Ethical Education in Accounting: Integrating Rules, Values and Virtues
particular situation, significant facts of their life, traits
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particular situation, significant facts of their life, traits of their character, as well as other relevant infor- mation about factors with an influence on moral 106 Dome`nec Mele´ behavior, such as how people are motivated by their organization (incentives, moral role modeling, leadership, organizational culture and so on) and by the socio-cultural environment. Acknowledgements I am grateful to Ronald Duska, Mary B. Armstrong and Josep M. Rosanas for their thoughtful comments on an early draft of this paper. Notes 1 Finn et al. (1988) surveying the responses of 332 members of the AICPA found that the most frequent ethical issues in the accounting profession (CPAs) were: client proposals of tax alteration and tax fraud (47%), conflict of interest and independence (16%), client proposal of alteration of financial statements (10%) and others issues (15%). 2 The authors of this study interpret this percentage for different moral development among respondeees, many would not surpass level 4 of Kohlberg (1976) for whom the right thing is respecting authority and preserving the rules of society, while others will be at level 5, related to individual rights or level 6, which employs universal moral and ethical principles. 3 It was the Standards of Ethical Conduct for Management Accountants of the NAA, which afterwards become the current Ethical Behavior for Practitioners of Management Accounting and Financial Management. 4 Published in Management Accounting, September 1983, p. 68. 5 http://www.aicpa.org/about/code/index.htm (April 16, 2004). 6 www.ifac.org/Guidance/EXD-Download.php?EDFID =00058 (April 16, 2004). 7 www.ifac.org/Guidance/EXD-Download.php?EDFID =00058 (April 16, 2004). 8 http://www.imapdx.org/ethics.htm (April 16, 2004). 9 Loeb proposed the following goals for ethics education in accounting, taken from Callahan (1980), who wrote about goals in the teaching of ethics: (1) relating accounting education to moral issues; (2) recognizing issues in accounting that have ethical implications; (3) developing a ‘‘sense of moral obligation’’ or responsibil- ity; (4) developing the abilities needed to deal with ethical conflicts or dilemmas; (5) learning to deal with the uncertainties of the accounting profession; (6) ‘‘setting the stage for’’ a change in ethical behaviour; (7) appreciating and understanding the history and composition of all aspects of accounting ethics and their relationship to the general field of ethics (1988, p. 322). 10 ‘‘Given Solomon’’s account of what virtues are, the obvious virtues in business might well seem to be those traits that make somebody, for example, a good salesper- son traits which includes excellence in persuading people to accept falsehood as much as honesty.’’ (Ewin, 1995, p. 823) 11 Mintz (1985, 1996), who has emphasized the role of virtues in accounting education, as has been said, seems to have been aware of the necessity to integrate virtues with rules (standards), duties and values. He states: ‘‘Ethics refers to standards of conduct that indicate how one ought to behave based on values and moral duties and virtues arising from principles about right and wrong.’’ (1995, p. 251). However, he did not go further by integrating theses three elements. In fact, it would be very difficult to do so, since he considers universalistic perspectives (‘‘principles about right and wrong’’) and subjective perception of values: (‘‘values are basic and fundamental beliefs that guide or motivate attitudes or actions’’: p. 251) which are one of the sources for standards of conduct (standards of conduct . . . based on values and moral duties). 12 The idea develops an original approach of Thomas Aquinas (Summa Teologica, I )II, q. 94, a. 2), 13 According to Thomas Aquinas (Summa Teologica, I )II, q.100, a.1), the Ten Commandments, apart from being a set of fundamental moral rules both for Jews and Christians, contain the whole of natural law. These rules contribute to the good of the person who fulfill them and one can easily realize that the Commandments are indispensable rules of all social life. 14 It is ‘‘right reason about things to be done’’, says Thomas Aquinas (Summa Theologica, I )II, q. 65, a. 1). 15 Aquinas insists on the same point: ‘‘no moral virtue can be without prudence; since it is proper to moral virtue to make a right choice, for it is an elective habit. Now right choice requires not only the inclination to a due end, the inclination to which is the direct outcome of moral virtue, but also the correct choice of things conducive to the end, which choice is made by prudence, that counsels, judges, and commands in those things that are directed to the end.’’(Summa Teologica, I )II, q. 65, a. 1. Elsewhere, he adds: ‘‘. . . discretion belongs to prudence, rectitude to justice, moderation to temperance, and strength of mind to fortitude, in whatever matter we consider these properties to be. In this way the reason for the connection is evident: for strength of mind is not commended as virtuous, if it be without moderation or rectitude or discretion: and so forth.’’ (Summa Teologica, I )II, q. 58, a. 4). Ethical Education in Accounting 107 16 On the interdependece of virtues, see, e.g., Simon (1986, chap. 6) 17 See a similar goal for ethical education, although from a different perspective in Armstrong et al. (2003). References Abbott, A.: 1983, ‘‘Professional Ethics’’, American Journal of Sociology 88, 856 )885. Adams, B. L., F. L. Malone and W. James: 1995, ‘‘Confidentiality Decisions: The Reasoning Process of CPAs in Resolving Ethical Dilemmas’’, Journal of Business Ethics 14(12), 1015 )1020. American Accounting Association Committee on the Future Structure, Content and Scope of Accounting Education: 1986, ‘‘Future Accounting Education: Preparing for the Expanding Profession’’, Issues in Accounting Educaction, Spring, 168 )195. 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Department of Business Ethics IESE Business School, University of Navarra, Av. Pearson, 21 08034 - Barcelona, Spain E-mail: mele@iese.edu Ethical Education in Accounting 109 Download 195.26 Kb. Do'stlaringiz bilan baham: |
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