Reference no: EM133781081

Assignment: Critical Thinking

What Would You Do? A Second Chance

After graduation, you obtain an auditing position with a medium-sized local accounting company. You perform well and within 2 years are promoted to assistant manager, which includes recruiting high-quality students from your alma mater.

You're proud to hire Tim. He had been a go-getter Accounting Club sophomore during your senior year, and Accounting Club president his senior year. Tim performs well his first year and is well-liked by the other accountants. But Tim's behavior suddenly changes, and he starts coming to work late. Then another accountant tells you Tim has started eating lunch on his own and comes back to work smelling of alcohol and breath mints. The timing is terrible because it's tax season and everyone needs to work long hours.

You set up a meeting with Tim for next week to discuss his behavior. The following day Tim quits without giving any notice. As a result, the next 2 weeks are chaos because everyone has to do their own work plus put in extra hours to work on Tim's clients. None of the employees want to experience 2 weeks like that ever again.

One month later you participate on a panel at your alma mater and are surprised to see Tim in the audience. He approaches you at the follow-up wine and cheese event with a glass of water in his hand. Tim apologizes for letting you down, blames the drinking problem on complex marital issues that have been resolved, points out that he's stopped drinking alcohol, and wonders if you could give him a second chance and rehire him. "Hey, you knew me way back in the Accounting Club," Tim says, "what you saw just before I quit is not my normal behavior."

The next day youmention your chat with Tim to the accounting firm's lead partner. She says it Is up to you to decide whether to give Tim a second chance. "But if Tim messes up again," she says, "I'll blame you for having made the wrong hiring decision because there is another group of very capable accounting recruits graduating from your alma mater." You ask other staff accountants for their reactions. Some think you should give Tim a second chance. Others disagree because they have bad memories about the disrespectful way Tim quit in the middle of tax season and wonder if Tim has really changed.

Critical Thinking Questions

I. What could you do?

II. What would you do?

i. Give Tim a second chance and monitor him closely
ii. Don't give Tim another chance
iii. Something else (if so, what?)

III. Why is this the right option to choose?

IV. What are the ethics underlying your decision?