Unedited 11/9/08 |
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Conspiring With Clients
An example of a conspiracy might be seen between an account and their client. Here, the accountant is expected to push the limits in exchange for the continued business of the client. Since the accountant works in the gray areas of legal interpretation he or she can plausibly deny culpability. The client can also plausibly deny any wrong doing since they have no professional knowledge of accounting. Conspiring with the consumer. There are three distinct approaches to business. 1. Charge what the market will bear. 2. Charge what the consumer is willing to pay, 3. Say what the consumer wants to hear. It is the latter case that is of interest here. It becomes obvious over years of experience dealing with clients that some simply want the business person to tell them what they want to hear. This is an ethical dilemma of sorts. If the business person is urged to give a client bad advise by the client themselves who is to blame? The downside of getting involved with clients who encourage unethical responses is that they are maneuvering the business person into a legal corner. If something goes wrong it is the business person the client will blame. The function of ethics here is to guide business people around known hazards in the business world. Some conspiring seems a natural part of business and very human. The danger here is in adopting the practice on a large scale. Note:
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