Lee Corporations research and development department has an idea for a project it believes will culminate in a new product that would be very profitable for the company. Since the project will be very expensive, the department requests approval from the companys controller, Alan Johnson. Johnson recognizes that corporate profits have been down lately and is hesitant to approve a project that will incur significant expenses that cannot be capitalized due to the requirements of the authoritative literature. He knows that if they hire an outside firm that does the work and obtains a patent for the process, Lee Corporation can purchase the patent from the outside firm and record the expenditure as an asset. Johnson knows that the companys own R&D department is first-rate, and he is confident they can do the work well. Lee Corporation has hired you to write a brief paper answering the following questions:

Who are the stakeholders in this situation? Explain briefly why are they stakeholders.

What are the ethical issues involved? Discuss in brief details.

What should Johnson do? Provide good explanations that he can offer to Lee Corporations management.