Question

Carl Boger’s Dilemma Carl Boger recently interviewed for a staff auditing position with one of the accounting firms in Phoenix, where he plans to move after graduation from UNM. The firm agreed to cover the travel expenses, including airfare and hotels, from UNM to the firm’s office. Carl, who prefers to fly American Airlines and has the credit card wh ich allows for free checked bags, booked his round- trip ticket for the interview for a total fare of $300. The firm assu red Carl it would reimburse him for the airfare expense ra ther than the firm payi ng American directly. At the end of the interview, Carl presents th e airfare receipt, along w ith other receipts for hotels, to Janet, the audit firm’s controller. Janet provides a summar y of all of Carl’s expenses as Carl departs the audit offices after the interviews are completed. Janet informs Carl that a check will be mailed in 5-7 days. Carl leaves Phoenix and flies back to Albuquerque. On the flight back to Albuquerque, Carl review s the summary of expenses and notes that the firm has included $50 for “Airline Baggage Fees”; however, Carl did not pay any such fees as he has the credit card that waives all baggage fees. On the following Monday, Carl calls Janet to tell her of the oversight on the bill. Ja net explains that the firm has al ready processed the check with the $50 baggage fee reimbursement included and to “not worry about it because it’s already paid and not that large of an amount.” Ja net continues to explain that she is busy and that small amounts such as baggage fees are not scrutinized by the firm when processing expense reimbursements. She abruptly ends the call with Carl. Being a bright , aspiring business professional, Carl carefully considers his options and the potenti al ramifications of his decision.  

REQUIREMENTS (be sure to incorporate into your responses when following the rubric): 1. What courses of action are available to Carl Boger? Identify at leas t three possible actions. 2. Discuss why each course of action may be ethical or non-ethical. 3. Which course of action should Carl choose ? Why?

Answer 1

At the outset, Carl Boger has acted highly ethical, in taking the initiative , to inform that he had not paid any such airline baggage charges , for which he had beed reimbursed , by the audit firm.

Now, the person -in-charge ,does not mind the error and brushes aside his concern .

Now, the options availabe to him are:

1. He can simply send the amount , unduly reimbursed , to the firm , by way of a check & leave things there --which is certainly a very simple & straight-forward & ethical solution, without involving anybody ---which will also set a precedent for the future--if he has one with the company---in no uncertain terms.

2.He can write a letter explaining things and wait for their reply , before taking any further action, which will further strengthen his stand to be honest and true & also go on record---this is also highly ethical , but may dis-repute Janet , who had been careless about the firm's cash disbursements & may be pulled up.

3. He can simply keep quite , with the $ 50 received , content that he has taken genuine efforts to inform the person responsible, who only did not take the matter seriously, for reasons known best only to her----this is also , not anything unethical on Carl's part as he has no intention , to grab that extra money, which he had not at all spent.

So, from all that said above, it is advisable for Carl , to choose action no.1 , ie .to send the check and simply get over with the issue.