The Travel Expense Billing Controversy Essay Example for Free

The Travel Expense Billing Controversy Essay Neal A. Roberts, an employee of PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) found out that his employer was earning millions of dollars a year by way of a billing method that he thought was doubtful. PwC had been collecting large rebates on airline tickets and other travel expenses being charged as expenses to clients of the firm. These rebates were not being returned to the firm’s clients in the form of savings, but the firm was keeping these rebates for it. This was working, because the firm would bill the clients for the full price of airline tickets and other travel-related expense, but privately, the firm negotiated discounts and rebates that they then got at the end of the year based upon total amounts spent. The clients did not know anything of the back-end discounts and rebates the firm was getting; therefore, they were being charged more than the firm’s true out-of-pocket expenses for the items. In October 2001, the firm finally stopped taking airline rebates completely. The company started structuring all discounts as front-end price reductions that would be passed on to the clients. In the professional environment, there are two main areas in which ethical behavior is required. The first point concerns the behavior of the employee at work, in dealing with colleagues, with supervisors and subordinates and also with customers, the second point concerns the behavior of the company itself against its customers, its employees and all others who may are concerned from company. Also you have to distinguish between descriptive and normative ethics. Descriptive ethics is concerned with describing, characterizing, and studying the morality of a people, an organization, a culture, or a society. [†¦] It focuses on â€Å"what is† the prevailing set of ethical standards in the business community, specific organizations, or on the part of specific managers. [†¦] Normative ethics is concerned with supplying and justifying a coherent moral system of thinking and judging. [†¦] It deals more with â€Å"what ought to be† or â€Å"what ought not to be† in terms of business practices. Carroll, Buchholtz, 2008:242,243) So it’s rather impossible for a large company such as PwC to adhere to all these ethical values. These values can be quickly lost in the general public, because everywhere, they are trying to make money and advance the business, whether this ethical behavior is observed or ignored. Neal A. Roberts was constantly trying to uncover the corrupt business of the company, because he has a higher ethical consciousness and does not want PwC to get away with its wrong behavior. Identify the ethical issues in this case. There are three ethical issues in this case. Firstly the cheating on customers out of discounts. The firm PwC earns millions of dollars on rebates, which are not being returned to the clients in form of savings, but rather, the firm was keeping these rebates for themselves. The second ethical issue is that PwC is giving false information to the firm’s clients, by telling them a wrong amount for the airline tickets and other travel expenses. The last ethical issue is the cover-up of the firm’s corrupt activity. The company PwC does not tell their clients and their employees about the firm’s illegal behavior. All these ethical issues belong to the organizational level (or firm level). â€Å"[†¦] These issues may carry consequences for the company’s reputation and success in the community and also for the kind of ethical environment or culture that will prevail on a day-to-day basis at the office. In addition, how the issue is handled may have serious organizational consequences† (Carroll, Buchholtz, 2008:289,290). [A] survey conducted by the Ethics Resource Center reveal what managers and employees are up against. † There you can see, that 19 percent of the asked employees mentioned â€Å"lying to employees, customers, vendors, or the public† (Carroll, Buchholtz, 2008:290) is one of the most â€Å"questionable practices that employees today face in their work lives† (Carroll, Buchholtz, 2008:291). Who are the stakeholders and what are their stake s? The Stakeholders in case 14 are the customers, the federal government, the company PwC, the partners in business and the employees. The customer’s stakes are to get the right service for the money they paid, to get good quality and to be treated honest and fair. But in this case the customers are not getting the rebates that they should be rewarded. Furthermore the stakes of the federal government are that the company PwC can pay the taxes and acts legally and ethically. However, the federal government was not only lied to about speculations and regulations, but they were also lied to as the customers themselves. Moreover the stakes of PwC are that they can keep on the market with the other companies, that their employees are motivated nd make a good work, that their company is creditworthy, so in other words liquidity is given, that they have many customers and good conditions for suppliers. The stakes of the partners in business are that they want to know how the competitive company PwC is in the market and how big their market shares are. But the other businesses are getting tarnished. At last the emplo yee’s stakes are to work in a nice working atmosphere, to get fair wages and also to be treated honest and fair. What is your appraisal of the ethics of the travel expense billing practices described in the case? What are the ethical arguments for and against them? My appraisal of the ethics of the travel expense billing practices described in the case is what the company PwC did is wrong, because it is not right and fair. They violate consumer rights, employee rights and shareholder rights by offending against the main ethical principles, such as the â€Å"Respect for Persons†, the â€Å"Principle of Beneficence† and the â€Å"Principle of Justice†. In this connection ‘Respect for Persons’ means that individuals should be treated as autonomous agents and that persons with diminished autonomy are entitled to protection. Further the ‘Principle of Beneficence’ indicates that â€Å"persons are treated in an ethical manner not only by respecting their decisions and protecting them from harm, but also by making efforts to secure their well-being. [†¦ ]Two general rules have been formulated as complementary expressions of beneficent actions in this sense: (1) do not harm and (2) maximize possible benefits and minimize possible harms. As with all hard cases, the different claims covered by the principle of beneficence may come into conflict and force difficult choices. † Moreover the ‘Principle of Justice’ says that â€Å"[†¦] equals ought to be treated equally. † (http://www. stmarys-ca. edu/institutional-review-board/basic-ethical-principles) The company’s behavior meets the basic level of the CSR pyramid, which says â€Å"be profitable†, but on the other side it goes against legal, ethical and philantropical responsibilities. [†¦] In most decisionmaking situations, ethics, economics, and law become the central expectations that must be considered and balanced against each other in the quest to make wise decisions† (Carroll, Buchholtz, 2008:249), but in this case, the company does not obey this rule. PwC only refers to the ethical basis â€Å"be profitable† and ignores the other responsibilities, which makes the whole behavior of the firm illegal and not ethical.

Progress Leads to Success Essay -- Health, Mental Illness

Henry Ford stated, â€Å"Coming together is a beginning, keeping together is a progress, working together is success,† Ford’s quote applies to everything and everyone coming together in the beginning to make progress that leads into success, just like we need to do to help the mentally ill. Things need to change so that mentally ill individuals don’t hurt themselves or the people that surround them in society. The law and psychology need to work together to make stricter guidelines to prevent mentally stable people from manipulating the right’s we are giving to mentally ill people, also they need to treat mentally ill before crime happens, and lastly, the mentally ill should not be placed into prisons because of the more severe effects that will hurt them worse in the long run. Making a tougher mental capacity test would reduce the amount of liars that just rely on the insanity defense to get a lesser sentence. The law has already showed a good beginning in trying to stop perfectly stable people mentally from manipulating the right of the insanity offense the law has given to mentally ill who actually need it, â€Å"About one-fourth of the states have established a separate verdict of ‘Guilty but Mentally Ill’ (GBMI)†¦ The consequence of receiving GBMI is that the individual is convicted and given a criminal sentence. It is a verdict available to the jury when the conclusion is that the defendant committed the act charged but suffers from a mental disorder, however, not at the level necessary to meet the insanity offense,† (Torry 259-260) the law as a whole has clearly started to make little changes by making the GBMI but they still need to make more progress so people do not manipulate the system. For example, 35-year-old Terry Sturgis... ...uncertainty about life after prison, and inadequate health services† (187), by placing these types of people into prisons is doing nothing but make things worse. In conclusion the law and psychology need to do a better job working together so we can make the best outcome for everyone. Being mentally ill is not a bad thing, it is just a bad thing when you cannot control your urges: â€Å"It is a disorder that impairs the human mind and prevents distinguishing between actions that are right and wrong†¦They are brain disorders resulting in a diminishined capacity for coping with the demands of life† (Torry 255). By coming together we can make progress and make a success out of making stricter guildlines, treating mentally ill before crime happens, and placing them into institutions, not prisons. This success can be an overall positive thing for the individual and society.

Government Essay

Government is an inevitable asset because human beings are savages and without government there would be total chaos. James Madison said â€Å"If men were angels, no government is needed†. People need a form of organized authority to create and enforce laws. Government plays a major role in everyday life, it provides people with public services, set goals and public policies, maintains tradition and culture, and resolves conflicts. In this essay, I will be discussing politics and public administration. I will further explain how both are intertwined and would never be able to be separated from one another. In hearing the word politics, what usually springs to mind are images of government, politicians and their policies or more negatively the idea of corruption, scandals and dirty politicians. The actual definition seems to have been obscured and almost lost by such representations and cliches that tend not to pinpoint the true essence which defines politics. Politics is a very emotive word and is used by different people to mean different things. There is no unifying theory of politics and hence no set boundaries of what can and cannot be said to be political. Politics is a broad term, which encompasses a wide range of activities and beliefs that help shape the modern world in which we live. The general contention is that politics is the preserve of government, either through influence, elections, or through the power and authority exerted by those who rule. In order to understand politics, and the role it fulfils, I feel it is important to backtrack to the beginning where the term politics originated. The word politics stems from the ancient Greek word polis, which means city-state. Ancient Greek society was divided into a collection of independent city-states each possessing its own system of government. Therefore, politics can be defined as â€Å"what concerns the state†, a view currently held by the public. The common belief is that if someone is to be involved in politics, then they hold a government office or position, whether it is in local government or the central government (Retrieved February 2, 2009, from http://en. wikipedia. rg/wiki/Polis ). The Greek philosopher Aristotle identified the word politics is as â€Å"politike†, a practical science, which is concerned with the noble action of happiness of citizens (Retrieved February 2, 2009, from http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Politics_(Aristotle). Politics is the decision making process, the settling of conflicts and the enforcing of goals and interests of citizens. Politics and public administration are cl osely linked, because public administration is defined as government management and examines the practices of governance. The separation of them from each other is a completely impossible. Traditionally, public administration is thought of as the accomplishing side of government. It is supposed to comprise all activities involved in carrying out policies of elected officials and some activities associated with the development of those policies. How these responsibilities are carried out reflect on the legitimacy of the administration, as well as the legitimacy of the government (Fesler & Kettl, 2005). Public administration impacts everyone’s life in different ways. Public administration allows people working in government to make a positive impact on society. They are organizations and agencies that apply and control different areas of society. Public administration creates and changes public policy programs to respond to the needs and interests of our nation. Every aspect of our daily lives is impacted in some way by the actions of federal, state, or local bureaucracies that manage and organize the public lives of its citizens. Public administration controls everything from the way we travel, our health, our education and our law enforcement. The American Public Transportation Agency improves and advances public transportation. They provide safe, proficient and cost effective transit services, improve services to meet national energy, environmental, and financial concerns. They are responsible for planning, designing, constructing, financing and operating transit systems. The Department of Health and Human Services is the United States government’s principal agency for protecting the health of all Americans and providing important human services for those who are not able to help themselves. This public administration includes the FDA, Food and Drug Administration, that assures the safety of foods, cosmetics, safety of pharmaceuticals, biological products, and medical devices. The HRSA, Health Resources and Services Administration, provides access to important health care services for people who are low income, uninsured or who live in rural areas or urban neighborhoods where health care is limited. These agencies are just a few of the many agencies that impact our everyday lives (Fesler & Kettl, 2005). Politics and public administration are intertwined and can never be separated from one another, because they complement each other and are connected in numerous ways. Through politics, members of the government make decisions and public administrators carry them out. Politics are not governed by a single institution, but by a collection of institutions, many of which are specialized. Public administrations on the other hand, have an extensive focus on governance systems. In other words, politics can never be separated from administration, because their functions always overlap one another. Politics and administration functions both need to be performed to have a successful governance system. Public administration is created as a result of politics, although others might say that there is politics in public administration. Both of which are true. As new laws are passed and policies change, it is up to the public administrator to implement these changes and carry them out. It can be a police officer issuing a ticket for a new law that was recently passed or a building evacuation by Department of Buildings inspectors, because a new building code was passed and the building is deemed unsafe to live in. It is simply a vicious circle with politics and public administration. In conclusion, politics and public administration have essential functions which simply cannot exist without each other.

Comparing The Opening Shots in Baz Luhrmann and Franco...

Comparing The Opening Shots in Baz Luhrmann and Franco Zeffirellis Versions of Romeo and Juliet This essay will compare two versions of Romeo and Juliet directed by Baz Luhrmann and Franco Zeffirelli. In order for me to comment on both versions of Romeo and Juliet I will compare the opening shots, the way the main characters are introduced and the types of music and costumes used in each version. Baz Luhrmanns film takes place in contemporary America. The latest version of Romeo and Juliet was filmed in 1997 at Verona Beach, California. The director chose this area because it is somewhat exotic and because it is seen as a city -state with its importance in America. Its also an area young†¦show more content†¦The prologue gives the audience helpful information on the latest goings on in Verona, which helps to fill you in on what is happening. As the prologue continues I become aware of the original Shakespearian language that is used, The fearful passage of their death-marked love. The use of opposition within the text is effective in conveying the contrast between Romeo and Juliet and the two families. As well as this, death and love are opposites that dont normally feature in the same sentence, causing a strong, instant effect on the audience. Although the Luhrmann film has a modern setting and opens with a news anchorwoman reading the prologue from the play, it is read in one go and there is nothing offered to the viewer to make it clearer. It seems that Luhrmann wants to set up a traditional presentation of the words so that when his vision appears it is even more explosive. Although Luhrmann works hard at communicating the text, the American-speaking actors prove a difficulty. Dialogue is certainly not of prime importance in this film. In Luhrmanns film the words remain Shakespearean whereas the images are very much in the late 20th century. Using a television and a reporter gives me the feeling the director is trying to achieve a modern version of the film oneShow MoreRelatedComparing the Openings of the Film Versions of Romeo and Juliet by Franco Zeffirelli and Baz Luhrmann775 Words   |  4 PagesComparing the Openings of the Film Versions of Romeo and Juliet by Franco Zeffirelli and Baz Luhrmann Both openings of ‘Romeo and Juliet’ by Franco Zeffirelli and Baz Luhrmann show similarities and contrasts. Although both versions are faithful to the text as the words spoken by the voiceover in the Prologue are the same, the methods of presentation are clearly different. Zeffirelli places the film in the 17th century and takes a more traditional approach. By using a white