Case Scenario: REALITY CHECK: Behind the Smiles Integrity includes being honest and truthful. It is not berating a person after he or she has left the conference room. Jeff well remembers what happened after Bill left the room. He, however, remembers more clearly how Bill, a consultant, was treated while he was in the room after presenting his organizational improvement report. Bill was treated with kindness and assurances as to how well he helped the staff and how employees appreciated his suggestions for improvement. Prior to exiting the conference room, Bill asked whether there were any questions about his report. No questions, just smiles, accolades, and good-byes. Jeff thought to himself, wow, it is good to see good people take suggestions and be so willing to make the changes that Bill suggested. Oops, hold on, it turns out Bill wasn't as wonderful as Jeff had observed. The group was now disgruntled about Bill's report. Bill was gone and now vilified. Jeff, a consultant not scheduled to finish his assignment for another 2 weeks, asked, "Why didn't you ask questions while Bill was here?" Carol, the finance director replied, "I spent 2 weeks with Bill. He just made up his mind. There was just no changing his mind." Jim said, "Are you saying that you disagree with Bill's report?" Carol, replied, "Yes, I do disagree with it." Jeff continued, "But you did not state that while he was here. You told him you liked his suggestions and that you were already in the process of implementing them." Carol replied, "That's true, but since we made the suggested changes while he was here, he did not have to include them in his report." Bill replied, "It speaks well of your organization that you have done so; however, it is the board that asked for the audit. We must report what we found." Carol, disgruntled, remained silent.
1. Should Bill have left his findings off the report? Explain your answer.
2. Discuss Bill's responsibilities to the board, which had hired the consulting team to evaluate the organization's operations.