Please write a thought out response to student post. They are posting in response to this. Andrea Tabares was just hired as the assistant treasurer of Northshore Stores, a specialty chain store company that has nine retail stores concentrated in one metropolitan area. Among other things, the payment of all invoices is centralized in one of the departments Andrea will manage. Her primary responsibility is to maintain the company's high credit rating by paying all bills when due and to take advantage of all cash discounts.William Parks, the former assistant treasurer, who has been promoted to treasurer, is training Andrea in her new duties. He instructs Andrea that she is to continue the practice of preparing all checks "net of discount" and dating the checks the last day of the discount period. "But," William continues, "we always hold the checks at least 4 days beyond the discount period before mailing them. That way we get another 4 days of interest on our money. Most of our creditors need our business and don't complain. And, if they scream about our missing the discount period, we blame it on the mail room or the post office. We've only lost one discount out of every hundred we take that way. I think everybody does it. By the way, welcome to our team!"

(a) What are the ethical considerations in this case?

(b) What stakeholders are harmed or benefited?

(c) Should Andrea continue the practice started by William? Does she have any choice?

THIS IS WHAT THE STUDENT WROTE THAT NEEDS TO BE RESPONDED TO!!

a) The ethical considerations in this case are that William has apparently been scamming the company's creditors the entire time he was assistant treasurer. Also, he is now admitting to Andrea that he has been doing this and is asking her to do the same unethical things. It puts Andrea in a bad situation because William is telling her that everyone does business this way when that is not true.

b) The stakeholders that are harmed are the creditors because they are giving a discount that is not deserved. They are losing money on the interest they could be earning by getting paid on time. The company itself is harmed as well because William has created a bad reputation for it among creditors. In another sense, the company benefits by keeping their money for a longer period of time and still receiving the discount.

c) Andrea should not continue the practice started by William. It is unethical and she should not put herself in that situation just because somebody told her to do it that way. She does have a choice in the matter. People always have a choice in how they behave. She could go above William and report what she was told to do. If they tell her to continue that practice as well, she can either ignore them or find another job. She should not make herself liable for unethical behavior under any circumstances.