Stakeholders in the situation
Stakeholders in the situation at the Westfield Company are the management of the company, shareholders, and plant personnel. The management will have to take responsibility for the actions of Scott Bestor in the best interest of the shareholders. The plant personnel risks losing their jobs or suffering salary cuts should the projects Scott become uneconomical to sustain. The shareholders risk losing profits should the action of Scott result in losses in the long term.
Ethical Issues
The first ethical issue is integrity. It is expected that Scott should observe personal integrity when executing her duties as an accountant at Westfield. Upon noting the error in projections, she should immediately inform the management for the adjustments to be made on time before it is too late (University of San Diego par. 8). The second ethical issue is balancing the expectations of the management and the consequences of reporting the error in projections. On one hand, Scott is not sure of how the management will respond to her report, despite the performance of the sales after the expansion (Bustin 23). Scott is aware that reporting the error to the management might result in disciplinary action taken to include suspension of possible promotion.
Therefore, Scott might be in a better position not to report the error to ensure that her promotion is protected. Scott is also aware of the fact that reporting the error to the management might lead to the adoption of strategies for restricting the plants such as reduction of the number of personnel or lowering their salary as a precautionary measure (Harris, Pritchard, Rabin, James, and Englehardt 35). Scott is afraid of the consequence of reporting the error such as reduction of the plant personnel since it might lead to some employees losing their jobs. The last ethical issue is timing in reporting the error to the management (Silliman par. 12). Since Scott’s projections are already being met despite the projection error, reporting the error at the moment is surpassed by events. Therefore, the performance of the company would not be affected even if Scott conceals the error report.
Possible Alternative Actions
The first alternative action would be concealing the error in projection to protect Scott’s chances of future promotion opportunities in the company. Besides, this action would ensure that the management does not react to the error alarm that might render some of the current plant personnel jobless. In addition, the action to conceal the projection error would preserve the integrity of Scott as an accurate accountant who is responsible for the surge in sales and recently reported an increase in profitability. This alternative is unethical.
The second alternative action would be reporting the error in projection to the management. This action might result in blacklisting Scott for any future promotion opportunities in the company. Besides, it might lead to reactionary actions by the management such as downsizing the plant personnel or reducing their salary. In addition, this action might result in proper adjustments by the management to prevent long terms effects of the error in projection, despite the current rise in profits and sales.
If I was in the position of Scott, I would report the error in projections to the management since it is ethical to maintain integrity, professionalism, and trust bestowed upon her by the company. This action would ensure that the company is protected from long terms effects of the error since the management will have time to make appropriate adjustments (Ferrell, Fraedrich, and Ferrell 31).
Works Cited
Bustin, Gerald. Take Charge: How Leaders Profit From Change. Irving, Texas: Tapestry Press, 2006. Print.
Ferrell, Odies, John Fraedrich and Linda Ferrell. Business Ethics: Ethical Decision Making and Cases, Alabama: Cengage Learning, 2011. Print.
Harris, Charles, Michael Pritchard, Michael Rabin, Ray James and Eliaine Englehardt. Engineering Ethics: Concepts and Cases. Alabama, Al: Cengage Learning, 2013. Print.
Rachels, John and Simon, Rachel. The Elements of Moral Philosophy, London, UK: McGraw Hill, 2010. Print.
Silliman, James. Reporting Inflated Numbers. 2013. Web.
University of San Diego. Introducing Moral Theories: A Brief Overview of Moral Theory. 2014. Web.