As a result of the hint of global recession and the drop in tourism following the September 11 attacks, the Caribbean Hotel Association (CHA) began projecting a deficit. As a result, we made significant revisions to our existing budget for the fiscal year ending in March of the following year, but the forecast for the rest of the calendar year seemed especially unfavorable.

I initiated an internal revision of each expense account to identify further potential expense reductions. In my review, I realized that the personal expense accounts of CHA executives were over budget.

Because my discovery involved corporate executives' personal accounts, I hesitated before raising the topic and carefully considered my approach. I knew expenses incurred by executives were privileged. At the same time, I had a responsibility to be objective and address sensitive accounting issues. I scheduled a meeting with those responsible for the problem and the financial comptroller to discuss the actions to be taken before presenting the findings to the board. We decided to propose that the accounts be adjusted to a sum that would meet the revised budget guidelines and require that amounts over the budget be reimbursed by each executive. I felt confident about the substance of my recommendation, but I feared that presenting my point of view to the directors might generate controversy.

At the next Board of Directors meeting, I presented my expense accounts analysis. Most of the meeting went smoothly, but when I presented the amounts to be reimbursed by each executive, the room felt icy. The executives proposed that I cut other expenses that were crucial to our organization's profitable operation instead of the personal accounts in question. They hinted that if I did this, I would be rewarded by the organization once the financial crisis was over.

The next day, I discussed my concerns in a closed meeting with the financial comptroller. I stood by my recommendation despite the executives' offer.

When the time came for a final decision to be made, I reiterated my recommendations before the firm's top executives and the financial comptroller. I was surprised and gratified when my recommendations were accepted, the proposed expense cuts approved, and the affected executives put on personal repayment plans.

In retrospect, I am proud that I decided not to cave to the top management's request to overlook the size of their personal expense accounts. Although I initially feared for my career, the executives and I continue to share a relationship based on mutual respect. By standing by my convictions, I proved, perhaps ironically, worthy of their esteem and their trust.

點(diǎn)評(píng)：

文章所寫的是里面的人，在審查行政費(fèi)用個(gè)人賬戶時(shí)所處的兩難困境，究竟是為自己的職業(yè)生涯著想，還是以公司的利益為先呢？主人宮最后的選擇了公司的利益，而建議得到采納。贏得了尊重和信賴。文章層次感較為鮮明，開初寫問題的背景，而調(diào)查中途與高管的角力筆墨得當(dāng)。而值得借鑒的一點(diǎn)是，文章能夠在突出主人宮的心理矛盾和外界壓力作為主要部分，使文章顯得更有力些。

譯文：

行政費(fèi)用賬戶

由于全球經(jīng)濟(jì)的蕭條和911對(duì)旅游的打擊，加勒比海酒店公司（CHA）陷入了一個(gè)突出的赤字問題。于是，我們對(duì)直于明年三月會(huì)計(jì)期間內(nèi)的現(xiàn)存預(yù)算做了一個(gè)重要的修訂，但對(duì)本年最后幾個(gè)月的報(bào)表預(yù)測(cè)結(jié)果依舊令人不滿意。

我開始對(duì)每一個(gè)費(fèi)用賬戶進(jìn)行內(nèi)部修訂以便于鑒別長(zhǎng)期潛在費(fèi)用的減少。在我看來，我意識(shí)到CHA行政人員的個(gè)人費(fèi)用賬戶已經(jīng)超出預(yù)算。

由于我的發(fā)現(xiàn)涉及組織行政人員的個(gè)人賬戶，在提出疑問和小心考慮我的處境前我猶豫著。我明白行政人員所涉及的費(fèi)用賬戶是一種特權(quán)。但與此同時(shí)我有責(zé)任保持客觀性和指出敏感賬戶的問題。我預(yù)約了一個(gè)會(huì)議，與相關(guān)責(zé)任人和審計(jì)員共同商討公布問題前所做的行動(dòng)。我們決定提議校正后的賬戶總額應(yīng)該與修訂的預(yù)算標(biāo)準(zhǔn)相一致以及要求大額超出預(yù)算的那部分資金應(yīng)該由每個(gè)行政人員來承擔(dān)。我對(duì)建議抱有信心，但我所擔(dān)心是向主管們陳述我的觀點(diǎn)時(shí)可能會(huì)引發(fā)論戰(zhàn)。

在下一次董事會(huì)會(huì)議，我提出了我的費(fèi)用賬戶分析。會(huì)議大部分過程都很順利，但當(dāng)我提出要每個(gè)行政人員償還相當(dāng)數(shù)額的費(fèi)用時(shí)，房間變得冷漠起來了。行政人員們提議我削減其他費(fèi)用賬戶比削減現(xiàn)在所懷疑的個(gè)人賬戶對(duì)組織的盈利操作更加有利。他們暗示如果我按照他們的說法做，只要公司度過危機(jī)，我將會(huì)得到公司的獎(jiǎng)賞。

第二天，我在少數(shù)人會(huì)議中與財(cái)務(wù)審計(jì)員商討其中的利害關(guān)系。最后不管行政人員提什么說法，我都堅(jiān)持自己的建議?！?/P>

在最后制定決議時(shí)我在高層行政人員和財(cái)務(wù)審計(jì)員面前重申了我的建議。令我非常驚訝和滿足的是我的建議得到采納，削減經(jīng)費(fèi)開支得到實(shí)行，相關(guān)的行政人員都加入到個(gè)人償還費(fèi)用計(jì)劃中。

回首往昔，我很慶幸我沒有陷入高層管理者要求我忽略他們個(gè)人費(fèi)用賬戶的困境。盡管我開初都在擔(dān)心職業(yè)生涯，但高層管理人員和我延續(xù)了我們所享有建立在互相尊重的基礎(chǔ)的關(guān)系。篤定自己的信念，我證明，雖然有點(diǎn)諷刺但卻贏得了他們的尊重和信賴。