Background
As this is our final semester for this course, we had one practical module (PR Project) where we had to come up with a project and we would be judged on our ability to complete the set objectives among other aspects.
After a few discussions on the kind of event and what the theme would be, it was decided that an animal protection campaign will be the most appropriate to get the attention of our target audience which is the Taylor’s University students. There were some ideas bounced around for the kind of event (mine being a carnival style event) and in the end we decided on a four day long campaign to raise awareness in collaboration with SPCA. Our objectives were to create awareness about animal abuse and SPCA and raise RM2500 as funds for SPCA.
After a few discussions on the kind of event and what the theme would be, it was decided that an animal protection campaign will be the most appropriate to get the attention of our target audience which is the Taylor’s University students. There were some ideas bounced around for the kind of event (mine being a carnival style event) and in the end we decided on a four day long campaign to raise awareness in collaboration with SPCA. Our objectives were to create awareness about animal abuse and SPCA and raise RM2500 as funds for SPCA.
This button links to a blog written by me documenting all 9 weeks of Project SAVE.
Role and Rules
I was the head of finance for this project and I was handed over a total of RM 3000, partly from School of Communications and from donors. It was my job to keep track of where the money went and make sure that every cent was accounted for by receipts. Apart from that Harrieth and I were also in charge of the face painting activity. During the three months of this event I faced some ethical dilemmas.
I came up with a set of rules for everyone to follow when it came to receiving the money and so that I can keep proper records of the spendings.
- Please send an email to ******@gmail.com when you need the money.
- Please state what activity you require it for, the amount needed, and the items you plan to buy.
- You will need to sign before I hand the money over.
- Please give me all receipts after a purchase is made. Otherwise you will need to be responsible for the amount of money remaining.
Dilemmas
My First Dilemma
Some of the team mates felt that it would be better for them to use their own money and then give me the receipts so that I can refund them the amount on the receipt. The problem with this method was that they would overspend the budget and this happened also. However, the general consensus was to use this as an alternate method. I used utilitarianism in this case because it made everyone happy without causing anyone pain as long as the budget was followed and decided to also use the second method.
Some of the team mates felt that it would be better for them to use their own money and then give me the receipts so that I can refund them the amount on the receipt. The problem with this method was that they would overspend the budget and this happened also. However, the general consensus was to use this as an alternate method. I used utilitarianism in this case because it made everyone happy without causing anyone pain as long as the budget was followed and decided to also use the second method.
My Second Dilemma
It is clearly stated that everyone has to have the receipts or the amount used will not be taken into account in the budget. I lost my receipt for face paint worth RM35 and I used deontology because it was my duty as the finance team's head to take responsibility for myself as much as anyone else. Fortunately I found the receipt and in the end all was well. The same thing happened to some team mates and even though they were my friends and it could make me less liked by the team, I used deontology and followed the same rule for everyone regardless of who they were. Even our lecturer Ms K handed over her receipt for expenses for the project because we had to hand over all the receipts and the excel form of budget records to Taylor's finance department.
It is clearly stated that everyone has to have the receipts or the amount used will not be taken into account in the budget. I lost my receipt for face paint worth RM35 and I used deontology because it was my duty as the finance team's head to take responsibility for myself as much as anyone else. Fortunately I found the receipt and in the end all was well. The same thing happened to some team mates and even though they were my friends and it could make me less liked by the team, I used deontology and followed the same rule for everyone regardless of who they were. Even our lecturer Ms K handed over her receipt for expenses for the project because we had to hand over all the receipts and the excel form of budget records to Taylor's finance department.
My Third Dilemma
During the event, different activities were on different days. Our face paint activity was on the last day and we were delegated to tie-dye and quizzes. The tie dye event was a great success among everyone. It was tiring and we hardly had time to sit down for three days and it was not technically our activity. I tried to be friendly and nice to everyone who came to our booth and when some students wanted the size XL t-shirts and I had to give them the bad news I tried to be kind while telling the truth. On the last day our face paint activity was not well received and there was so much demand for tie-dye activity. I tried to be brave, patient and spent the whole day working very hard to make the tie-dye activity a success with good temper even though it was very tiring and my own activity was a failure. I would like to believe that during the project SAVE days I acted with good virtues (part of virtue ethics) and hopefully will make them a habit to become a better person.
During the event, different activities were on different days. Our face paint activity was on the last day and we were delegated to tie-dye and quizzes. The tie dye event was a great success among everyone. It was tiring and we hardly had time to sit down for three days and it was not technically our activity. I tried to be friendly and nice to everyone who came to our booth and when some students wanted the size XL t-shirts and I had to give them the bad news I tried to be kind while telling the truth. On the last day our face paint activity was not well received and there was so much demand for tie-dye activity. I tried to be brave, patient and spent the whole day working very hard to make the tie-dye activity a success with good temper even though it was very tiring and my own activity was a failure. I would like to believe that during the project SAVE days I acted with good virtues (part of virtue ethics) and hopefully will make them a habit to become a better person.