Greenwood Corporation has paid 60 consecutive quarterly cash dividends

(15 years). The last 6 months have been a real cash drain on the company, however, as

profit margins have been greatly narrowed by increasing competition. With a cash balance

sufficient to meet only day-to-day operating needs, the president, Gil Mailor, has decided

that a stock dividend instead of a cash dividend should be declared. He tells Greenwood's

financial vice-president, Vicki Lemke, to issue a press release stating that the

company is extending its consecutive dividend record with the issuance of a 5% stock

dividend. "Write the press release convincing the stockholders that the stock dividend is

just as good as a cash dividend," he orders. "Just watch our stock rise when we announce

the stock dividend; it must be a good thing if that happens."

Instructions

(a) Who are the stakeholders in this situation?

(b) Is there anything unethical about president Mailor's intentions or actions?

(c) What is the effect of a stock dividend on a corporation's stockholders' equity accounts?

Which would you rather receive as a stockholdera cash dividend or a stock dividend?

Why?