In any business, the primary reason for it existence is in maximizing the profit. The profit of any organization can be maximized by some ways, one of which is minimizing the expenses incurred (Moad, 1993). In the Mary Tan’s situation the best decision that she can make should be geared towards reducing the cost that Duck Associates incurs.
Based on outsourcing suggestions, we can see that in (a) the $4,000 would have been wasted if the program purchased would not be utilized due to using outsourcing. On the positive side, it would have been saved. In (b), the outsourcing the payroll process would see that there will be no need of a bookkeeper, saving $450 per week, which is ($450 × 4 × 12) $21600 annually. Moreover, Ducks Associates will not require paying Toby Stock the $42,000 per year. The expense of the payroll process would attract a cost of $2,000 per month. Therefore, when outsourcing is used, Duck Associates would save $21600 + $42000 = $63600, but the payroll process will attract a cost of $2000 × 12 = $24000. This suggests that outsourcing will see $63600 – 24000 = $39600 being saved, thus reducing the expense of the company.
It will not be an ethical approach if Mary Tan decides to lay off the payroll clerk. Since Stock has become a close friend to Tan, it means that he can be trusted. Therefore, keeping Stock in Duck Associates can still be beneficial. Stock can still supervise and obtain the overtime approvals of the employees, garnishment process requests and also prepare the employees of Duck Associates their advances and paybacks (Moad, 1993). When Tan considers that the clerk can still be helpful to Duck Associates even if not at his current salary, then he can avoid laying him off.