Final answer:
An employee taking company funds for personal use and repaying them later has committed embezzlement, which is illegal regardless of the intent to repay. Such actions are not justified legally, even if the employee believes they were for a greater good.
Step-by-step explanation:
If an employee who is entrusted with company funds takes money for personal use but pays it back a week later, he/she has committed embezzlement. Embezzlement is a form of white-collar crime where an individual misappropriates the assets entrusted to them. This act is still considered a crime even if the employee had intentions to pay it back, because it involves unauthorized taking of the company's funds for personal use. In the provided scenario, the inner conflict suggests guilt over the action and an understanding that the act committed was wrong. Despite the intent to return the funds, it does not negate the fact that the act of taking them in the first place is illegal. Such actions can be rationalized or mentally justified using techniques like Appeal to Higher Authority, where an individual tries to explain their actions by claiming they were for a greater good, but legally, this is not a justification for embezzlement.