Introduction
Similarly to other positions directly correlating with an organization’s monetary field, accounting managers are responsible for the finances that the company spends, acquires, and plans to reach. However, the responsibilities go far beyond that, as management implies monitoring, planning, and guiding employees toward the economic objectives of the start-up. Since Tri-Hull Marine Inc. is a new entity with a patented technology that gives it more opportunities than similar organizations on the market, the accounting manager is to maximize the unique and nuanced characteristics that ultimately facilitated the start-up’s creation. However, due to the complexity of the maritime transportation industry, the position of a manager in accounting becomes even more critical, and the responsibilities of this job are more extended. This report will explain an accounting manager’s objectives, confirm the need for frequent maintenance, provide insight into the dilemma of a possible biased employee, and facilitate the implementation of ethical guidelines.
Accounting Management
As mentioned prior, accounting management is detrimental to any company’s success and prosperity, especially one that strives for leading positions in a competitive industry with various strong rivals with high investment opportunities. Tri-Hull Marine, while having a patented technology that stabilizes the boat, is in need of strategic planning of both long and short-term goals, effective plan implementation methods, and performance measuring techniques. Thus, the accounting manager would be in charge of conceptualizing financial targets, monitoring the company’s market by comparing it with rivals, guiding accountants through the corporate objectives, and comparing actual achievements with the planned goals. Moreover, researchers refer to the importance of mitigating conflicts of interest when it comes to cost versus innovation (Alabdullah and Maryanti 2021). As an accounting manager, the objective would be to compare the risks and benefits and provide reports in terms of the best choice possible cost-wise.
Maintenance Schedule
A company that operates in the transportation industry certainly requires extensive investment and experiences major financial costs in manufacturing, sourcing of materials, customer service, and product development. However, as exemplified in the case of Tri-Hull Marine Inc., a situation in which the cash flow is lower than expected suggests the need for changes in management. Thus, the solution proposed by Frankie Lee is switching to a different maintenance schedule, hence checking the equipment once a year compared to the current quarterly examination. While potentially effective in cutting down on maintenance expenses by 75%, the implementation correlates with multiple difficulties that can cause even more financial difficulties. These include an increase in costs for repairs and refunds, a possible reputational challenge, and safety issues because of the complexity of the products offered by the company.
Maintenance is an essential expense for any organization operating in the transportation industry. Moreover, scheduling frequent check-ups of equipment is in line with the agenda of offering customers with the best quality products possible. According to researchers, investments in equipment maintenance are directly linked to smooth product completion, which is ultimately the goal of every provider of goods (Li et al. 2020). This is related to multiple factors, such as ensuring no extra repairs are needed before the final transactions, the customers receive the products on time, and no additional details are to be acquired to replace the ones that have been damaged due to a lack of frequent examinations of the equipment. Reducing the cost by rescheduling maintenance procedures may have the opposite effect, which is why it may not be the most prolific solution to the organization’s financial problems.
There are two main factors that illustrate the importance of having quarterly maintenance preventative check-ups. The first one is the cost, which can be significantly higher if the necessary procedures are not put in place. According to Zhang et al. (2022), the cost of the product can increase if it requires extensive repairs compared to the additional cost of inventory maintenance. This is attributed to the decrease in the contribution margin, a variable that is controllable through effective business strategies, including accounting management. Since the company will potentially lose more money repairing the goods than maintaining them in good condition, the profit will decrease unless the boats are to be sold at a higher price. This, however, may lead to lower competitiveness in the market due to the prices offered by rivals and the unwillingness of customers to spend more. As a result, sales will slow down, and the financial challenges will not be addressed but become an even more critical problem.
The other aspect that is to be considered as a possible increase in time. Researchers say repairing a failed component often takes more time than maintenance (Dui et al. 2017). In case an element of the boat is rarely checked and inefficiently maintained, it is to be replaced or fixed, which requires additional timing in terms of ordering, deliveries, and repairing procedures themselves. Thus, the supply chain operates under a more extensive schedule, which is ultimately a problem for the company. On the other hand, timely maintenance performed quarterly can mitigate the potential challenge and minimize the time spent between raw material sourcing and the final transaction with the customer. This also suggests that a change in the schedule is not the most optimal decision for fixing financial issues.
A possible solution to increasing profitability, hence, the cash flow, is implementing beneficial accounting management within Tri-Hull Marine. Strategic planning, market analysis, and goal setting are key factors that help reduce costs and increase revenue. These strategies are not only beneficial in terms of addressing the economic needs of the organization but also more efficient in regard to risk minimization. While rescheduling maintenance check-ups is linked to financial and time increases, hiring an accounting manager is optimal to avoid such problems.
Employee Ethical Implications
The ethical implications related to Mia Sucahya, the software manager at Tri-Hull Marine, are to be considered during the decision-making process. Mia is to attend a conference in Bali to assess new software that can be used to maximize profitability and efficiency. However, due to the fact that the software brand would sponsor Mia’s trip, an anonymous letter was sent implying that the employee cannot make an unbiased decision when it comes to switching to a new platform that would be more optimal for the organization. Thus, the decision is to be made whether Mia is competent and objective enough to decide on the new software or if an alternative solution is to be implemented.
Ethical issues often occur within the workforce, and it is the leader’s decision on how to address them. However, the leader is to consider the team as the main priority since the team ultimately creates the company’s revenue and forms the overall internal environment within the organization. In this case, utilitarianism is the proposed ethical theory that can be applied during the decision-making process. Utilitarian ethics are highlighted by the premise that the majority is to be pleased as the more people are happy with the result, the more influential the decision is (Everett and Kahane 2020). The approach may be challenging when team members have different overviews of a particular situation, yet as long as an opinion prevails, it is to be followed by the manager.
Since the anonymous letter was received and there is a negative overview of Mia’s intentions, it is essential to consider both parties. On the one hand, Mia ensures that her opinion is objective. Thus, the decision to either choose the software brand that sponsors the conference and trip as one to be used or not by the company will be based on the characteristics of the offer. The main challenge is deciding whether the all-paid expenses may deter Mia from being unbiased is a plausible reason for denying her the opportunity to investigate the proposal or will not alter her opinion. Since the utilitarianism theory implies the benefit of the majority is fundamental, the opinion of the team is to be assessed before the manager makes the final decision. Thus, ethics are to be based on the collective rather than the individual desires of the employee who is to go to the conference or the one person who wrote and sent the anonymous letter. As a result, it is vital to listen to the opinions of the other team members operating in the software department to assess the environment and determine a solution that can benefit most stakeholders.
A meeting is to be organized where employees from the software department discuss the software companies and the products they offer. Since most of the team members within this field are aware of the company’s needs, as well as the software features that are necessary for organizational processes, a discussion will be beneficial. During the meeting, the different options will be offered, and the characteristics of each possible choice will be highlighted. The experts can decide the pros and cons for each option to determine which brands are to be considered and analyzed more in-depth. If one of the choices is the brand that organizes the conference, Mia can attend since the team made this decision. In case other software companies are determined to be more cost-efficient or suitable for Tri-Hull Marine, attending the conference becomes redundant, and Mia is to attend the events organized by the other brands. Based on this premise, the decision is collective, and the participants are being considered in terms of their expertise and knowledge on the subject.
Allowing Mia to go without discussing the software options with her colleagues would show her the company’s trust in her. On the other hand, it would create conflicts within the team, which is avoidable if a constructive dialogue is put in place. Nonetheless, suppose Mia goes as a result of a collective opinion formed on the subject. In that case, the cons are mitigated, and the pros highlight the satisfaction of Mia herself and the other employees who participated.
Code of Conduct Implementation
Multiple companies chose to implement a unique code of conduct that considers the characteristics of individual organizations in which these guidelines are applicable. Tri-Hull Marine would benefit from adding a set of norms since it correlates with beneficial changes in the internal environment of the business. The code of conduct is more than rules and regulations that employees are to respect in a professional environment. It also provides managers with objective guidelines in terms of management of the workforce, decision-making, and conflict mitigation. Moreover, it shapes the company’s culture, which is especially important for a new start-up yet to reach its full potential and a market share that would increase its competitiveness with possibly more powerful rivals in the industry. Needless to say, there are advantages and disadvantages that must be considered when practically integrating a code of conduct since the policy is unprecedented for this particular brand. The negative connotations, however, are less significant than the potential benefits, which is why such guidelines are necessary to apply in the regulatory guidelines of the business.
The main advantage of having a code of conduct is the objectivity that it supports. Certain decisions are often based on the manager’s subjective overview of an employee, solution, or decision. However, literature refers to this concept as moral justification, a term used to illustrate one’s desire to legitimize a concept without considering the objective circumstances (Gan 2018). An example would be a manager not dismissing an employee for stealing because the team member has worked for the company for a long time and has no prior history of such unethical behavior. A code of conduct would prevent such decisions from causing risks to the business, and subjectivity would not disrupt rational solutions to problems within the workforce. Other benefits include creating a distinct corporate culture that is unique and in line with the objectives and values of the business. Moreover, it creates a good reputation for customers and employees that strives to follow ethical guidelines and a brand that values its identity.
In terms of disadvantages, there may be certain difficulties with the implementation of a code of conduct. According to researchers, such regulations are often not mutually agreed upon and create conflicts of interest (Seid 2018). Thus, meetings and extensive internal discussions are needed to formulate rules that the majority of team members support. Furthermore, the practical integration of such regulations may require time since employees are not used to following the new policies. The time, effort, and other organizational aspects are the cons to having a code of conduct. Nonetheless, it is still necessary since the pros correlate with the benefits required for corporate development and the establishment of the corporate culture.
Conclusion
Accounting management is a field that Tri-Hull Marine Inc. is to invest in due to the multiple difficulties that can be mitigated through effective planning, monitoring, and goal orientation techniques correlating with the sphere. Moreover, it can be potentially financially beneficial compared to the solution of reducing the frequency of maintenance procedures. While a reduction in maintenance costs can be effective short term, the increase in reparations and replacements is both time and money-consuming. Moreover, the employee is to attend the conference yet with the condition that the internal software team discusses the best options. Thus, in case the brand that organizes the conference is assessed and determined as a potentially suitable one, the software manager can attend the event as it is a team decision. Last but not least, implementing a code of conduct is crucial as it shapes the corporate culture, facilitates a good reputation, and encourages ethics in the internal environment.
References
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