Which of the following, if true, most strongly supports the financial officer's position?

A) The employees had received and duly signed a statement agreeing to uphold the company's code of ethics.
B) The coworkers who reported the alleged shady deals had ethical incidents in their own personnel files.
C) The firm recently conducted a social audit, which revealed concern about the firm's tolerance of predatory practices by sales personnel and their impact on workplace morale.
D) The company's code gives very detailed definitions of what separates a responsible business transaction from a dishonest one.
E) The strong sales performance of this department was a major factor in improving the firm's viability during an economic downturn.

Answer: C
Explanation: C) The ethical issue in this situation is tricky: one needs to balance fairness to individuals against fairness to the entire community. In this case, Choice C explains and justifies the financial officer's position. At a time when the firm is trying to reduce potentially unethical behavior, giving the larger bonus to an employee known for "skirting the boundaries" suggests that the social audit was insincere. Choices A and D rely on the letter of the code, but increasingly ethical behavior is defined as going beyond the letter and honoring the spirit of such codes. Choice B weakens the financial officer's position by suggesting that the complaints may not have been made in good faith and that jealous coworkers may be unfairly targeting Tracy. Choice E simply justifies the overall decision to grant bonuses, but does not address the issue of whom to award more generously.