Foreign Assignment

Foreign Assignment

In the case of 'foreign assignment', his behavior was unacceptable. The bank has certain obligations that it should enforce to protect from this. Also there is an international moral code, The International Federation of Accountants that must be followed to prevent this situation.

As far as obligations, the bank has to make sure that their employees are not harmed. They need to follow the basic principles of the International Federation of Accountants which are integrity, objectivity, professional competence, and due care. Integrity states that a professional should be "straight forward and honest" at all times while they are in another country. In this case they were not being honest with the Latin American associates of the bank, or Ms. Strong. If they were to find out that he lied they would be at risk and most likely lose the deal. The other basic principle that applies here is objectivity which mentions that they "should not allow bias, conflict of interest or undue influence of others to override professional or business judgments".

It seems that the influences of the clients down in Mexico City are doing more damage than perhaps noticeable. Ms. Strong is a good employee and we are letting her take a back seat to what is going on down there. She was sent there because she was a good employee, and now her post seems to be a punishment for her, it is no wonder that she is becoming dishearten and questioning the business' practice and policies. Perhaps Mr. Vitam would understand more if he were posted somewhere women had more control than men, and he was becoming the person who was attacked and embarrassed by jokes (International Federation of Accountants' Ethics Committee, 2004).

The bank is making a horrible decision by allowing management to follow the standard of its host country. While normally the popular saying, 'While in Romans, do as Romans do' is a standard and acceptable practice in most senses, this particular case does not make that statement practical. We are alienating our own employees to satisfy the management's needs to do more business. While we must make money and keep the business moving, we must also listen to our employees and not make them feel like that are parts of the trouble. As bankers we must still adhere to the ethical code set forth by the International Federation of Accountants.

Perhaps the best way to resolve this situation is to intervene and let Ms. Strong know that you will assist her and that you will do what ever it is that you can to change the situation in Mexico City to keep the integrity of the bank and Ms. Strong. You can also try to change company policies assure that something like this does not ever happen again. Since you are working with other international countries you need to make sure that your policies adhere to the International Federation of Accountants.

Mr. Vitam should also be called into a conference