Business Finance Homework Help

DISCUSSION: Read ETHICAL DILEMMA on page 20 before contributing.

THE CASE: 

(((Bill and Rachael are both analysts in the market research department at ABC Company. Bill 

is generally viewed as a top performer. Objectively, his work is good, but he really excels 

at self-promotion. When dealing with others, he is a tough negotiator, confident to the 

point of being cocky. He likes to win and win big. He is unafraid of stepping on anyone’s 

toes and lives by the motto that it is easier to beg forgiveness than to ask permission

Rachael is bright and hardworking; however, she is modest and relies on others to 

notice the good work she does. She believes it’s more important to spend her time work-

ing than promoting herself and publicizing her accomplishments. She views conflict 

as a complete waste of time and has a difficult time standing up for herself. This often 

results in others taking advantage of her.

Bill and Rachael have recently been assigned to work together on what has the 

potential to be a highly visible project. The project involves a lot of research, writing a 

report, and presenting the findings to the senior executives. They just finished meet-

ing to lay out the tasks involved and establish a plan for the project. In their meeting, 

Bill told Rachael that she could do the research and draft the report and that he would 

make the presentation. When Rachael suggested they work together on the research 

and jointly make the presentation, Bill told her that she needed to do the research and 

draft the report because she was better at “that sort of thing,” while he needed to make 

the presentation because of his superior presentation skills.

Bill left the meeting satisfied that he had won yet again and believing that since 

he would be making the presentation, he would get the majority of the credit for the 

project. This is important to him because he has heard there will be an opening in the 

near future for a senior analyst. He wants the promotion and thinks the visibility of this 

project will make him a shoo-in for the job.

Rachael left their meeting feeling resentful and put upon but not knowing what to 

do about it. While this sort of thing has happened to her in the past, she is especially 

upset this time because she has heard there will soon be an opening for a senior analyst 

and she is very interested in the position.)))