4. Ethical decision making

Case study – Sharon’s choice

Sharon

●　If she helps Kit obtain the loan by covering up his financial problems, she will:
- ○　fail to fulfill her fiduciary responsibility of protecting the bank’s interests. The bank has to bear an unnecessarily high risk of bad debt.
- ○　compromise her professional competence.
- ○　break the law and be liable to prosecution.
- ○　ruin her reputation and career prospect.
●　If she turns down Kit’s request:
- ○　her relationship with Kit may be jeopardised.
- ○　her son Justin will not be recommended for a place in the study tour.

Kit

●　His company will go bankrupt without Sharon’s assistance in obtaining the bank loan.
●　Even he manages to obtain the loan with Sharon’s assistance, he may not be able to repay the loan on schedule if his business does not improve.
●　He violates the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance as he offers an advantage, i.e. recommending Sharon’s son for a place in the study tour in his capacity as PTA chairman, as an inducement to Sharon’s assistance.
●　It will amount to fraud if he obtains the bank loan by fraudulently covering up the financial difficulties.

Sharon’s son (Justin)

●　He will secure a place in the study tour if Sharon accedes to Kit’s request.
●　He may be rejected by peers if they know how Sharon gets a place in the study tour for him.

Sharon’s employer (The bank)

●　It will suffer a financial loss if Kit fails to repay the loan after he manages to obtain it with Sharon’s assistance.
●　Its reputation will be tarnished if Sharon’s act becomes known to the public.
●　Its corporate culture will be adversely affected as Sharon sets a bad example to her subordinates.
●　Tolerance of Sharon’s act will lead to loss of customers’ trust and affect staff morale.