Analysis Paper: Ethical Dilemma

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Analysis Paper: Ethical Dilemma Last summer I had an opportunity to intern for a regional public accounting firm just outside of Philadelphia. During the internship, I encountered my first real on the job "ethical dilemma." I had been working at the firm for probably 3 weeks before the incident occurred. It happened on a Friday in late June. This was no ordinary Friday, as all of the partners of the firm were out of the office on an annual retreat. Furthermore, on this Friday, many of the managers and principals of the firm were out of the office on vacation. Continuing, it was lunch time and I was approached by a senior staff member (who happened to be kind of the clown of the office). He invited me to a lunch engagement with him and other staff accountants and wanted to know if I would join. Of course being the new intern, I was happy to attend and have the opportunity to meet more people at the firm. Little did I know that this lunch engagement was a small "tradition" and was not a sporadic event. We got to a local restaurant/bar where we ended up eating lunch and hanging around for nearly four hours! During this lunch, I witnessed staff and managers of the firm talking negatively about other employees and partners that I had never even met. On top of that, the beverage of choice at our table was pitchers of beer. It felt weird drinking beer and watching managers of the firm pounding beers on the job. Being new to the professional world of business, I was not sure what to make of all this. I was looking at my first ethical dilemma. Something inside was telling me that it was unethical to be taking a long lunch and drinking alcohol on the job. The other side of me was saying this must be a special incid... ... middle of paper ... ...propriate or not? If I could first have that answered, then I could determine my next course of action. Even if I didn't feel like I should say anything to a partner, I could at least learned for the future that drinking in excess on the job and taking long lunches (even once a year), is not right. One thing is for sure, I definitely understand how it can be very difficult when you are put into an ethical situation, being a "new guy" on the job. This is something that I think companies should be more cognizant of. When you are new at a job, you're not totally familiar with the corporate culture, the employees around you, and policies. You can easily get thrown into a situation like I did where I really was confused about what was right and wrong. That is why it is important to have some sort of support system where employees can express their dilemmas to staff.

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