Title: Navigating Ethical Dilemmas in Mentorship: A Reflection on an Unusual Experience
In the professional world, ethical dilemmas are often encountered, and sometimes, they can even lead to amusing situations. One such incident unfolded during a mentorship initiative involving a group of second and third-year associates who volunteered to guide a high school Junior Achievement team. The objective was to help the students establish and operate a miniature business over a span of two to three months.
Our team opted for a rather enticing venture: selling fruit baskets. The students would procure bulk fruit and baskets, assemble them, and then deliver their creations to local homes. However, we soon discovered that Junior Achievement had imposed a few rules that, while well-intentioned, didn’t quite reflect the practical realities of running a business. The most significant hurdle? The organization prohibited taking on any debt.
While this rule aimed to protect the integrity of the program, it introduced an immediate challenge: without the ability to incur liabilities, how could we purchase the necessary fruit? Simply put, we were stuck in a paradox where we couldn’t buy the fruit without upfront capital, but we couldn’t generate funds without incurring liabilities.
To navigate this conundrum, we improvised by requiring customers to prepay for their fruit baskets. We marketed the product, collected payments upon order, and then fulfilled the deliveries weeks later. Business-wise, this approach was effectively sound, allowing us to sidestep the constraints imposed by Junior Achievement.
Here’s where the ethical quandary became amusing. A part of our responsibilities included preparing weekly financial reports to be submitted to the Junior Achievement office for their review. We quickly realized that if we reported our cash collections and the corresponding deferred revenue, it would surely raise eyebrows and provoke disapproval. Yet, we needed to maintain accurate records to keep track of who had paid for their baskets and who was still owed theirs.
Without any malicious intent, we inadvertently started maintaining two sets of financial books. The first was our “real” set, which reflected true cash flow and liabilities, while the second was a sanitized set meant solely for submission to the Junior Achievement office—essentially the books that would face an Audit.
After a few weeks of consistent practice, it dawned on us that we were, in fact, managing two separate Accounting systems. At that moment, we chuckled at the realization. With only a short time left in the project, we decided to continue this unusual strategy, recognizing that it was working for
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