At a time when so many small to medium businesses are being pushed to the limit, is it possible to balance compassion with realism?
As a lender in this time of Covid-19, the financial institution you work for is supporting small business customers by providing loan deferrals, and the government is also providing wage subsidies. Through your experience and knowledge, you recognise a number of your small business customers are unlikely to recover, regardless of the immediate support offered, or the optimism they have as restrictions ease. 
What would you do?
Often the ethical dilemmas The BFSO puts forward for consideration are one-off scenario-based situations, but this is a very real issue affecting many small business owners in this current climate. In considering the issues this seemingly simple dilemma presents, take some time to consider the complexities, the trade-offs and the reality of unintended consequences in this situation, including:
- What is your duty in this situation? To your organisation? To your customer?
- Who are you most accountable to?
- How would you approach such difficult conversations with your struggling small business customers?
- Once you determine what the right thing to do is, how are you going to act on it?
This article may provide further points for consideration: https://ethics.org.au/pulling-the-plug/