A Student’s Dilemma

The purpose of this memo is to identify the ethical dilemma Helen is trapped into and her responsibilities towards making the correct decision. Helen Kanell is a final year student with a 4. 0 average grade point at the Empire State University. She is also the president of Beta Alpha Psi, the accounting student honor society. Being a president of such honorable society requires a great deal of responsibility and time commitment. Helen is already appointed a position at the Big & Apple LLC. Yet, Helen plans to complete her studies with at least a 3. 90 GPA to qualify for the highest academic honor â€Å"summa cum laude. However, she is currently maintaining a B average in four out of five of her courses and needs to get an A at least in one course to be eligible for summa cum laude. In order to resolve Helen’s dilemma her best friend lick the copy of the Accounting 544 from the accounting department and gives it to Helen prior to the final exam. Before arriving to a conclusion Helen should consider her responsibilities towards the University, herself, and several other related groups. Maintaining academic integrity of the University should be Helen’s first priority. It’s her duty to follow the University’s Code of Conduct to uphold its reputation. Sue should be honest to the accounting department because she represents the accounting honor society, Beta Alpha Psi. As a leader of such honorable society cheating will not set the right example for rest of the student body. Helen’s should not take a decision which will cause her to be unfair to all those students who worked hard for the exam. It’s her responsibility to be fair to other student in the class and the department. As stated by the Golden Rule â€Å"we should treat other the way we want to be treated. No one would like to be cheated, therefore, Helen’s should not put fort her own interest and be unfair to others. Helen’s responsibility towards Big & Apple LLC is to act in a trustworthy and reliable manner. One of the reasons the company has hired is so that they can trust Helen with their financial and confidential information. She should understand the consequences of cheating in such situation because it can have a huge impact on her career. Instead of taking the wrong path to achieve success Helen should discuss her situation and seek for appropriate advice form her professor. Although, Helen’s best friend is concerned about her situation its Helen’s responsibility to report her best friends misdeeds to the professor of Accounting 544. Helen’s responsibility is to make her friend realize the consequences of her wrongdoings. She should make her friend understand the ethical values of what’s right and what’s wrong. Cheating is not an easy way out of difficult situations. Helen’s responsibility to herself is to avoid doing things which would lower her self-esteem. She should alert herself that cheating is unethical way of achieving success and would cost her much more than expected in her career. Making the right decision will give her peace of mind and she won’t have anything to regret for in future. Ethical values of honesty, integrity and trust should guide Helen in making the right decision in such situation. People with these values tend to think in the best interest of others. These ideals guide every individual to achieve greater success. If I was Helen I would not choose the path of dishonesty under any circumstances. My ethical values would not permit me to take advantage of the final exam cheat sheet. Instead, I would put my full concentration on my studies and work hard towards that A. To seek advice I would go to the Accounting 544 professor. I would discuss my crucial situation with him/her to resolve my dilemma. My decision would not change even if the Empire State University has an honor code and provides a $5000 award to students that graduate summa cum laude. Regardless of how difficult the situation could get its unethical for me to cheat to achieve such an honorable award. I believe the path of fraudulence will never lead a person to a successful profession, as well as life