Instructions IS IT WRONG TO TELL A LIE? In a February 1996 article in the Journal of Business Ethics, 400 people were asked to play the role of a ctional executive named Todd Fogler, who is faced with ethical decision. The authors found that 47 percent of the top executives, 41 percent of the controllers, and 76 percent of the graduate level business students they studied were willing to commit fraud by understanding write-offs that cut into their companies' prot. When you hear a study like this, the initial reaction of many students is that such ethical dilemmas are only the concerns of top executives. They aren't - they are everywhere, and they are faced by everyone. A teacher might not able to change ethical standards in a college classroom, but he or she can teach students how to analyze questions that they can bring to bear whateva ethical standards they have when make decisions. 6 282022-FNE105... TURN IN I you haven't done so, there is no better time than now to develop a rule or set of rules against which you can measure the "rightness\" or \"wrongness\" of your decisions and actions. It may be nothing more than \"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you\" Or it may be a question or set of questions that you are consistently ask: How would I feel about explaining to my parents or children what I did? How would I feel if the action I took were described, in detail, on the front page of my local newspaper? Have I avoided even the appearance of a common conict of interest in my decision? Would my action infringe on the liberty or constitutional rights of others? Let's begin our look at ethical dilemmas in nance by asking this question: Is is wrong to tell a lie? One of the roles of a nancial manager is to transmit nancial information to people outside the company. Occasionally, the facts t nancial manager must transmit a explain aren't particularly attering t e One of the roles of a financial manager is to transmit financial information to people outside the company. Occasionally, the facts that the financial manager must transmit and explain aren't particularly flattering to the firm. This presents the dilemma of whatever it is unethical to tell a lie. For example at the annual stockholders meeting a senior financial manager is reviewing her company's financial performance for the previous year. The news is not good. Sales dropped 30 percent, and profits were down 50 percent. A stockholder ask the manager, "What caused this drastic decline and has it been corrected?" The manager knows that the primary cause of the decline was a series of poor top management decisions made over the past several years, but she also knows that's not what her colleagues want her to say. Furthermore, she personally believe the decline is far from over, but she recognizes that's not what the stockholders want to hear. Should this financial managerstockholders meeting a senior nancial manager is reviewing her company's nancial performance for the previous year. The news is not good. Sales dropped 30 percent, and prots were down 50 percent. A stockholder ask the manager, "What caused this drastic decline and has it been corrected?\" The manager knows that the primary cause of the decline was a series of poor top management decisions made over the past several years, but she also knows that's not what her colleagues want her to say. Furthermore, she personally believe the decline is far from over, but she recognizes that's not what the stockholders want to hear. Should this nancial manager lie? ls lying always wrong, or is it acceptable under certain circumstances? What, if any, of those circumstances be? What do you think