Reference no: EM131750494

This brief case involves an ethical issue that many future accounting graduates have faced in recent years. Internship programs are an important facet of the recruiting efforts of large accounting firms. Those accounting firms typically offer internships to students that they hope to hire on a permanent basis when they graduate. Accounting majors enrolled in five-year accounting programs may have an opportunity to take two internships before they graduate. In this case, Arvel Smart served an internship with a Big Four accounting firm during the summer between his third and fourth years in a five-year accounting program. By the end of his fourth year of college, Arvel had decided to accept the job offer that firm had given him at the conclusion of his internship. But, Arvel delayed accepting the job offer so that he could take a second internship with another firm during the summer between his fourth and fifth years in college. The key issue in this case is whether Arvel acted unethically by accepting the second internship when he ultimately intended to accept the offer for a permanent position that he had received as a result of his first internship.