You recently took over as CEO of Beta Technologies, a renowned IT services and consulting firm in India established in 1990. Over the past three decades, the company has grown into a global player with clients in North America, Europe, and Asia. Known for cutting-edge solutions and strong client relationships, Beta Technologies has been a market leader in the IT sector. It has been three weeks since you took over, and one day, the company's legal head came to you with a report that they had discovered discrepancies in the company's financial statement. For five years, the company's financial Officer (CFO), Mr. Rahul Mehta, has manipulated its earnings reports. By inflating revenues and understating expenses, he has created a false image of financial health to boost stock prices and secure more investment. Further, it was found that Mr. Mehta has significant personal investments in some of the company's vendors. These vendors were awarded lucrative contracts, often at inflated prices and with favourable terms detrimental to the company. Mr. Mehta's actions have compromised the procurement process and led to financial losses for the company. As CEO, you were confronted with a critical decision. You also had to contend with financial irregularities and a skewed procurement process. (a) What decision options are available to you? (b) What are the issues involved in the above case? (c) What will be your chosen course of action and Why?

a) Decision Options Available

1. Maintain status quo By not taking any action company's reputation would be protected, losses to investors would be avoided, job security for all employees. But this would lead to issues of insider trading, more financial losses and deteriorate work culture

2. fire CFO This would hold him accountable for his actions by misusing his powers and authority But this would not provide a solution to the economic crisis at hand.

3. Conduct thorough enquiry Of all the people involved in the irregularities to identify loopholes and pose solutions.

4. Blow the whistle It would expose the scam to the world and force corrective measures but this would

tarnish company reputation and cause huge losses.

b) Ethical Issues

1. abuse of authority & power by CFO violating the value of fiduciary
2. issue of favouritism in awarding contracts
3. Insider trading by misusing information for personal gains.
4. poor work-culture in the organisation as for the past 5 years no one noticed such lapses by the CFO.
5. poor character of CFO; committing the social sin of knowledge without character.
6. lack of regard for transparency in governance
7. indulging in dishonesty by manipulating the financial performance
8. personal greed of CFO undermining the collective interest and wellbeing of the company.
9. abuse of discretionary powers while procuring goods & services.

c) Chosen Course of Action

(1) First, I would order an in house investigation to ascertain the scale of irregularities and identify all responsible culprits.

(2) Then I would terminate all those who are found guilty and report them to law enforce -ment authorities so that they are held responsible for their actions

(3) Then I would issue a press release clearly communicating the details of the situation and actions taken thereof to uphold the trust of people in the company name.

In the long run (1) establish proper recruitment methods to prevent people with corruptible consciousness from occupying leadership roles.

(2) establish checks & balances (3) 3rd party audit of financial statements (3) invest in improving core operations to increase revenues and decrease losses ethically and honestly.

(4) cultivate a work culture based on honesty.