When in Rome, do what the Romans do, should that be our thinking when it comes to making ethical decisions. Can ethics be flexible where business leaders and organizations operates with one set of standards in their homeland and another overseas (George, 2008)? Now, that our world has gone global, it is imperative that we maintain a common set of ethical standards of making decisions and running businesses across the globe. Ethics, derived from the Greek word “ethos” means custom or usage, it includes the ideas of character and of disposition. Ethical standards are based on the principles of trust, integrity, fairness, equality, and accountability among others. Today, there’s a growing need for the ethical mandate of professional …show more content…
Different companies set the ethical standards that are meaningful to their organization. Ethical standards help employees in making right decisions that are beneficial to the organization (Ebimobewei, 2012). Employees become open when they see a wrong and unethical act to the company. Ethical standards provide guidance on what to do when ethical dilemmas arise. Professional, ethical codes and standards expect members of all professions regardless of job title, cultural differences or local laws to act with integrity and place the interest of customers above own interests. It expects professionals to be competent and respectful. Professional codes and standards require members of a profession to maintain and develop professional competence (Sadowski & Thomas, 2012). It covers duties of employees to employers and customers, analysis of investment, responsibilities and conflict of interest, professionalism and integrity of capital markets. Professionals who behave ethically act with integrity, show respect to everyone they interact with, provide a high quality of services, work to enhance trust and loyalty to customers and are responsible. For over a decade, the global community has claimed a set of universal accounting standards. These standards are expected
This post will discuss two ethical accounting dilemmas that could occur in the CPA profession. For each dilemma, it will explain how the dilemma could be resolved based on logic and reason. It will then support that proposed resolution through support from the American Institute of Certified Professional Accountants (AICPA) Code of Professional Conduct.
Creating and defining my own ethical framework is essential in future success as a businessman, a leader, and a team player. As a business student, I have learned that it can be a very cut throat industry and in order to get ahead, at some point and ethical dilemma will undoubtedly be an obstacle I have to overcome. The way I handle these dilemmas can make or break my career; business ethics are a key part of earning and sustaining respect, trust, and a good rapport with both clients and competitors in your industry. Therefore a solid ethical framework is an important tool for me to have as a standard for handling these types of dilemmas so that I can grow successfully while staying true to myself and to
Ethics must be global, not local. In order to build a truly great global business the leaders need to bring forward a global standard of ethical practices.
Professional ethics are guidelines set by professional organizations that guide its members in performing the functions of their job appropriately, while behaving in a professional and ethical manner (Web Finance Inc., 2016). Some of the characteristics of professional ethics include “knowledge, honesty, accountability, integrity, loyalty, compliance with the law and more” (Reference An IAC Publishing Labs Company, 2016, para. 3). Professional ethics are important because it builds credibility and shows that the person is capable of doing their job appropriately, regardless of the situation,
In the workplace as well as one’s personal life is essential for ethics to be maintained; often taking the right action is not always the most popular choice. It is important for maintaining an upstanding ethical code of conduct to be a productive individual as well as function as an employee in the workplace.
Ethical standards in business are important for every leader to know and understand. The book Ethics 101: What Every Leader Needs to Know by: John C. Maxwell discusses ethics in the world today. When people make unethical choices, the reason they do because of three main pitfalls. People do what is most convenient to them, people tend to do what they must do to win, and people rationalize their choices with relativism. In this summary, Maxwell’s definition of business ethics will be framed, examples of ethical standards and guidelines, the meaning and contrast of ethical thinking and ethical behavior, and how to avoid these major pitfalls to live an ethical life. The
Ethics in any industry is important, but for Accounting professionals and those in need of their services, it is a particularly stressed element. Information provided by accountants is used to make major decisions, including investing, downsizing, expanding, etc, so accountants are expected to be competent, reliable, and have a high degree of professional integrity. Because of these high expectations, the professional accountancy industry, like many other professions, has adopted professional codes of ethics (Woelfel, 1986). These ethical codes go above and beyond the requirements for state or federal laws and regulations. There are several professional organizations within the
Businesses, investors, creditors rely on accounting ethics. The accounting profession requires honesty, consistency with industry standards, and compliance with laws and regulations. The ethics increase the responsibility and integrity of accounting professionals, and public trust. The ethical requirements influence the management behavior and decision-making. The financial scandal of Enron and Arthur Anderson demonstrates the failure of fundamental ethical framework, such as off-balance sheet transactions, misrepresentation of financial statements, inaccurate disclosure, manipulations with earnings, etc. The confronted accounting profession and concern for ethics in businesses forced regulators to revise the conceptual framework of accounting processes.
Imagine trusting your hard-earned money like your retirement savings to a financial adviser or Certified Public Accountants (CPA) only to lose it all in a fraudulent Ponzi scheme. In today’s world of business many organizations, financial planners and accountants are in the news due to the financial ethical breaches that have affected their customers, employees, and the general public. A CPA has to be responsible for their audits and take any punishments as a result of their mistakes, incompetence or illegal actions. CPAs are expected to have integrity in their work,
Morals, Ethics and Law in a Code of Ethics A code of ethics that may be also called an ethical code or a code of conduct is an inherent element of the company culture. The membership in the company commits members to comply with the standards of the code of ethics and the rules and procedures used to enforce them. Thus, a well-structured and planned ethical code establishes trust and honesty, guides a decision-making process and advises employees’ commitment to the code. It might not be argued that every code of ethics is unique and reflects the spirit, values and business style of the company. Some codes are short comprising only general rules, while the other ones are large manuals covering a variety of situations.
Conducting ethical business in the United States can be seen as clear cut to us. Although we are a diverse nation, as U.S. citizens, most gain experience in the professional environment where ethics is explained thoroughly enough that one is able to determine what is ethical and what is unethical. When it comes to ethics in the international arena, Thomas Donaldson explained how that structure almost does not exist since ethical culture, practices and the social norm is different in each country. In the article, Donaldson debunked previous theories like cultural relativism and ethical imperialism while coming up with a guideline that can help companies proceed in understanding cultural difference while still being ethical. (Donaldson, 1996, pp. 48-52) As I read through the article, it made me remember past events that had cultural dilemma while helping me find new ways to help my ethical decision making skills.
In the accounting field General Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) are main Code of Principles developed by Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board (FASB). Term GAAP has a specific meaning for all accountants and auditors. However, in cases when GAAP procedures will not provide a resolution of the accounting issue the accountant faces a moral dilemma. This is a situation whether there are several conflicting rules or because there are no GAAP rules (J. Wiley & Sons Inc., 2006).
A code of ethics is necessary for the success of any type of business whether it be a professional service organization such as a law firm or an accounting firm, a manufacturing company such as Chrysler, Toyota, Apple or Microsoft, or a retail company such as Walmart or Target. Within each type of organization lie various types of services that are governed or controlled by a specific set of standards and code of ethics. Each set of standards and code of ethics is designed by a specific governing body. Management accounting is one such branch of service that is regulated by the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA) of the United States. As the regulating authority, the IMA has “adopted an ethical code called the Statement of Ethical Professional Practice that describes in some detail the ethical responsibilities of management accountants” (Garrison, Noreen, and Brewer, 2015, p.9). “The IMA Committee on Ethics encourages organizations and individuals to adopt, promote, and execute business practices consistent with high ethical standards, by providing valuable insight in response to our changing profession. The Committee upholds IMA’s Statement of Ethical Professional Practice and provides subject-matter expertise to members of IMA for resolution of ethical conflicts” (IMA Committee on Ethics).
In their personal and professional lives, people can and, unfortunately, sometimes do go against their moral and ethical standards. Ethical standards are what it means to be a good person, the social rules that govern our behavior. Ethics in business is essentially the study of what constitutes the right and wrong or the good or bad behavior in the workplace environment. A business is an organization whose objective is to provide goods or services for profit. The organization has a group of people that work together to achieve a common purpose. The moral challenges that these men and women face each day along with a whole range of problems that could occur, are why ethics plays such an important
Individuals are driven by a sense of morality, the differentiation of intentions, decisions and actions that are determined to be either proper (moral) or improper (immoral) (Morality, 2016). These moral codes or codes of conduct are derived by a person or group’s particular philosophy, religion or culture. It can also be a set of principles that a person or group believes should be universal. (Morality, 2016). Companies (as well as individuals) face the ethical challenge of how to engage and manage behavior that is deemed ethical; honest, fair and considered “good” for all stakeholders. For the individual, there is an element of self-management, understanding social and business norms and cultural differences. In terms of organizations, it is establishing and enforcing codes of conduct, training employees to meet ethical behavior and decision making and constructing working environments that promote ethical behavior and outcomes to the benefit and reputation of the company. To understand this quandary more clearly, it is important to understand the characteristics and motivations that lead to poor ethical choices and identify the potential solutions to mitigating those deficiencies, then evaluate these principles against a real-world example and determine what possible alternatives may exist to improve the environment, actions and decisions individuals, at various levels, may have contributed to a corporate ethical problem.