Marieke, an accountant by profession volunteers in the provincial wrestling professional body and was accorded the role of vice president finance. She chose to volunteer in an effort to participate and play a supporting role in her daughter’s future. Marieke was a professional volleyball player back in her younger days. Her daughter is an upcoming professional wrestler. Upon entry into the PWA board Marieke is able to work with her daughter’s coach, Mr Peter who owned a club that received funding from the PWA. Despite being a charismatic and passionate coach, Peter was poor in administrator especially with regard to finance. This did not escape unnoticed as concerned parents requested PWA to have a look at his financial books.
Marieke being the vice president finance was requested to perform an audit on the clubs accounts and upon doing so she unearthed numerous irregularities. According to the PWA regulations this would result to suspension of Peter from the sport as well as withdrawal of funding to his club. This would have a grave bearing on Marieke’s daughter future as this funding is necessary for an upcoming US junior national championship where it is likely top university coaches would scout her. The same would provide a direct scholarship for her daughter. Marieke’s ultimate goal for volunteering was to help promote and participate in her daughters sporting future. Marieke is faced with a choice of reporting and providing peters accounting details to PWA or conceal peters errors in the interest of her daughter.
Marieke’s dilemma
Reporting Peter to PWA would eliminate Marieke’s daughter chances of attaining a scholarship to the university. Marieke’s primary goal of joining the PWA was to develop her daughter’s future and not ruin it. Chances are that the charismatic peter would be suspended from the sport leaving Marieke’s daughter without a coach and it is almost definite that he would develop a negative attitude to the young wrestler. The other option is to ignore Peter’s unintentional mismanagement of funds which would put her daughter in the correct path because this way the scholarship opportunities remain. On the other hand, if this audit was counter done in future then Marieke’s reputable past as an accountant would be ruined in an instant. The decision which Marieke takes should be guided by professional and personal morals. Marieke being a sport financial manager should be ready to perform her duties based on professional ethics. Marieke should first reflect on her personal values in order to deal with the situation. What would be the scenario if it was another coach who was involved without any affiliations to Marieke’s daughter? Would Marieke have fulfilled her organisational obligations?
Marieke having been involved in sports in her past knows only too well the importance of ethics in sports. Sports have been part of her past and are part of her current career. Marieke derives satisfaction from participating and supporting her daughter’s future. She does not get any financial gain from being an accountant at PWA.
Principle value
Principle is basically the most fundamental moral driving force because like extentialism values are held based on good faith regardless of emotional or intellectual justification (Park, Quarterman and Thibault 2007). Kantian ethics recognizes principle as the major factor that motivates one to do a moral action. Principle overrides every other value and is the highest rationale for valuing (Park, Quarterman and Thibault 2007). Organisational ethics and intellectual justification based on her career are the major influences in Marieke’s decision making process. However she has to ensure that her personal morals prevail.
Consensus value
This value is rational because it is coherent with the feeling of the majority(Park, Quarterman and Thibault 2007). It is considered as a democratic value. This would mean what decisions would be considered appropriate for a sports manager. The decision would be based on what the majority view as right. Back to Marieke’s position the values of the majority is shown through PWA’s regulations on people who are involved in misappropriation of funds. This is further brought out through the complaints voiced by parents regarding peters fund management habits. It can be presumed that majority of the involved parties want action taken on peter if these allegation are found to be true. Marieke’s position were she to adopt this value, would lead to the dismissal of peter from sports as well as potential loss of scholarship for her daughter.
Consequences value
Ramifications on these issues will depend on the decision that Marieke takes. Both sides of possible decisions bear consequences to the parties involved. If Marieke decides to conceal the results then her daughter gets a scholarship chance which will also boost her relationship with the coach who will be more than glad because he was not punished for his errors. Chances are that the coach will continue with this habit because there is someone to cover his tracks. A twist of events could also have these accounts edited later by someone else which would expose the anomaly and the conniving between the coach and Marieke.
Preferences value
Having her daughter’s potential scholarship and her personal relationship with peter at stake, Marieke’s decision may be influenced by her emotions. Taking into consideration that Marieke’s reason for joining PWA was based on her desire to participate in her daughter’s future. By adopting this value Marieke primary goal will not be ruined. On the other hand her relationship with the charismatic peter will also remain okay. This will also benefit her daughter by ensuring that she has get a chance to gain a scholarship if she performs well during the upcoming event.
From the above values which display options to Marieke’s dilemma it is important to note that no every single alternative will bear consequences. On one hand Marieke could lose her personal morals and let her daughters interests prevail and on the other she can uphold her moral, organisational, and professional ethics which would definitely jeopardize her daughter’s future. It is also important to note that even if Marieke manages to conceal the audits results the buck does not stop there because in future the truth might emerge. This could her reputation and that of her daughter.
The best decision here would be to reveal the results of the audit to the board. Marieke being a member of the board would then lobby for a lesser punishment for peter. This may not be as easy as it sounds because the organisation has laid down its policies and regulations. She could start by proving that peters mistakes were unintentional. Being a respectable person she may win the boards favour on the situation. Peter will certainly appreciate her efforts if they bear fruit because he knows the gravity of the issue. Marieke could start by requesting the organisation to continue funding for peters club. In addition she could generate other options for the clubs financial management; an example would be regular audits into the clubs finances quarterly to prevent misappropriation of funds. If she succeeds her daughters future may not be jeopardised. If her attempts do not bear fruit she can still rest assured that she tried her best in securing her daughters future.
CEO’s position
As CEOof PWA it is important that ethics are followed in the organisation. This should be done at all levels of the organisation. I am obliged to lead by example. First, it is important to learn the position and obligations of involved people in this particular case. Marieke has a positive relationship with peter who coaches her daughter. The CEO oversees that regulations of the organisation are followed by the rest of the personnel. The parents who had suspected an anomaly in peter’s management expect the best response from their organisation.
Recognition of the ethical dilemma
This situation basically contravenes PWAs policies whereby a funded club coach has been unable to manage the funds that he has been accorded. The PWA has a mechanism which clearly explains that such people should be suspended from sport and the PWA fund support should be withdrawn. On the other side the coach has a good relationship with the vice president president-finance and coaches her daughter who is a upcoming wrestler.
PWA has placed mandate on the CEO to safeguard its interest and run the organisation. The principles of the organisation will be violated and this could set a bad precedent if they are not followed. The parents who voiced a genuine concern also deserve an answer. These parents have acted in good faith and want to know if the future of their children is in safe hands. They suspect peter has mismanaged funds. If this is true it means that the future of their children’s sporting careers could be jeopardised. Therefore the CEO is in a position to secure their interests too. It is important to remember that such young players are the hope for the sporting world.
It is clear that if found guilty peter will have broken fundamental policies of PWA. The repercussions of breaking this policy show the importance and significance of this policy to the organisation. Punishment given will suspend the coach from his profession. The policy is a good policy that has been formulated to secure a future for clubs. Protect and prevent clubs from misappropriation of funds by individuals. Bending the rule in this case would compromise the integrity of the organisation
Peter in his capacity as the coach and manager of his club has a duty to manage funds and ensure that these funds are used properly. Failure to do so will not only destroy his careers but could also have a significant effect on the young children who train at the club. Morally he should have a sense of duty and responsibility.
The vice president finance Marieke has a moral and professional duty to unearth the significant errors from peters books. Professionally accountants have to practice professional ethics when it comes to auditing accounts. As a lover of sports she ought to defend the sports integrity by providing the true information regarding the audit. However in this case she is privy because her daughter s interest interests may be ruined here. It is clear by now that Marieke has a stake in this case and probably she may not offer a comprehensive solution as far as the audit is concerned.
The barriers to achieving the much needed solutions in this case lie on Marieke. She has a good relationship with her daughters wrestling coach whose accounts she is auditing.
Generation of alternatives
There are several alternatives to the problem at hand
First, Marieke could be allowed to continue with the audit and then report the findings which the organisation will adopt as there will be no need to doubt our vice-president finance. Second, we could let Marieke carry out the audit and later on subject the audit to scrutiny. This of course would mean that if the results found are not true then Marieke and Peter will face disciplinary action which may include either suspension or dismissal of Marieke which would relieve her off her duties. Third, another person could be designated to help Marieke with the audit. This would ensure that the truth is told and that no one in the management has to be to be dismissed.
Evaluation of alternative
The first alternative would have been most appropriate if Marieke had no stake in the case. This would mean that a lot of time and money would be saved. Her recommendations would be followed if peter was found guilty. But because Marieke has a stake in it this decision the audit report may be flawed and false. However, this is an assumption because Marieke may indeed provide a genuine audit report. However bearing in mind that the report may be flawed and what effect it could have on peters club then maybe this might not be the best alternative.
The second alternative is ideal because it ensures that a true report is submitted to PWA s board whether or not Marieke provides a true report. The problem with this is that it would break the trust between the organisation and its employees regardless of the outcome. This option may not be the best for the organisation but it will certainly arrive at the true result.
The third alternative shows concern for Marieke’s position in the issue. She has a stake in the case and the company realises it is important that she gets someone to help her with her findings. The assistant would help achieve the full result upon which the board will make a decision.
Selection of the ideal solution
From the above alternatives the ideal alternative would be that which uses the least resources and promotes a positive attitude among other company employees. The management may create bad blood with employees if investigations would later find Marieke guilty.
Intention
The intent behind selection of the ideal solution is to ensure that a genuine audit is forwarded to the company. This will also ensure that the parents get a true and genuine response to their requests. This is basically best for PWA the parents and the entire sporting fraternity.
Actual decision
The actual decision is to select another accountant within the organisation to assist Marieke carry out the audit. This will ensure that a true audit will be conducted and presented to the board. The most appropriate decision will then be taken. On the other side the board may consider a less serious punishment that will let the club continue receiving funds in support of the interests of the concerned parents.
Evaluation of decisions
At this point the CEO must evaluate whether his decision he has taken is good, right and authentic.
Conclusion
Ethical dilemmas cannot be solved at an instant. It is important that all the necessary information related to the subject is collected and evaluated before coming to a conclusion. Hasty decision will result to errors and mistakes in the final decision. In Marieke’s case she should arrive to a conclusion after evaluating several basic factors. The CEO should also look at all the prevailing information before he can jump into conclusion.