Effect of Unethical Behavior Article Analysis
Ethics can be defined as “that branch of philosophy dealing with 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.” ("Ethics," 2012). In the article Unethical Behavior In The Workplace, If takes a look at what are the things done to promote ethics but also how some situations just can’t be avoided when it comes to being ethical in accounting practices. We all learn at an early age what is right and wrong from our parents to teachers telling us so that when we are adults we can have morals and ethics in the world. Despite these best efforts of many, people and corporations still act unethical and although their crimes do not cause physical harm is does destroy people and companies in a much worse way and that is financially. Some situations I can tell from the article where people act unethical are “An accountant may embezzle funds from his or her employer for financial gain. Or perhaps the CFO of a publicly traded corporation may prepare financial statements to appear as though the company is performing much better than it actually is, because he or she wants their stock portfolio to increase.” (“Unethical Behavior In The Workplace,” 2008, para. ). Another one it shows an example is “failure for an accountant to conduct an in-depth analysis when preparing and revising financial information. There are many individuals who prefer to take short-cuts in life; and frankly, this simply is not acceptable when expected to perform in a professional manor.” (“Unethical Behavior In The Workplace,” 2008, para. ). To combat this are laws put into effect to deter people from these behaviors. The biggest one is the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 which “requires that publicly traded companies disclose their code of ethics