Jerry worked for an organization that offered a generous tuition reimbursement plan. For the first years of his career, Jerry did not take advantage of this benefit. At one point, Jerry realized that by not utilizing this employee benefit, he was losing out on an opportunity that not all organizations offer to their employees. In essence, there was an opportunity cost of choosing not to return to school for an advanced degree. He went to staff development to ask about details of tuition reimbursement. This organization partnered with a university to offer an MBA program partially on site. Jerry enrolled and began his journey to a master's degree. Employees could attend their university or college of choice, however, the onsite option supported career development via convenience and time savings. Requests for tuition reimbursement had to be approved for programs that were or could be job$-$related. However, the versatility of the MBA applied to most leaders and potential leaders in the company. Training, designed to support current job duties, was shorter in duration $($sometimes a half$-$hour session$)$ and training sessions were held in$-$house. Internal trainers qualified as presenters if they were subject matter experts, but at times an external vendor was needed. When employees attended training, the staff development department provided movie$-$sized candy bars. One external trainer was surprised when the very first question of the session was $"$Is the candy closet open?" Although Jerry intended to stay with the organization until his retirement, recent ethical breaches and a looming acquisition had tested his resolve. Because Jerry was quite effective at his job another company recruited him. After personal reflection, Jerry decided this opportunity was one he should accept. He did not want to lose his MBA tuition opportunity and the new company had a policy for employees to wait one year after their start of employment to be eligible for tuition reimbursement. Jerry did not want to discontinue the MBA program. He decided to ask his hiring manager if an exception could be made to the company policy as a condition of his employment. Jerry was happy he asked, as the corporate leaders granted theexception.

$1.$Jerry had listened to negative feedback from others about the tuition reimbursement program. Comments such as "I can't believe the company pays for this $-$ these people are just going to increase their skills and then leave for greener pastures." Do you agree with the skeptical coworkers? Was Jerry unethical when accepting tuition reimbursement and then left his company for a new opportunity?

$2.$ Jerry's new company offered an additional tuition reimbursement opportunity. Company leaders believed in developing a new generation of workers and dedicated $$40,000$ in tuition reimbursement per employee per dependent for their child's higher education. Although never a requirement of the dependent tuition reimbursement program, several of the students interned at the company over summer and on break. The company held a celebratory reception for employees' dependents in the program. A slide show featured their picture and introduced their major and career goals. What could this program do for employee morale, retention, and loyalty?