Dent, Terresa L
Edge Perspective - Junior Year
Directions: Respond to the item below in the space provided. Remember that the report must
be written with the same attention to spelling, grammar, and professional presentation to
which all College of Business documents are expected to conform. At a minimum, paper
should be two full pages and adequately address the topic.
Topic: Discuss an ethically-complex decision you made during the past four years; describe
what factors entered your decision making and evaluate whether or not you think you made the
right decision at that time.
Ethics is defined as having moral principles that govern a person’s or group’s behavior. It
is also the principles of what is “right” and “wrong”. Every day, we have the ability to choose
whether or not we act in an ethical manner, even though the presence of a right or wrong
decision lingers nonetheless. Ethics plays a strong role in education, the workplace, and in life.
In the past four years, there is an ethically-sound decision that I made during my sophomore year
at East Carolina University. For as long as I can remember, I have not been a good test taker no
matter how much of the information I knew prior to the examination. Sometimes, I did poorly
whereas other times, I did great on tests. In the College of Business, each student is required to
take Financial and Managerial Accounting before declaring their major. I knew that it would not
be a problem for me, since Accounting was my major and I loved the subject. I did receive an A
in both, but my ethically-sound decision played a major role in receiving the wonderful grade I
received in Managerial Accounting.
A typical exam for me would have forty to fifty multiple choice questions, but that
changed when I got in Managerial Accounting. There were four tests, with twenty-five questions
on each, making it easy to fail if no studying or preparation was involved. During the course, I
received a C, two Bs, and an A on the four tests. As we were going over our third test, I noticed
how she checked two of my answers right when they were actually wrong. I realized that if I
notified her of the problem, my grade would change to a C. I quickly thought about my options
when making my final decision on whether to tell her or not. If I told her, I thought that she
would change my grade to a C and I would receive a B in the class. If I did not tell her, I would
have received an A in the class unless she saw her mistake before posting final grades.
My final decision turned out to be the right decision. I turned in my test, and slowly
showed her the mistakes, not knowing what to expect after my reluctant showing. She looked at
it for a few seconds and told me that she appreciated me for coming and showing her the errors
she made. Instead of her changing my grade, she kept my grade the way it was since I was
honest with her. I did not know what to expect out of the situation, but I just knew that despite
the outcome, I did the right thing.
I can say that I made an A in that class due to my ethics and knowing that I made the
right decision. In the workplace, employees make decisions that could either get them fired or
keep their job. If a boss tells an employee to do something that is ethically wrong, the employee
should still do what is right. When you have no ethics or moral standards, it will affect your life
in many ways, not good ways either. With this being said, I know how important it is to remain
ethically sound, whether the ultimate outcome is in my favor or not.
When Complete: Save this document to your computer. Name the document like this: Doe,
John_Junior Edge Perspective. Upload the completed document to your portfolio for your
Leadership Coach to review.