ABSTRACT
Phase I — Situation You are a high-level administrator for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS). The LDS was originally founded by Joseph Smith in 1830 in New York (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2012). In 1847, Brigham Young led the Mormons to Utah, where the LDS Church established its headquarters in Salt Lake City (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2012). In addition to the religious aspect of the LDS, your organization also engages in charity work and humanitarian aid around the world (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2012). In 2012, the LDS Church had more than 14 million members and 55,000 missionaries around the world (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2012). The organization has decided to purchase historical documents that relate to your organization’s faith from a well-known dealer in such documents, Mark Hofmann (Lindsey, 1987). Hofmann, a Mormon who has previously completed his mandatory two-year missionary work in Bristol, England, has “discovered” a transcript from Joseph Smith (Tanner, 1987). Since obtaining original religious artifacts from the founder of your religion is important to your organization, you are considering purchasing the document from Hofmann. The document will not be cheap, since the asking price is approximately $20,000 (Tanner, 1987). What action do you intend to take?
