contributor to the economy of the community. The recommendation is for Amalgamated to be ethical and show corporate responsibility. No amount of money can be given for human life. The aboriginal community is suffering from the effects of emission waste from the previous competitor and from Amalgamated as well. Amalgamated should forego its own financial gain and do what is ethically right to clean up their waste so that it does not affect the community. The company has had the emissions problem for so long and it would only benefit them in the long run to do the right thing and stop the pollution now.
Finding of Fact #2: Frank is being bullied, more specifically, being mobbed, by his vice president and the president of the company. When Jim McIntosh confronts Frank about publically disclosing the truth about the report, he is yelling and calling Frank stupid. He’s threatening Frank with all the things he could lose if he were to go forward with the truth. His face is bright red and he is trembling
Did Lorman’s wastewater emissions play any role in this tragic outcome?” Although these are Ben’s thoughts, this is not definitely the case; there is no definite proof that there is a link between the chemicals in the wastewater emissions and health problems. Ben must put aside his our pre-conceived notions and work objectively on the data. This is another good example of his responsibility to use integrity when making a decision to avoid conflicts of interest. 4. To the board of directors: o “Although collected with meticulous care, the data Ben had painstakingly gathered was composed only of educated estimates, leaving him with an uneasy feeling.” Although Ben may want to present his data in a way that supports his decision, it is important that his audiences know the legitimacy of his data. It is his responsibility to communicate information fairly and objectively and to disclose any deficiencies in the data. 5. To shareholders of Lorman Lumber Co: o “Company and shareholder profitability would certainly be affected.” In order to support Ben’s credibility, it is important that he disclose all relevant information to the investors of Lorman Lumber Co. Although shareholder equity would most certainly be affected by such a significant capital investment and reduction of revenue in the short run, Ben could be ensuring shareholder value over the long run by improving productivity, lowering negative
Although this practice was not fraudulent, the plaintiffs insisted that Campbell had a responsibility to record a reserve or allowance in anticipation of substantial customer returns likely to result from theses “sales.” Despite the fact that a large percentage of product sold under guaranteed sales contracts was returned, the company’s accounting staff apparently never recorded appropriate reserves for those sales returns. The plaintiffs charged that PwC must have known about Campbell’s bogus sales, but
concerns about the impact of his drilling, but he has refused to take corrective measures.
These scandals shared characteristics of skewed reporting of financial transactions. Congress hoped the Act would address the problems by holding senior management accountable for financial transactions and require more involvement from the board of directors. Several provisions of SOX are aimed toward strengthening corporate governance regarding antifraud efforts. Misreporting of the sales creates a false sense that United Thermostatic Controls met their budgeted sales numbers. Misreporting revenue violates multiple sections of SOX Act placing United Thermostatic Controls at risk. According to the SOX definition of internal control over financial reporting, United Thermostatic Controls is in violation because the company cannot provide reasonable assurance that the financial statements were prepared for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles specifically pertaining to the disposition of assets possessing a material effect on financial statements.
Milton Manufacturing Company is a closely-held company has been in business since 1999 when its President Irv Milton first opened the business with its primary operations in Long Island City, New York and factory branches and warehouses in surrounding areas. The business had increased revenue over its first ten years of business from $500,000 in its first year to $5 million in 2008.
Directions: Complete the tasks below. Replace the highlighted text with your own answers. Copy and paste your answers to the student comments box in 1.07 and submit for grading.
1. What were the costs and benefits to stakeholders of the actions taken by Massey Energy and its managers?
If the founders claim there is no need to seek licensing for the UNIX software, that the additional 15,000 licenses are part of the business marketing model to secure additional funding and that no financial implications are pursuant to the action, and that WSIB was an oversight
What would I do if I was in George Nash’s position as Vice President of Real Estate at Desperate Air Corporation (a company in dire financial straits), and my pending sale of Florida property potentially had toxic waste buried beneath the surface. I found this to be the least challenging question posed thus far in terms of my own ethical beliefs. In this instance I would proceed with the sale without disclosing the information regarding what I had heard about the toxic waste. Clearly Florida law states that you do not have to disclose that there is a hazardous substance on commercial property as long as there is not a fraudulent statement about the property. Nash did his due diligence by hiring someone to do an environmental study. The
This case study analyzes the experiences of Courtland Kelley at General Motors (GM). Courtland Kelley a third generation GM worker put his job on the line by pushing the GM managers and executives to fully respond to the safety issues found while working as a safety inspector at the company. Kelley along with his supervisor Bill McAleer first discovered the issues while auditing GM cars at rail yards across the country, a spot check of vehicles before the cars were cleared to be delivered to the dealers. McAleer was taken off the audit as a result, who subsequently sued the company seeking whistle-blower protection. The case was eventually dismissed by a judge in favor of GM. The judgement only increased Kelley’s
I feel it is a person’s choice and it is different than suicide. It has to be well thought out and talked about with a team of people involved including physicians, psychologists, and family. I also think it is based more on
Nurses are faced with ethical issues and dilemmas on a regular basis. Nurses must understand his or her values and morals to be able to deal adequately with the ethical issues he or she is faced with. Some ethical issues nurses are exposed to may be more difficult than others and the ethical decision making process is learned over time.
Nurses are faced with ethical dilemmas every day. There are a lot of different beliefs surrounding ethics and the code of ethics. Ethics and ethical issues have always existed, that is why they have put in place the code of ethics. The American Nursing Association (ANA) Code of Ethics isa guideline to help nurses determine which course of action to pursue. Every minute many ethical decisions are made, some may not comply with guidelines and others the patient’s will never understand. In this case study the nurse is put in an uncomfortable position and has two find a way to comply with the family, the patient, and the doctor’s orders.How can she report to the doctor the information the daughter has told her? How she approached
An ethical dilemma is an incident that causes us to question how we should react based on our beliefs. A decision needs to be made between right and wrong. I have experienced many ethical dilemmas in my lifetime, so I know that there is no such thing as an ethical dilemma that only affects one person. I also know that some ethical dilemmas are easier to resolve than others are. The easy ones are the ones in which we can make decisions on the spot. For example, if a cashier gives me too much change, I can immediately make a decision to either return the money or keep it. Based on Kant’s, categorical imperative there are two criteria for determining moral right and wrong. First, there is universalizability, which states, “the person’s
Everyday we are tested as individuals to make the right choice. How we view ourselves as individuals and how others view us are directly correlated to our moral decision-making. But morals are somewhat misleading. What might be a wrong decision for one person might be a solution to another. So how do we define morals? Do we follow Gods’ moral rules because to do so would increase out likelihood of obtaining salvation in the afterlife? Or is it simpler than that. Is God going to deny our entrance into heaven because we have run a stop sign here and there? No. I believe our moral values are much simpler than that. I believe that our moral decision-making comes from our upbringing of what is right or wrong. Our parents and