Weimers Products Company operates 3 divisions, each with its own manufacturing plant, and marketing/sales force. The corporate headquarters and central accounting office are in Weimers, and the plants are in Freeport, Rockport, and Bayport, all within 50 miles of Weimers. Corporate management treats each division as an independent profit center and encourages competition among them. They each have similar but different product lines. As a competitive incentive, bonuses are awarded each year to the employees of the fastest-growing and most-profitable division. Indy Grover is the manager of the Weimers centralized computerized accounting operation that enters the sales transactions and maintains accounts receivable for all 3 divisions. Indy came up in the accounting ranks from the Bayport division, where his wife, several relatives, and friends all work. As sales documents are entered into the computer, the originating division by code. Most sales documents (95%) are coded, but some (5%) are not coded, or coded incorrectly. As the manager, Indy has instructed the data-entry personnel to assign the Bayport code to all the uncoded or incorrectly coded sales documents. This is done, he says, "in order to expedite processing and to keep the computer files current since they are updated daily." All receivables and cash collections for all 3 divisions are handled by Weimers as one subsidiary account receivable ledger.
1. Who are the stakeholders?
2. What are the ethical issues in this case?
3. How might the system be improved to prevent this situation?