Brenda Burke had been working in Float Incorporated as an accountant assistant for about two yearsbut was having ever-greater reservations about her job. During all of those years of struggling to care for her family while planning for, attending, and ultimately graduating from University, she never envisionedcareer atcompany like Float Incorporated. She wrestled with the question of whether to quit. Her doubts about the business began by the end of her first week at work and they had only increased since then.

Brenda is 38 years old, married, with two children. Her first full-time job was as an administrator atHair & Beaty Salon. She worked there for five years. She left that position and acceptedposition as an accountant administrator atCoffee shop in the city centre. She remained employed with that company fortotal of 4 yearsuntil she lost this job due to downsizing. By that time, she realised that she neededuniversity education if she hoped to havemeaningful career with some degree of job security. While attending University part-time, she held different jobs, none of which lasted more thanyear.She wasclerk inTherapy centre,junior accountant assistant, and an accounts payable clerk forsmall manufacturing company. Approximately two yearsago she accepted the position of an accountant assistant at Float Incorporated.

At the time when she accepted the position, she knew nothing about the company. She believed this company might offer her the possibility of increased responsibilityornew opportunitythat was not available in any of her previous positions. Also, the pay was good comparedto her previous jobs. Two monthsafter beginning her employment with Float Incorporated, she graduated withdegree in business and finance. It had beenstruggle, but Brenda hoped that soon there would bepayoff.

She had become disenchanted with the company's activities that she believed to be unethical. It was apparent that the company preyed on the poor and uneducated.Brenda was truly shocked when she found out how Float Incorporated conducted business, about giving loans, providing mortgage and financial advice.Float Incorporated seemed to be the lender of last resort for most of its clients, although Brenda suspected some would find other alternatives if they understood the cost of doing business with FloatIncorporated, but most clearly did not understand.

The company targeted minority groups, locating offices in poorer neighbourhoods in most cities in which they did business. Float Incorporated had many difficulties in the field, as one would expect, considering the nature of the business. There had been several robberies at Float Incorporated locations even though very little cash was kept on the premises. The company was also struggling with very high employee turnoverin most branches.

It appeared to Brenda that the company did not attract very high-class personnelfor any positions. Brenda thought the employees at the head office where she worked did not seem to be ofmuch higher calibrethan those employed at the branches. Once she had commented to her supervisor on what she perceived to belack of professionalismon the part of some co-workers. The Manager's response was, "Well, everyone at Float Incorporated has faults, if they didn't, they would work somewhere better than here".Brenda thought of that statement often. The founder and CEO of Float Incorporated lived in another country and was rarely seen in the office.

As Brenda thought more about her situation, she concluded that she could sum up most of her reservations about working at Float withsingle sentence. It seemed that she was working fordubious company indubious business surrounded by dubious individuals.

Brenda still believed that she would acquire responsibilities soonerat Float Incorporated than at most other companies because of the high turnoverin her department. She thought it is possible that she could be promotedto the higher position within two or three years if she continued to work as she had. Management seemed very pleased with her performance. Brenda wondered, though, if her association with this company might lessen other job prospectsif she stayed on. She was also concerned that her CV might portray"job hopper".For years she had rarely stayed longer than one year with any employer. She was concerned that leavingFloat Incorporated at this time would give future prospective employers additional reason to question her stability. Several more years at Float would strengthen her CVboth in terms of the higher-level responsibilities she could claim and the added stability that would be implied bylonger term of employment.

Brenda also thought she had to consider the wellbeing of her familyin any decision he made. She would not find it easy to secure another good position in the same town, as it was small. Brenda and her family were now living far away from their relatives. The proximity ofuniversity offering part-time programmes coupled with her husband's local job position, and children's' school had led to the decision to stay. Now her children were very active in their schools and with extracurricular activities. They had many friends, and Brenda believed the children would sufferdifficult adjustment period if they were to leave their town at this time.

Although Brenda had not worked in one of the branch officesdealing directly with customers, she had heard plenty of storiesaround the office about what it was like on the front line. Based on what she had heard, she was glad to be working with people behind the scenes, even though the environment in the office was far from ideal. Even Float Incorporated's head officeseemed to be fraught with problems, most of which Brenda thought were caused by the calibre of personnel. In the year that Brenda had been there, she had seennumber of employees go over their supervisors' heads taking problems to higher levels than necessary and undermining the authorityof their supervisors. This seemed to be an accepted way of solving problems and making decisions. Additionally, sums of money were also borrowed from company accountswith no apparent attempt to secure repayment. Brenda had also seen several seemingly inappropriate personal relationships develop on the job. The entire office was gossiping about the relationship that had developed between the CFO and the sales manager. The subordinate,female, was subsequently transferred to one of the branch offices.

Requirement:

a) Discuss what decisions need to be made when an individual discovers that he/she is working incompany with many ethical issues.

b) If the organisational ethical culture at Float Incorporated cannot be changed, discuss whether Brenda can continue to work there and avoid involvement in activities that are ethically questionable or possibly illegal.

c) Recommend how Float Incorporated could change and create an ethical organisational culture.