Jane's Employment Situation: a Case Study

When Jane landed her first job immediately when she completed her college education, her boss was one of the most stubborn people she had ever met. The firm used to deal with printing magazines, books and other sorts of printed material. Business was booming and they used to work even during odd hours in order to do as much work as possible. Little did she know that her boss used to have fishy plans that could lead to the collapse of the firm? One day, the boss confronted her with a very surprising offer. Since she was the senior accountant, he asked her to change some of the digits in the accounts so that it would look like the orders made for printing by the clients and the contracts we had yielded less amount than usual. I knew it was detrimental and I had to immediately do something but confronting the boss directly could lead to something worse

Basing on the idea that this was the first time for Jane to work in such a firm, she was confused and did not respond to the boss immediately. However, the boss asked her to think about it and give an answer by the end of the day. The boss explained that other people in her position could have done such a thing with ease since it could have been a win-win situation as the boss was expecting to give her a little token if she responds positively to the offer. She was also informed that she was still far way down the firm’s superiority ladder and that failure to respond reasonably might lead to her termination. The boss also did argue that the salary that the employees of this firm were being paid was too little to cater to their needs thus they needed something more. And since they were working even odd hours of the day in order to ensure that a lot of work has been done, the boss stated that it was hard to get another source of income thus the option he gave Jane was the best she could ever get. The boss also felt that he would work on ensuring that no one gets to know about the plan. Back in the mind, Jane thought of how she could quit her job rather than being involved in such an unethical thing

However, there are a number of things that Jane could have done to ensure that what she wants falls in line rather than quitting. This is because she was bound by a number of business ethics. When one is working in a certain area, there are various ethics that that one should follow. Loyalty is the key. It was expected of Jane to be loyal to the boss and the company but loyalty should not go beyond some point that would lead to the destruction of the company. Honesty is also part of ethics in a business. Jane was expected to make an honest decision that would place, her, the boss and the business at a better position rather than at risk. Therefore, jeopardizing the financial records in favour of the boss would have been unethical. Being accountable is also part of ethics that one should always possess at the working place. Having the feeling that doing what you are not supposed to be doing will place the business or someone else at risk always ensures that one does the right thing. It was expected of Jane to be accountable and look for a way to change the mind of her boss rather than falling in line with him or even quitting. Additionally, it is ethical to be fair. Jane’s company had several stakeholders as well as workers who can lose their source of income if the business collapses. Changing the financial records is one of the ways that such a business can collapse and be fair, it was not worth following the advice of her boss. She should also be fair to herself and bring the issue into light rather than quitting which would mean that she would lose her job

Asking for clarification could be one of the best things that Jane could have done. In the event of escaping such a tragedy, asking the boss to clarify the instructions or asking him whether that is what he wants you to do might make him reconsider his options and change the mind. Also, discussing the best interest of the boss is also another logical thing that Jane could have done. If the boss does not want to reconsider her options, Jane could have asked him if that is what he really wanted her to do because if the case explodes on their eyes, it could be detrimental to her as well as her boss’s career. Of course, at one point auditing will be done and the loops might as well be discovered.

Suggesting a better option could also have worked in her favour. In order to ensure that your hands are always clean. Make the boss understand that there are incentives that are always given to the people who work best in an organization. Since such incentives are limitless, Jane could have made her boss understand that it could be easier to do the right thing and improve the department to be the best in order to be eligible for incentives that can add on to what they get as salary. Using the right methods and putting everything into light could even lead to the promotion that would work best for everyone. If none of the methods works, Jane could have alerted the company’s superiors in order to ensure that she does not lose her job by doing something that will harm the company. By notifying the superiors, the company can be saved and she might evade being jailed.