be provided to accounting ethics educators. In the section three, different teaching methodologies of accounting ethics will be stated. Ignatian Pedagogical Paradigm (IPP), case, experiential methods, reflective learning method, and other methods are compared, and their limits and benefits are included in the section three. Also, some research and study suggestions related to these teaching methodologies will be provided to accounting ethics educators. Section four concludes the current status of accounting ethics education. In the appendix, some theories of accounting ethics will be included.
2. Different Approaches to Teaching Ethics
2.1 Liberal arts vs. business school
Liberal arts approach provides accounting students with broad knowledge as well as in-depth study in ethics, in order to prepare them to deal with complexity and changes. Liberal arts of ethics help students develop a sense of ethics and apply knowledge and skills in real-world settings. Generally, accounting students are required to take elective ethics courses from other faculties, such as psychology, political, and philosophy, and these liberal arts courses introduce the traditional ethics principles to students, instead of accounting ethics principles and codes. Therefore, it is difficult for accounting students to apply these non-accounting ethics principles into accounting ethical dilemmas or ethical decision-making processes. On the other hand, most business schools provide business ethics course to help both accounting students and other business students. During the business ethics course, accounting ethics principles are incorporated into business ethics. Therefore, not only accounting students, but also other business students can learn some basic ac...
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2.3 Separate accounting ethics course
Separate accounting ethics course should be instructed by business school and accounting department, and its objectives are to improve accounting students’ moral reasoning abilities, to introduce accounting professionalism codes, and to help students conduct ethical decisions in accounting ethical dilemmas. Junior and senior year of college might be the best time to conduct separate accounting ethics course, because accounting students have learned fundamental ethical principles from other courses, as well as enough professional accounting knowledge to identify ethical dilemmas. During the lectures of separate accounting ethic course, both passive and active teaching methodologies are included to improve the effectiveness of accounting ethics education. In addition, not only
Ethics plays a vital role in developing accurate and high quality financial statements for management, financial institutions, and investors. As management utilizes financial statements to make decisions regarding the operations of the business, it is necessary to review accurate financial statements to make strategic decisions about the future of the organization. Investors and financial institutions require accurate financial statements to make informed decisions upon whether to invest funds into the organization or the wisdom of lending funds to said organization.
Accountants following the professional code in the society are critical. The Code of Professional Conduct has been closely related and referred to as accounting ethics. Accounting ethics are difficult to comprehend because accountants and auditors must take into consideration the public’s interest and ensure they are performing up to standards. Listed below are some focuses in the Code of Professional Conduct that accountants follow.
Incorporating ethics into everyday decisions in the business world can greatly reduce the scandalous behavior that has as of late has run ramped. Obviously, we have seen the results and consequences of business conducted absent any moral or ethical boundaries. When decisions are made without the consultation of ethics there is no direction from the moral compass and surely consequences will follow. Choices contemplated by managers may often seem difficult, but assessing the options against ethics can assist the manager in making the best decision.
As an individual and ambitious accounting student with plans to pursue a career in public accounting, I recognize the importance of understanding my core personal values and behaviors that guide the ethical principles of my everyday actions. I recognize that I have a responsibility to myself, family, future colleagues, future clients, and the general public to follow certain guidelines and conduct myself in an ethical manner. Furthermore, I acknowledge the idea that ethical dilemmas will occur, but I am committed to my “Personal Code of Ethical Values” (as seen above) that represent my desire to live ethically in every facet of my life.
In today’s business environment it has becomes essential for accountants to have a basic grasp of business ethics. Having the guidelines in places gives accountants a relatively consistent method of addressing ethical situation (based on interpretation). Even simply having a course dedicated to ethics shows accounting students that this is an issue which is an important part of the training and will at least give them a chance to address their own morality. As well as this, teaching morality also gives the company a level of deniability when it comes to any scandals or unethical behaviour.
Moreover, women have a high level of understanding and acceptance of ethics than men. Women also demonstrate the high percentage of ethical development. However, researchers Stanga and Turpen (1991) did not find any correlations or differences of male and female relation on ethics code provisions (p. 920). The results of Barnett and Karson (1989) study did not show any dissimilarities in gender’s opinions on AICPA Code of Ethics. The study of the influence of accountant role on possibly immoral behavior did not find any preliminary indications. However, David et al. (1994) stated that there are relationships between the ethical beliefs and behavior (p. 920). Theoretically, the level of organization can be a ground for ethical
What does ethics have to do with accounting? Everything, since there have been some recent financial accounting scandals; a few examples being Xerox, WorldCom, Enron, which have generated much unwanted and unfavorable publicity for CPA's, including those working as controllers or chief financial officers for organizations.
Ethics is commonly taught in all accounting courses in higher education and continues to be taught by companies when training accountants and auditors. With so many different accounting services now provided by accounting firms they have a duty to have ethical standards. In recent years fraud resulting from accounting
In 2005 Dellaportas et al. (p.xvii) identified that accountants and other business professionals are often criticised for lacking the ethical sensitivity to recognise ethical dilemmas when they arise. They said that these professionals focused too much on the technical issues and overlooked the moral dimension. Dellaportas et al. concluded that it is critical for students to be sensitive to the moral components of seemingly technical questions. There are many ethical theories that students can be taught to help them recognise and resolve ethical issues. This essay will focus on virtue ethics, deontological ethics and how these can help students in their professional career.
Deontological and utilitarianism are the two type of ethics system which characterizes ethical decision-making with respect to organizational culture and the accounting profession (Pointe Cast Presentation, n.d.). The paper presents in the following section the diverse approaches provided on the two ethical systems.
Furthermore, ethical conflict often arises in the workplace and creates ethical dilemmas due to conflicts between personal interest and professional duties. Business professionals are required to balance the conflicting pressures of the corporate world with the need to act with integrity (ATT Ethics, 2013). This means they have to be truthful and honest in their professional duties and they have to benefit without exploiting others. They are challenged to remain professional by protecting the interests of the clients and the public, above considerations of self interest during ethical dilemmas (Duska, Duska & Ragatz, 2011). Accountants have ethical responsibilities to themselves, their clients, their employers, their families and their profession as their profession allows them to maintain a fiduciary relationship with the public (Senarante, 2011). These responsibilities are set out in the codes of conduct and the policies of businesses. The Accounting Professional and Ethical Standards Board (APESB110) addresses the potential ethical conflicting threats that occur in the workplace and the safeguards that can be applied to resolve them. The APES encourages members to act in the public interest and it also establishes a framework that requires members to identify, evaluate and address threats in
The aim of this paper is to provide the framework of the current professional accounting code of ethics. What are the ethics and how we define them? In this report we try to determine the main ethical principles that will establish the right and
The most effective method to teach ethical behavior is through emotional involvement. Today, many management and business courses teach ethics using an analytical approach, or as strictly “right or wrong” decisions. It is evident that simple knowledge of what is ethical is not enough to draw out ethical performance. The most effective method to teach ethical behavior is through emotional involvement. This paper will discuss how emotional involvement can increase the regularity of ethical performance. The pros and cons of emotionally based ethical decisions will be discussed as well as this method being viewed in the duties and rights ethical theory.
It significantly affects the mentoring process, relationships with the client, and create a foundation for discrepancies between the firm’s leaders and accounting professionals (Bobek, Hageman, & Radtke, 2015). Bobek, Hageman, and Radtke (2015) used the descriptive statistics to measure the responses of accounting professionals and correlation analysis to evaluate the ethical environment. The research demonstrated that the participation of accountants in shaping the ethical norms increases the mentoring relationships, values, and outcomes (pp. 127-129). The sensitivity analysis demonstrated significant differences in perceptions of the ethical environment between the partners and non-leaders of the accounting firm. The differences do not allow maintaining a strong ethical atmosphere, decreasing the degree of organizational fit, and weakening the ethical perceptions of firms’ members (p.
In the past decade, concern with the ethical accountability of companies has continued to grow. Consumers increasingly look to support and buy from companies that make ethical decisions. The government has also created new legislation that requires a certain level of ethics and creates encouragement for companies to go as far as to create ethics programs. The idea of “business ethics” is not new, but there is more pressure now than ever before on companies to prove they are making an honest effort to be ethical. This additional pressure on companies can be largely attributed to a change in the neoclassical view of a company as only needing to take care of stockholder interests by creating profits (Wines & Hamilton III, 2009). Today, people view the organization as a complex unit made of up many different groups that must be considered. This new definition of an “ethical corporation” requires not only compliance with the law, but also consideration of the ethical implications of all actions (Epstein & Hanson, 2006; Thornton, 2009). “Ethics are a system of moral principles and behavioral norms intended to express and support an underlying set of values” (Post, Lee, & Sachs, 2002). Following the meanings given by several professional sources, business ethics is defined as the study of moral standards in the context of all business situations (Columbia University, 2008; Knapp, 2001; Crane & Matten, 2007). Because of this change in consumer and regulator concerns, a corporation cannot survive unless it takes care of and strives to respect the interests of all of its stakeholders by applying ethical standards to actions (Post, Lee, & Sachs, 2002).