There is not any perfect approach to deal with ethically charged situation. The decision that may be ethical for one person may be unethical for someone else (Spinelli & Adams). For example: If a soldier kills a terrorist, it is ethical for him as he is saving the life of hundreds of people affected by that one person. On the other hand, others may think it is unethical to kill anyone.
Talking about my personal experience regarding a tough situation involving ethical decision, it was when I used to work as an assistant accountant in one of the colleges. I was responsible to close the day to day accounting transactions and report it to the senior accountant. I was appointed there during the exam time. At that time, the account department used to be overcrowded by the students to clear their dues and it was one of the busiest time for the people working in the particular department.
After a week of joining there, while closing the daily transactions, I found out there was Rs.10,000 more than the balance I calculated. I re-checked all the receipts, confirmed all entries and counted the cash several times to adjust the excess amount. But no matter how many times I checked, there was Rs.10,000 more than in the book record. Then arouse the doubt whether to tell the senior accountant about that or use the money for my own use as there was no one around me. For a time being, I thought of keeping the money myself as no one would know about it. But later on, I decided to tell the concerned authority about it as my values did not let me keep that amount. So, I went to the college authority and handed them the extra amount.
The next day, I found out that it was an intentional move from the Principal of the college to test my aptitude. It was because I was appointed there on referral basis without going through any of the selection process and they wanted to make sure that I was right person for the job. From this incident, I learnt that no matter what the situation is we need to stand true to our values and practice being ethical. If I have taken the money, I would have surely lost the job and created a negative image of myself among so many people. In addition, I would have lost the trust of my teacher who taught me for thirteen years and recommended me for that job. I might have enjoyed the short term benefit by being unethical but in the long run, the small act would have destroyed my reputation and career.
References
Spinelli, S., & Adams, R. J. (n.d.). New Venture Creation: Entrepreneurship for the 21st Century (Nineth ed.). Irwin: McGraw Hill Education.
For further actions, you may consider blocking this person and/or reporting abuse
We're a place where students share, stay up-to-date, learn and grow.
There is not any perfect approach to deal with ethically charged situation. The decision that may be ethical for one person may be unethical for someone else (Spinelli & Adams). For example: If a soldier kills a terrorist, it is ethical for him as he is saving the life of hundreds of people affected by that one person. On the other hand, others may think it is unethical to kill anyone.
Talking about my personal experience regarding a tough situation involving ethical decision, it was when I used to work as an assistant accountant in one of the colleges. I was responsible to close the day to day accounting transactions and report it to the senior accountant. I was appointed there during the exam time. At that time, the account department used to be overcrowded by the students to clear their dues and it was one of the busiest time for the people working in the particular department.
After a week of joining there, while closing the daily transactions, I found out there was Rs.10,000 more than the balance I calculated. I re-checked all the receipts, confirmed all entries and counted the cash several times to adjust the excess amount. But no matter how many times I checked, there was Rs.10,000 more than in the book record. Then arouse the doubt whether to tell the senior accountant about that or use the money for my own use as there was no one around me. For a time being, I thought of keeping the money myself as no one would know about it. But later on, I decided to tell the concerned authority about it as my values did not let me keep that amount. So, I went to the college authority and handed them the extra amount.
The next day, I found out that it was an intentional move from the Principal of the college to test my aptitude. It was because I was appointed there on referral basis without going through any of the selection process and they wanted to make sure that I was right person for the job. From this incident, I learnt that no matter what the situation is we need to stand true to our values and practice being ethical. If I have taken the money, I would have surely lost the job and created a negative image of myself among so many people. In addition, I would have lost the trust of my teacher who taught me for thirteen years and recommended me for that job. I might have enjoyed the short term benefit by being unethical but in the long run, the small act would have destroyed my reputation and career.
References
Spinelli, S., & Adams, R. J. (n.d.). New Venture Creation: Entrepreneurship for the 21st Century (Nineth ed.). Irwin: McGraw Hill Education.