Ethics, Performance Measures, and the Balanced Scorecard

Eddison Electronic Company (EEC) provides electricity for several states in the United States. You have been employed as a cost accountant at this organization. You have been tasked as a team lead on a team that will construct a balanced scorecard presentation for the department. Please create a PowerPoint presentation of 5–7 slides that discusses the following:What are the key components of a balanced scorecard?In what ways can the balanced scorecard benefit the organization in the strategic decision-making process and influence ROI?What are the ethical issues that could be associated with the four key components of the balanced scorecard?Practicing Ethical Decisions
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The following are three situations encountered at the fictional company
Models and More, Inc. Read each situation and respond.
Activity 1
Models and More, Inc. hired your accounting firm to prepare all financial
statements, prepare all tax forms, and provide general financial advice. Prior
to your contract, you discover that Mike’s accounting assistant is a high
school senior with an aptitude for numbers. She has been able to keep the
accounts in good order, but you found many errors in her preparation of the
financial statements. Moreover, because Mike focused on the production side
of things, many of these errors were not corrected before the preparation and
payment of income taxes.
Question 1: What standard of ethical conduct for management accounts was
violated?
A. Competence
B. Confidentiality
C. Integrity
D. Objectivity
The correct answer is letter A: Competence.
Question 2: What immediate steps should you make to address these
errors?
A. Reprimand the accounting assistant.
B. Tell your coworker over lunch.
C. Report these findings to your manager.
D. Investigate the scope of the errors.
E. Call the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
F. No action is required.
The correct answers are letters C and D: Report these findings to your
manager and Investigate the scope of the errors.
Activity 2
Heather, a friend of the high school accounting assistant, overhears you
talking to a coworker about the past errors in the reporting. Your tone was
Practicing Ethical Decisions
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harsh and the choice of words was condemning. A week later, you receive an
e-mail from Mike with a cc to your manager. He describes the conversation
accurately and tells of the conversation that he had with the two girls. His last
line asks, “What errors have you found in my books? I expect a full-report to
be on my desk by 5:00 p.m. tomorrow.”
Question 3: What standards of ethical conduct for management accounts
were violated?
A. Competence
B. Confidentiality
C. Integrity
D. Objectivity
The correct answers are letters B and D: Confidentiality and Objectivity.
Question 4: What immediate steps should you make to address these
errors?
A. Tell your coworker over lunch.
B. Speak to your manager about the situation.
C. Apologize for your actions.
D. Write the report.
E. Take a sick day.
F. No action is required.
The correct answers are letters B, C, and D: Speak to your manager about
the situation, Apologize for your actions, and Write the report.
Activity 3
As you review the accounting documents for Models and More, you find
several errors. In fact, you realize that you have been depreciating Mike’s
office equipment at the same rate as the specialized equipment that is used
to manufacture the models. Rather than cause more trouble, you decide to
leave the current numbers on the documents.
Practicing Ethical Decisions
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Question 5: What standards of ethical conduct for management accounts
were violated?
A. Competence
B. Confidentiality
C. Integrity
D. Objectivity
The correct answers are letters A, C, and D: Competence, Integrity, and
Objectivity.
Activity 4
The employees of Models and More learn that you are investigating a bonus
program. They shower you with baked goods and warm wishes. One of the
full-time employees even offers you the use of his timeshare on a little lake
outside the city. You refuse, but it was a difficult choice.
Question 6: What standard of ethical conduct for management accounts was
upheld?
A. Competence
B. Confidentiality
C. Integrity
D. Objectivity
The correct answer is letter C: Integrity.