Accounting response

(Treasury Stock—Ethics) Lois Kenseth, president of Sycamore Corporation, is concerned about several large stockholders who have been very vocal lately in their criticisms of her leadership. She thinks they might mount a campaign to have her removed as the corporation’s CEO. She decides that buying them out by purchasing their shares could eliminate them as opponents, and she is confident they would accept a “good” offer. Kenseth knows the corporation’s cash position is decent, so it has the cash to complete the transaction. She also knows the purchase of these shares will increase earnings per share, which should make other investors quite happy. (Earnings per share is calculated by dividing net income available for the common shareholders by the weighted-average number of shares outstanding. Therefore, if the number of shares outstanding is decreased by purchasing treasury shares, earnings per share increases.)

Answer the following questions (# your responses):

1. Who are the stakeholders in this situation?
2. What are the ethical issues involved?
3. Should Kenseth authorize the transaction?

Read and reply to one student’s response. This is an automatic assigned peer review. Your reply should be a based on your analysis of the student’s response (min. 100 words). You may comment on why you agree or disagree with the response, what sort of evidence supports or refutes their position, or you may ask questions related to their response.