Describe the important details of the dilemma from the article given below for a paper and then apply 3 normative approaches to the dilemma (Utilitarian, Rights, and Virtue Ethics).

Use these frameworks to reach a conclusion or justification for what should be decided to do if you were in this situation.

Article-

A Judgment Call

by Joanne Ciulla, David Kirshenbaum, and Scott Stimpfel

Overview

You are an Associate who is part of a fifty-person Health Care group, in an investment bank, that covers the Health Care industry. Your team won a competitive mandate to be lead sell-side advisor.Your client, a Fortune 500 health care company, is selling its health care payments business (the "Subsidiary") that its management team deemed as a non-core asset. It is the group's first time leading a transaction for the client and a successful sale of the Subsidiary will lead to future transactions.

You were informed that you have been staffed to work on the asset sale with a few others from the group (an Analyst, Vice President, and Managing Director).

Group Background

You are the newest member of the Health Care group. The group has expanded over the past two-years with the goal of significantly increasing its market share of Health Care related deals, both on the buy-side and sell-side. The team has made tremendous progress towards this goal.

Prior to joining the group, you had heard the reputation of the team was to work its junior bankers hard and that some senior bankers had difficult personalities. In fact, you were able to get some additional context through a friend of a friend, Ariel, who has been an Associate in group for two years. Ariel stated unequivocally that to be successful in the group, one must stay on the good side of senior bankers.

The majority of the team is situated in an open floor office, so you have direct access to all bankers from juniors to seniors. Despite having to work long-hours, you are pleasantly surprised by how well everyone works together. The culture is one where juniors are encouraged to ask senior bankers questions. You have also noticed a strong comradery across the team from Analysts to Managing Directors. It is not uncommon for senior members of the team to take juniors out to grab a drink and socialize, especially if they have been working really hard. Although it has been a relatively short period of time, you have begun to successfully assimilate into the group culture and develop a few relationships.

Sell-side Advisement

You are excited about the opportunity to work on your first deal with the team and to work with Maria, a very well-respected Vice President. It is common knowledge in the group that Maria is very influential with senior bankers. During compensation discussions, she is known to be a strong advocate for juniors. Maria asks you to review the historical and projected financials for the Subsidiary. She then provides you with a model/spreadsheet that has been provided by the client. The model's financial projections will be one source that potential buyers will use to determine the value of the Subsidiary and what they may bid. The model will also drive the team's advice to the client with regard to the range of offers to expect as well as a fair price if the investment bank is to provide a fairness opinion on the sale. A fairness opinion is a report generated by the investment bank, for the client's management team and board of directors, which states whether the client is receiving a fair price for the Subsidiary.

In the course of reviewing the model's financial projections and assumptions provided by the client, you notice a hardcoded number that inflates future cash flows by an additional 2.5%.The due diligence with the client took place prior to you joining the team, so you will not have an opportunity to directly ask the client about it. The hardcoded number does not appear to be drastically different from other numbers in the model and the additional 2.5% cash flow impact does not seem material in nature. Time is not on your side and you have to complete the review of the model. You wonder if you should you bring this to Maria's attention? You eventually err on the side of caution and decide to bring it up with her.

You walk over to Maria's desk and say, "Maria, I noticed this number in the model was hardcoded and it impacts future cash flows by an additional 2.5%."Maria looks annoyed and in a condescending tone says, "That's just one of many assumptions in the analysis. The 2.5% is a far more conservative assumption than what's typically used for financial projections. Welcome to the health care industry, rookie."

On one hand, you immediately begin to second guess your judgement of bringing this to Maria's attention. On the other, your gut is still telling you that something about the analysis just does not feel right. Maria spoke with conviction, but it's difficult to evaluate whether she is correct given it's your first deal. However, the fact is, nothing on the spreadsheet indicates that the number is only an assumption.

A few minutes later, Maria stops by your desk. "Look, it's a judgment call," she says."It's not your job to make the judgment.We can talk about it later.But just get this done now.Please.Thank you."

You don't want to do something that ruins your prospects with either the group or the firm. You distinctly remember what Ariel said when you joined: to be successful in the group, one must stay on the good side of senior bankers. Maria has a solid reputation in the office and the senior bankers respect her opinions. She is focused.She gets the job done. You do not want to be that person who disrupts the team's cohesiveness and comradery.

Maria was clear that this needed be completed now. You contemplate whether you should prepare the projections as requested. Given the importance of the transaction, you don't want to create a problem if there isn't one. Nonetheless, since you joined the bank, you have been repeatedly reminded of how important honesty and accuracy are to the business through the bank's communications and training.