Ethics and Equity}

Lauren Avenido is employed as a financial analyst at a large brokerage house. Her job is to follow companies in the computer hardware sector and issue reports that will be used by her firm's brokers in making recommendations to the brokerage house's clients. Her reports are summarized by her ratings of the company - strong buy, buy, hold, sell, or strong sell. She is in frequent contact with the top management of the companies she follows.

After a thorough investigation, she believes she should downgrade Dreamware from a "strong buy" to a "hold." However, when she informs Dreamware's CFO, the CFO threatens to call her boss. Later that week, her boss calls her to request that she reconsider her downgrade and states that her cooperation will be "greatly appreciated."

\section*{Required:}

How should Lauren respond to her boss? Are there any other steps she should consider taking?

\section*{Case