A company is going through the interview process in order to hire a chief financial officer. In the last interview session, each of three finalists is given the company's financial data and asked by the CEO, ‘What are the net earnings?’

A company is going through the interview process in order to hire a chief financial officer. In the last interview session, each of three finalists is given the company's financial data and asked by the CEO, ‘What are the net earnings?’
Two applicants diligently compute the net earnings. Neither of them gets the job. The candidate who lands the position answers the question by replying, ‘What do you want them to be?’
What would you do? What ethical considerations would you give to your decision-making? Why? Why not?
We encourage you to post your answers in the comments so we can create a healthy discussion, with the aim of learning from our peers, becoming aware of differing perspectives and challenging our own biases.
We need more dilemmas please! If you would like to submit an ethical dilemma to feature in an upcoming weekly challenge please email: dilemma@bfso.org.
Photo by Daan Stevens on Unsplash
Have you checked our website to ensure you're still a current signatory?
If your name is not appearing on our website: www.bfso.org/The-Oath/Signatories it means your signatory has lapsed.
If you wish to renew your signatory to the Oath, please email us at bfso@ethics.org.au for your renewal link. That way you'll keep your original signatory number.