Professional and Ethical Guidelines in International Psychology

Question: Discuss about the Professional and Ethical Guidelines in International Psychology. Answer: Introduction: The given case considers a case of Brad Shelton, software consultant with Software Solutions Ltd trading in software products to the accounting firms and small business enterprises. For the purpose of acquiring one software package, he was approached by Jennifer Jolie to travel to Los Angeles to analyze the software package offered by her company, Pitt Ltd. It has been considered that the approach for the trip offered by one of the salesperson of the vendor company and not directly by the company itself in a formal manner. However, the salesperson Jennifer Jolie contended that the expenses for trip would be borne by the vendor company, which will consider the personal and official trip. Accordingly, it can be said that Brad Shelton should not take the trip only on the suggestion of the sales person. Brad is required to confirm the analysis of the software package with the management of the company including the confirmation of trip to Los Angeles before taking up the project. Ethical concerns that may be involved in the present situation are conflicts between professional duties with that of company demands, conflicts between individual responsibilities and consumer demands. It is essential to comply with the ethical behavior with respect to the expenses of the trip for professional purpose and not with the intention on personal purpose (Laporte, OConnor Paucar, 2015). The trip to Los Angeles, which included personal purpose along with the official purpose, was approached by the salesperson, Jennifer Jolie of the vendor company Pitt Limited. In view of the legal requirements, it is important to comply certain regulations with respect to the confirmation of trip that includes personal and professional purpose. In the present case, Jennifer Jolie approached for the trip who is a salesperson of the vendor company. It is important for any official trip to get the confirmation with the companys management in formal manner. Mere approach for the official trip by one of the salespersons cannot be called for a confirmation. Further, there should be proper details about the trip with respect to the expenses, travelling dates, accommodation and other information. In the present situation, Jennifer only offered the about the trip which was not presented in any written form (Hassanli, Gross Brown, 2016). It is important to get the official offer in the writte n form as well as in the official document stating all the necessary details. Accordingly, the management of Software Solutions Ltd should not consider the verbal communication of the sales representative of the vendor company, Pitt Ltd to allow Mr. Brad Shelton to go on the trip. Additionally, there has to be employment policy on the allowing an employee to go on the trip which must be official and the same may or may not include the trip for personal purpose. In the present situation, the organizational management should consider Brads trip only if the company has such policy on sending the employees foreign trip along with the family. Code of conduct refers to the set of principles and rules that outlines the social norms, standards that assists the organizations to perform for the welfare of the stakeholders. It is required to be followed by each of the organizations in all the sectors hence, Software Solutions Ltd should also have code of conduct. It should mention the policies and principles for the employees to protect their rights including the performance of business activities in fair and honest manner (Heiss et al., 2015). Code of the conduct in the organizations provides several benefits to perform the business functions in an effective manner. One of the significant advantages of the code of conduct is ascertainment of acceptable business practice in the organization with respect to the legal standards. The code of conduct also provides the assistance in taking appropriate business decisions in consideration with the production, trading and marketing the products and services. Compliance of code of condu ct also provides the organization in resolving the conflicts between the employees and management or among the employees or at any employment level (Winter, 2015). However, there are certain disadvantages of code of conduct that may be experienced by Software Solutions Ltd that includes time involvement, cultural challenges, designing and enforceable challenges. Formation of code of conduct is a time consuming activity as well as requires to be followed with several cultural needs. It is difficult for the organization to maintain all the necessary standards and legal regulations in the code of conduct policy due to lack of skill and knowledge (Sauvant, 2015). Income statement or the statement of profit and loss for the financial year measures the performance of the organizational business with respect to the expenses and revenues. The profit and loss statement is prepared to determine the organizational profitability for the accounting year by considering the direct and indirect incomes and expenses. Accordingly, the consolidated profit or loss statement or income statement states the combined financial information of the parent or holding company and subsidiary company (Lee, 2015). The consolidated income statement of Greencross Limited states the combined income of the holding company as well as the subsidiary company stating the total combined revenue of $ 734 million during the financial year 2016. The consolidated income statement of the company states the combined profit of parent and subsidiary company amounted to $38 million in the financial year 2016. The consolidated income statement states that the organization had earned profi tability in combination with the income of its subsidiary company in which the parent company holds significant percentage of investment. The statement reflects the organizational cost of acquisition amounted to $2.01 million while the combined cost of sales of goods reflected $324 million during the year 2016. Such amounts reflect the total combined value of cost incurred to sell the goods by the subsidiary company as well as by the parent company including the amount of sales revenue earned by the company. Hence, the consolidated income statement of Greencross Limited determines the combined information on financial transactions incurred by holding subsidiary company (Greencross Limited 2016). Considering the financial statement of Greencross Limited for the financial year ending on 30th June 2016 the value of each of the stated item in consideration with consolidated accounts is as follows: Items Value $000 Classification Reasons i. Cash and cash equivalent 62,583 Current Assets Cash and cash equivalent is classified as current assets since it can be converted into liquid cash immediately. It includes the cash at bank as well as cash in hand. ii. Marketing Costs 10,880 Expenses Marketing cost is classified as an expense since it is incurred by the company for financial year to improve the sale of the products and helps in generating revenue. iii. Occupancy Costs 78,121 Expenses Occupancy cost has been classified as an expense since it is incurred with respect to occupy the space for production, business organization. Occupancy cost includes rent, property taxes, property insurance and other amortization cost. iv. Cost of sales of goods 324,949 Expenses Cost of sales of goods is considered as an expense since it includes the production costs to generate the sales revenue. v. Provisions 20,990 Current Liabilities Provision is classified as current liabilities since it is considered as a present liability of the organization. It is regarded as current liability because it is referred as the present obligation of the company several business expenses. vi. Inventories 92,002 Current Assets Inventory is classified as current- assets since it can be sold by the organization immediately that assists in generating liquid cash. vii. Property, plant and equipment 156,867 Non- Current Assets Property, plant and equipment is classified as non- current assets because it is expected to generate the economic benefits for more than a year. Table 1: Value of financial statement items (Sources: Greencross Limited 2016) Summarized change for the financial statements between the accounting year 2015 and 2016 for each of the item of Greencross Ltd. is mentioned below: Item 2015 % Change 2016 % Change Summary Gross margin percentage 93.61 16.54 It states that the profitability ratio by considering the revenue and operating costs of the organization. During the year, 2015 and 2014 the organization incurred high profitability while during 2015 and 2015 the companys profitability increased by16.54%. Operating expenses 23.85 11.57 During the year, 2015 and 2014 the organizations operating expenses increased by 23.85% while in the year 2016 it increased 11.57%. This percentage indicates the decrease in expenses during the current year 2016. Revenue Growth 74.12 13.80 In the financial year 2014, the amount of revenue of the company was less than that in 2015 by 74.12%. However, the revenue increased by 13.80% during the year 2016 which indicates the performance efficiency of Greencross Ltd. NPAT -117.53 74.61 It states the earnings excluding the cost of finance and tax in order to measure the performance of the organization with the own capital funds. During the year, 2014 the organization incurred net loss while in 2015 it incurred profit hence the percentage changed occurred at 117.53%. On the other hand, Greencross Limited incurred profit during 2016 that increased by 74.16% improving the performance efficiency. Finance Cost 38.35 17.72 It refers the cost incurred to borrow the business funds, which increased during the accounting year 2015 and 2016 but at lower percentage. Non- Current Assets 74.98 6.99 It states the employed assets that generate economic benefits over more than one year. During the year 2015, the value increased by 74.98% and in 2016 by 6.99%. Number of stores and veterinary clinics at the end of the year 9.59 7.50 It indicates the capability of the organization to hire the operating units, which reflected a declined value in 2016. Cash flow from operating activities -39.51 435.27 It indicates the generation of cash from the operating activities, which was negative during the year 2014 while increased at high percentage in 2016. Table 2: Comparative figures of financial statement for 2015 and 2016 (Sources: Greencross Limited 2016) Comparative figures provide information in the change of finances and performance of the business during the two accounting years. The comparative figures of 2015 and 2016 state the increase or decrease in the financial results of the company that assists in making business and investment decisions (Brown, 2016). 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