Ethics in the workplace for Lamp Electronics
Scenario: Ethics in the workplace
John Smith, VP of HR at Lamp Electronics is sitting
scratching his head over the conversation he had with Joe Group describing what
had transpired in the finance department. Joe had been preparing the sales
revenues reports for the past five years as the company is required to report
to the SEC to issue public and profit forecasts. Lamp has always been high
producing and has experienced a decline; hence, the share price has declined.
Joe told John that he had been instructed to use a different
and more aggressive accounting method for forecasting and calculating projected
sales revenue for the coming year. Joe believed that this approach could
mislead the shareholders regarding actual performance. The past CFO was rather
conservative in the approach; however, a new CFO, Bob, was hired earlier this
year after not obtaining a promotion for a competitor. Bob was perceived as a
go getter, smart, and someone to make a positive mark on the company. When Joe
pointed out that the accounting practices were different than Lamp’s
traditional practices, Bob, the CFO said that he was the new CFO and had a
different approach. Bob proceeded to tell Joe that sales would turn around and
the company is justified reporting higher expected sales revenue in the
upcoming months. Bob also mentioned that Joe should want the stock to go up and
do well. As Joe continued to question, Bob told him to do his job as
instructed. Since then, Joe felt that Bob had become hostile towards him and
that there was a change in the relationship. Despite his fears, he felt he had
to go to HR for advice. HR intuitively suspected that Joe was worried about Bob
finding out about meeting. This information disturbed HR.
Case adapted from: Nkomo, S., Fottler, M., McAfee, R.B.
(2005) Applications in Human Resource Management (5th ed.). Mason, OH:
Southwestern.
– Imagine you are an HR consultant to the organization
involved in this situation. The organization wants to be responsive and fair.
What do you recommend?
– Write a policy statement that you would submit to that
organization that could be included in their employee handbook. (This
recommended policy should focus on whistle blowing)
– What are the risks and challenges the organization faces
by implementing the policy you recommend?
– Provide an example of ways in which it is effectively or
ineffectively implemented. Elaborate upon and assess this situation.
