E5-28

Cost control; ethics; writing

Companies use time sheets for two primary reasons: to know how many hours an employee works and, in a job order production situation, to trace work hours to products. An article (S. Greenhouse, Altering of Worker Time Cards Spurs Growing Number of Suits, New York Times, 4/4/04) described a corporate practice of deleting worker hours to increase organizational profitability. Use your library database to obtain this article and discuss the following:

1. What companies were mentioned as having been found to engage in this practice:
2. Why is it easier now than in the past to engage in this practice?
3. As a member of upper management, how would you respond to finding out that this practice was being used in some of your stores? Provide an answer that addresses both the short run and the long run.