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| United Forest Products (UFP) is a $1 billion corporation with many large timber and wood processing plants. The company is decentralized into divisions that operate as profit centers. The majority of the centers are evaluated on cost control and the achievement of budgeted output and profits. If "target numbers" are met, all division employees participate in a profit-sharing plan, and senior management potentially can receive substantial bonuses. Charlene White is the controller of the Allegheny Division of UFP. Over the past six months, she discussed the division's performance several times with the president of the Allegheny Division, William Jefferson, and it became apparent that the division would not meet its targeted goals unless drastic changes were made. The Allegheny Division is actually a cost center that has been required to use a non-market-based transfer price, but it is evaluated as a profit center. Jefferson realized this problem and told White that the only way to meet budget was "to maximize output and make some serious changes in our cost control." Several weeks later, White noted a dramatic increase in the profitability of the division. When analyzing the monthly profit and loss details, White noted only a slight increase in output but a significant decrease in the purchase cost of raw timber. She knew her responsibilities required her to understand fully how this sudden change was taking place and began investigating. At the log yard where timber is received and scaled to determine its price, she noticed that a trucker-timber contractor was quite aggravated when he was given the scale report (board feet and quality). When she asked one of the employees what was bothering the contractor, he said, "Are you kidding? You wouldn't believe how much we've been lowering scale measures the last three months!" Further conversations revealed that Jefferson had apparently told the division’s mill workers to significantly reduce both the size scale (in inches of log diameter) and quality measures of logs sold to the mill. The impact has been a significant reduction in the price paid to contractors for timber purchased by the division. White suspects that Jefferson has instructed employees to deliberately give logging contractors arbitrary and inaccurate evaluations of raw material quantity and quality, an unethical business practice. Questions A. Identify and discuss Charlene White’s ethical conflict and determine if she has an obligation to act? Be sure to refer to the relevant standards outlined in IMA’s Standards of Ethical Professional Practice to support your answer. B. According to IMA’s Standards of Ethical Professional Practice, what steps should White take to resolve the perceived ethical dilemma? C. Explain how the performance evaluation system affected behavior at the Allegheny Division and recommend improvements to the system. |