Cast Study of a Controller's Dilemma
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Martin Field has been the Controller of RUN, Inc. for five months and has discovered a number of irregularities in both inventory and receivables. He has managed to clean up the balance sheet, and he has temporarily accepted a compromise offered by the CEO for the Income Statement. However, he is not entirely convinced that this is the right thing to do and is now considering his course of action during the final reading. Martin should indicate more clearly to the auditors what the problems were before this compromise was reached and how the compromise has been used to cover up the true nature of the income for this year. He should not allow the Income Statement to be printed in its present form. I will examine this issue in terms first of the various elements of the dilemma facing Martin at this time to show why he is conflicted and why he must make a decision. I will consider the issue in terms of the moral theory of Aristotle, notably the definition of virtue and the application of the mean in determining optimal behavior. After analyzing the basic tenets of this moral theory, I will apply it to this specific case to show how Martin should view his options and what he should decide as to how to resolve his conflicts. Martin's dilemma begins with his personal and professional situation. He had been unhappy with the marketing-type duties he had been assigned in his former position with a CPA firm, so the job with RUN was seen by him as
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fect action and to describe actions taken by human beings. Excellence for Aristotle emerges from motivations, and motivations for Aristotle derive from emotions which lead to actions. Excellence is defined in terms of a settled state determined by a mean in the sense that the individual is not given excessively to any of the motivations which lead to action and is also not insensitive to them. Instead, the individual is to be responsive to emotions to the right degree. What is right in all situations cannot be explained by a simple formula but instead is to be determined by the educated judgment of the agent in response to a wide range of possible circumstances leading to action.
Aristotle argues that not all ends are final ends, and some are the means to other ends. Yet there has to be a final end in sight or the process would be infinite and never reach the good, the chief good that is something final. There can be only one final end, and that is the end human beings are seeking. Identifying what this is requires a consideration of its nature and the nature of competing goals. Virtue is concerned with pleasures and pains. We tend toward pleasure and away from pain, but pleasure often has to be guarded against because
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Some common words found in the essay are:
Excellence Aristotle, AICPA Code, Exposition Human, Set-Up Martin's, Income Statement, Martin Field, RUN Inc, IV Evaluation, moral theory, investors stockholders, leading happiness, sense public responsibility, sense public, mean sense, excellence aristotle, income statement, opposed virtue, independence mean, stock price,
Approximate Word count = 1626
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page)
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