Premium Essay

Ethical Behavior

In:

Submitted By awiese30
Words 469
Pages 2
Ethical Behavior Page 1

Ethical Behavior Jeffrey Wiese II XACC/291 07/26/2015 Rashad Abdullah

Ethical Behavior Page 2
President George W. Bush signed the Sarbanes Oxley Act into law on July 30, 2002. This law set new and enhanced standards for public companies and the boards, management and accounting firms. The Sarbanes Oxley Act also brought about considerable changes to the financial reporting and auditing practices of public companies. The act holds top executives for these companies personally responsible for the financial data and its timeliness, with non-compliance having criminal consequences.
There are several ways to measure the effectiveness of SOX because effectiveness can mean different things to different people depending on their opinions on what will mean the law is actually working. The first and easiest way one might determine effectiveness is by the amount of fraud that companies have done that have actually been recovered. This determinate will never actually have a true answer because what company will openly admit that yes we have committed fraud but we have not been caught yet knowing the punishments for the crime. Since this is not plausible another way to measure effectiveness is to get feedback on its effectiveness by people who are affected by the act. The second way is measuring the investors’ confidence. Using a study by Engebretson & Meier, who question random people who were affected by SOX to measure

Similar Documents

Premium Essay

Ethical Behavior

...Essay: “Ethical behavior in the workplace.” Student’s Name Institution Course Date   Ethical Behaviors in the Workplace Technology Ethics is a philosophy that has a duty of keeping and also upholding various fundamental and important issues within an organization. A work place is that place that employees interact with other employees. As a workplace is a social site, there must be ethics governing people behavior is such a place. The rules of ethics are very important when it comes to career building. The ethics and code of conduct involve all the personal choices that people engage in that can either make or break their relationships. Maintaining good ethics will help maintain respect for the people around you and also your profession. There are the different policies that have been put in place to regulate the employees conduct in different organizations. As an expert and a professional it is important to know the things that one should do. The essay will discuss what ethical behavior is, how it is affecting the workplace, what controls can be put in place to reduce negative ethical behavior and the benefits that result from having an environment where the employees follow ethics in the work place (Bliss, 2004). The essay will narrow down to an ethical deviance in the work place and will base its arguments in the technology areas that involve the use of computers and the upcoming changes in technology. The workplace...

Words: 2378 - Pages: 10

Premium Essay

Ethical Behavior

... Ethical Behavior In this chapter we look at the ethical behavior when it comes to business management. Ethics is defined as the code of moral principles that sets standards of good or bad, or right or wrong, in one’s conduct. You learn how ethical dilemmas complicate the workplace and how high ethical standards can be maintained. Social responsibilities and governance plays a part in ethical behavior as well. Ethical behavior is that which is accepted as “good” or “right” as opposed to “bad” or “wrong”. For the reason an action is not illegal does not necessarily make it ethical in a given situation. Values vary, so that brings up the question, “What is ethical behavior? Honestly it can be answered in many ways by different people for the reason of different values.Values help determine individuals behavior. Terminal values are preferences about desired ends, such as the goals one strives to achieve in life. Instrumental values are preferences regarding the means for accomplishing these ends. Among the instrumental values held important by managers are honesty, ambition,courage, imagination,and self discipline. The value pattern for any one person is very enduring, but terminal and instrumental values vary from one person to the next. This variation is a reason why people respond quite differently to situations and their ethical challenges. The utilitarian, individualism, moral-rights, and justice views offer alternative ways of thinking about ethical behavior...

Words: 790 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Ethical Behavior

...Ethical behavior is a necessary condition for effective leadership. Why? Ethical behavior is the first and foremost precondition for an effective and impactful leadership. A modus operandi based on the high and lofty principles adopted by strong leaders is the hallmark of a successful team effort. The ability to bring out the best amongst a group of people, inspiring them to achieve growth, produce and go above and beyond their abilities to perform wonders is usually orchestrated by an ethics-driven leadership. We often hear about one’s skills to lead from the front or lead by example. Such leadership behaviors are only possible if the golden rules of ethics are strictly adhered to. An ethical leadership encourages living the values of institutional beliefs. It helps in developing brand loyalty, productivity and a healthy work environment. Over the past several years, I’ve been lucky enough to experience and thrive under a leadership that knows, respects and honors the virtues of ethical behavior. It would have been hard for us, as employees of Chevy Chase Bank, to endure the stress and strain of merger with Capital One Bank, were we not blessed with effective leadership. Our leadership’s ‘business as usual’ approach helped us to keep move and wade through the murky and muddy waters of the corporate rigmarole. Almost a year and a half after the merger, looking back, one can safely say that the ethical behavior demonstrated by our leadership is what helped us keep our...

Words: 253 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Ethical Behavior

...Grantham University This essay is a discussion of ethics, ethical responsibility, along with stakeholders and their impact on decision making within an organization. The essay explains the importance of ethical responsibility. There are detailed examples of ethical and unethical behavior within an organization. The essay is a compilation of works by several authors. The explanation of the authors’ belief of ethical behavior was studied to complete this essay. Ethical responsibility is important in the business world. Businesses have a responsibility of being honest with employees so they can make informed decisions about career choices; a responsibility to respect customers, and a responsibility to invest in the community that the business depends upon. The biggest organizations can be destroyed; whether by a company or by one person within a company (Sims, 2003). According to Sims common ethical problems include accounting practices that hide fraud and theft from employees as well as investors. These types of violations will lead to criminal charges, loss of consumer confidence, and employee respect. In order to maintain an ethically responsible company, clear moral standards must be set from the onset of the company (Sims, 2003). The company should create and enforce a code of conduct that ensures that customers are treated fairly by employees. Sims explained that to avoid even the appearance of unethical behavior the organization should be as transparent as possible in...

Words: 885 - Pages: 4

Free Essay

Ethical Behavior

...| 2012 | | 2/1 Jonathan Murdock | [ethical behavior issues within an organization] | This page is about ethical behavior within organization and professional following the protocol of said said organizations. | Being able to claim you are a professional at something gives you a lot of creditability. That same creditability that people looks for when they want to your expert opinion on how to do or begin something. For example, say a child needs help with homework, instead of running to another sibling that’s still attending school, s/he runs to the parent who the child believes has more creditability than prankster of a sibling that s/he doesn’t trust. Now apply the same role to two adults. People who can claim to be professionals can play the part of “parent”. While the people seeking advice for a project is the “children”. I use this analogy so people can see the good and the potential risk a code of professional conduct code establishes and eliminates. I will get to the associated risks later, for now we get to the benefits. The benefits of setting a conduct that will keep the creditability of the association extremely high. By following the strict guidelines, only people that have been in the field for some time. Members of the AMA must abide by the Principles of Medical Ethics and comply with the laws of the “American Medical Association and the Rules of the AMA Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs.” (AMA 2012) The potential risks of not having strict...

Words: 507 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Ethical Behaviors

...clinical in nature, they encompass the whole patient experience. The ethical self assessment is an assessment of my own ethical decision making process. The American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE) has developed a set of questions designed to identify individuals' ethical decision making. "The American College of Healthcare Executives firmly believes that healthcare executives have an ethical responsibility to use a systematic, deliberative and thoughtful approach to decision making when making a promise to a person or a group" (Nelson & Hofmann, 2010, p. 294). The purpose of doing the self assessment was to identify some areas of strength and some areas of weakness. By identifying these, I can make the patient experience better. The insights that I gained by completing the self assessment included not only my own morals and beliefs but also those of the organization that work for and my profession of nursing. Sometimes it is difficult to balance all three. My ethical decision can be based on the situation at that given time and may not be the same the next time because each situation can be different. As nurses, we are guided by our professional code of ethics. When I was conducting research on ethics, I found on the American Nurses Association (ANA), website they are advertising the year 2015, as the Year of Ethics. The ANA, is holding an Ethics Symposium that discusses ethical competencies and resilience. The Code of Ethics for nurses "is particularly...

Words: 1078 - Pages: 5

Premium Essay

Ethical Behavior

...Effect of Unethical Behavior Article Analysis Beatrice Arnold ACC/291 February 4, 2013 James Covert Unethical Practices and Behavior The business environment can be a cause for unethical practices and behavior in accounting. An example of this can be management instructing an employee to record a transaction in an incorrect manner. It can be as simple as a company whose clients sign a contract on December 1, 2012 for the year. Then reporting the revenue for the whole year in December instead of just reporting the month of December as would be the requirement of accounting principles (Kendra, 2013). Another cause for unethical practices or behaviors can be greed. Some people will do anything, including breaking the law to get extra money. An accountant has an opportunity to “cook the books” (Xaxx, 2013) that can allow they to take a little or a lot. This is very tempting as no one seems to get hurt in the process. At times ignorance of the tax law or regulations about insider trading can be easily misunderstood by inexperienced accountants, which could cause unethical behavior without even realizing it. The role of an accountant is to use information the company provides to gather useful information about the company’s economic affairs. This can be difficult if there is a conflict of interests. If the accounting firm hired to perform a profit and loss audit finds that the information it has to report will be damaging to their client the accounting firm’s responsibility...

Words: 763 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Ethical Behavior

...It doesn’t matter if a person is an officer of the law or just an average Joe; everyone at one period of time goes through ethical/moral dilemmas. The decisions you make during these dilemmas not only make you who you are as a person but speak for your character as well. Those who work in the criminal justice system face these dilemmas just as much as any other job. Even though they are obliged to follow a strict set of rules and guidelines everyday. In their daily jobs whether they are making an arrest, prosecuting a case, or running a prison they are faced with decisions that may put their ethics/morals into question. In these decisions they must first decide on what is the right thing to do and if the right thing to do is within their code of ethics. However they also need to look into what their options are if they go with the opposite decision. Looking at four different case studies I will analyze the moral/ethical dilemma, their options, the best solution, and why the best solution is ethically the correct one. Parole Board Robert, who is chair of the parole board, first needs to access the types of criminals that are being housed in his prison. At first glance of reviewing his prison’s “risk assessment” he doesn’t like what he sees. Within his conscience he believes that the risk assessment is too high and too many prisons are likely to reoffend causing the recidivism rate to increase. However knowing that if he doesn’t come up with a solution then they will soon...

Words: 2548 - Pages: 11

Free Essay

Ethical Behavior

...Effect of Unethical Behavior Article Analysis Potential acts leading to unethical practices and behavioral in accounting are evident. These acts are in violation of the Sarbares Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX). The Sarbanes Oxley Law was approved as a consequence of lots of corporate scams, this corporates intend to provide fake statements for potential investors, Recent articles write and posted on numerous websites are reviewing how to identify potential factors leading to unethical behavior or practices. But the most recent and trustful article is called “Becoming a More Relational Firm in the Post-Sarbans-Oxley Era”. As expressed by the article, the effects of SOX Law has influenced fiscal reports in a lot of ways. The law has required that impartial companies must audit the fiscal reports in which positions of the auditors must be rotated frequently, to ensure that scam cannot be made by the same auditor from year to year, and it’s apply in different sections: * Section 303: This section needs senior management to approve the accuracy and dependability of fiscal reports, meaning that the fiscal reports must be sign for the CEO or CFO of the organization they need to certify that they analize the reports and assure that the reports are accurate. The executives will be held accountable for any mistakes or irregularities by signing authentic records being aware that they will be held responsible for any intend to commit fraud * Section 302: Management needs to submit...

Words: 472 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Organizational Behavior: the Quest for People-Centered Organizations and Ethical Conduct

...could have fatal implications if management is too short-sighted. Cutting costs alone will not see the company through the recession without seeing the investment opportunities that exist during these times; the most important of which is the investment in people. Managers at Bain & Company, Home Depot, and Best Buy have taken a variety of steps in the past to build and maintain talent during the recession; utilizing Schwartz’s value theory to keep employees engaged and motivated. According to Schwartz, values “represent broad goals that apply across contexts and time." He proposed that there are ten primary values that guide human behavior: Power, achievement, hedonism, simulation, self-direction, universalism, benevolence, tradition, conformity, and security. Shalom Schwartz, PhD (2012) explains that “values are critical motivators of behaviors and attitudes." Because of this, organizations often create strategy based on one or more these values to influence employee attitudes. Home Depot is aware of the importance of these values; utilizing achievement to boost morale during the recession. Chief Executive Frank Blake lowered hourly...

Words: 1052 - Pages: 5

Premium Essay

Ethical Behavior Consult

...ETHICAL BEHAVIOR CONSTRUCT: MEASUREMENT AND PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS Branko BUČAR, Faculty of Economics, University of Ljubljana Mateja DRNOVŠEK, Faculty of Economics, University of Ljubljana Address all correspondence to: Branko Bučar University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Economics Kardeljeva ploščad 17, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia Email: branko.bucar@uni-lj.si ABSTRACT The primary concern of the article is to validate the scale of ethical behavior construct developed in previous research. We examined the internal consistency of the modified Newstrom and Ruch’s (1975) scale for the measurement of the ethical behavior construct. We based this study on the model by Akaah and Lund (1994) about the influence of personal and organizational values on ethical behavior in the entrepreneurial context. We concluded that the six-dimensional construct of ethical behavior cannot be supported in the same way as proposed by Akaah and Lund (1994) and proposed several modifications to the measurement scale. KONSTRUKT ETIČNEGA OBNAŠANJA: MERJENJE IN PRAKTIČNE POSLEDICE Glavni namen tega članka je preveriti meritveno lestvico konstrukta etičnega obnašanja, ki je bila razvita v prejšnjih študijah. Proučili smo notranjo konsistentnost spremenjene meritvene lestvice, ki sta jo originalno razvila Newstrom in Ruch (1975). Študijo smo zasnovali na Akaah in Lundovem (1994) modelu vplivov osebnih in organizacijskih vrednot na etično obnašanje, pri čemer smo model preučili v...

Words: 2913 - Pages: 12

Premium Essay

Walmarts Ethical Behavior

...qwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyui opasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfgh jklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvb nmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwerty uiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdf ghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxc vbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwer tyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmrtyuiopasdfg hjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcv bnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwert yuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasd fghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzx cvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwe rtyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmrtyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdf ghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxc vbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwer tyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopas dfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklz xcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmrt yuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasd fghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzx cvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwe rtyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopa sdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjkl ...

Words: 415 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Ethical Behavior in an Organization

...Ethical Behavior in an Organization Ethical Behavior in an Organization Dictionary.com defines Ethics as “values relating to human conduct, with respect to the rightness and wrongness of certain actions and to the goodness and badness of the motives and ends of such actions” (2011). In business ethics it is absolutely essential to maintain the concern of corporate social responsibility. Local laws, be it federal, state or local, mandate that all institutions follow ethical practices. The challenge for Management is ensure continued legal compliance with good ethical business practices. During difficult times, it becomes a test for organizations to enforce and practice positive ethical culture. Negative ethical decisions would prove detrimental to an organization in the longer run. Ethical issues are a major concern for any organization because of the lasting impact they can have on customers, stakeholders, employees, and the overall company image. Customers and employees are impacted by the unethical behavior of a company such as when “greed overtook concerns about human welfare when the Manville Corporation suppressed evidence that asbestos inhalation was killing its employees, or when Ford failed to correct a known defect that made its Pinto vulnerable to gas tank explosions following low speed rear-end collisions” (Sims, 1992, p. 3). Negative ethical behavior can result in lawsuits, prison time and/or fines, loss of...

Words: 1016 - Pages: 5

Premium Essay

Ethical Behavior in Business

...Russell Bettinger BUS-340 – Ethical and Legal Issues in Business 26 October 2014 Esther Lahargoue Analyzing Ethical Behavior Bernard Madoff was a renowned stockbroker, financial adviser, and served as the chairman of NASDAQ. Bernie Madoff is also solely responsible for the largest accounting fraud in all of American history. In December 2008, Madoff admitted to the federal authorities that the wealth management branch of his business, Ascott Partners, was a full on and elaborate Ponzi scheme. A Ponzi scheme is an investment fraud that involves the payment of purported returns to existing investors from funds contributed by new investors. Over the course of nearly two decades, Madoff took an estimated 65 billion dollars from his investor’s fortunes. What made Bernie Madoff successful in his fraudulent ways was the façade put up by the general public of being highly respected, well established, and an esteemed financial extraordinaire. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission caught a lot of heat for failing to investigate Madoff extensively and thoroughly. Madoff ended up being found guilty of eleven federal crimes and sentenced to 150 years in prison with restitution costs at around seventeen billion. The fallout from his master scheme went far deeper than anyone would have expected, as some of the businesses he had invested in and vice versa, were forced to close down temporarily. Enron was an energy company based in Houston, Texas. The scandal that happened within...

Words: 877 - Pages: 4

Free Essay

Ethical Behavior on Managers

...Table of Contents EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1 1. OVERVIEW 3 2. PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS 3 3. PROJECT DELIVERY ACTIVITIES 5 4. PROJECT ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE 7 5. PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION APPROACH 9 6. PROJECT SCHEDULE 11 7. PROJECT EXPENDITURE 12 8. PROJECT STAFFING 13 ANNEX 16 BASIC ASSUMPTIONS 16   Executive Summary Purpose: The purpose of this document is to provide an overview of the Smart Metering (SM) implementation Program with a particular focus on the scope elements, organization and approach to deliver on time and on budget. Mission: The smart metering (SM) Program mission is to successfully install a safe, reliable, and cost-efficient smart meter solution for greater operational efficiency, customer reliability and, energy efficiency. Smart Metering System: it consisting of Smart meters – two-way communications-enabled meters that capture the amount of power consumed when it occurred – plus metering telecommunications and an Automated Data Collection System. Program Delivery Scope: The scope consisting of overall activities and services including project management and controls such as inspection and quality control; revenue meter deployment; customer complaint handling; administration and contract management; information and data coordination, stakeholder engagement and community communications. Organizational Structure: An organizational structure has been designed to facilitate delivery of the smart metering (SM) Program...

Words: 4261 - Pages: 18