Reference no: EM132483080

Point 1: Ann was raised in a traditional Chinese family residing in a small town in China. Ann was very close with her parents. She was always trying to impress them, especially her father who often expressed his hope that she would achieve a higher level of professional success than her parents who didn't have the opportunity for post-secondary education. Ann's dedication and hard work throughout her undergraduate education in China and during graduate school in the United States had finally paid off when she received an offer for a job with a US company. The accounting department was under a great deal of pressure. Fred, the accounting manager, was responsible for making sure the company's accounting records were quickly updated and free of errors so management knew at any point what its position was relative to its goals. Ann's position was created to provide additional support to the accounting department. Fred gave Ann a receipt.

Point 2: It was for a $129 power tool set bought as gift for one of the Company's employees, Ed. Fred mentioned that Ed was a long-time employee who would be retiring soon. It was getting close to month end reporting and Fred asked Ann to input the receipt right away so it could be included in the reports he needed to approve the next day. As she was about to process the transaction Ann realized that Fred had used the purchase card for the gift. She remembered from her training that company policy required this type of spending (gifts) to be paid for with the expense card. Instead, she saw that the purchase card was used. Ann thought that her manager must have mistakenly used the purchase card rather than the expense card to buy the gift. After her lunch break Ann went to Fred's office to discuss the issue. Fred insisted that using the purchasing card for the transaction was proper and he advised Ann that she should record the transaction as an operating expense since he used the purchase card. Ann looked at the receipt and thought about her father's advice on how important it was to build relationships by following orders and respecting superiors.

Questions:

Question 1: Describe Ann's ethical dilemma(s) in this portion of the case.

Question 2: What options did Ann have to respond to this situation?

Question 3: The case discusses aspects of culture that differ between societies (i.e. collectivist vs individualistic or high power distance vs. low power distance societies, etc.). Identify and describe one or more cultural factors that could lead Ann or her boss to take a different path. How might these cultural influences affect Ann's thinking about the dilemma?