Question

2. Molly Highway is the manager of the repairs and maintenance department of JG Industries. She is responsible for preparing his department's annual budget. Most managers in the company inflate their budget numbers at least ten percent (10 % ) because their bonuses depend by how much below budget their departments operate. Highway turned in the following information for her department's 2018 budget to the company's budget committee: Budget 2017 20,000 80,000 Actual 2017 Budget 2018 24,000 Supplies Labour Utilities 16,000 82,000 8,000 96,000 10,200 15,000 8,500 Tools 12,500 9,000 25,000 Handcarried 16,400 30,000 equipment Cleaning materials Miscellaneous 4,600 4,200 5,520 2,400 2,000 2,100 TOTALS 152,600 137,700 183,120 Because the figures for 2018 are twenty percent (20 % ) above those in the 2017 budget. The budget committee questioned them. Highway defended them by saying that she expects a significant increase in activity in his department in 2018. Required: What do you think are the real reasons for the increase in the budgeted amount? What ethical considerations enter into this situation?

Answer 1

• The real reason for the 20% increase in budgeted amount could be Molly’s desire to show better improvement in actual costs in 2018 compared to the budgeted costs. We can clearly see that in 2017 budgeted figures were inflated and because of the inflated budgeted figures the actual costs were lower. This created a false impression that efficiency and performance levels were high. So in 2018 Molly must have inflated the budget by a higher percentage just to be able to show incremental levels of improvement in efficiency and performance. This will also allow her to earn a bigger bonus in 2018 compared to last year.

• The ethical consideration that enters into this situation is the ethical consideration of misleading the management of the company. Clearly the budgeted figures are misleading and have been adjusted higher and this practice is completely unethical. By doing this Molly and other managers are able to wrongly earn higher bonuses and this is causing extra financial burden for the company. This practice is unethical and against the deontological ethics system as it is against the moral code of conduct of being truthful.