...IMPORTANCE OF ETHICS Most of us would agree that it is ethics in practice that makes sense; just having it carefully drafted and redrafted in books may not serve the purpose. Of course all of us want businesses to be fair, clean and beneficial to the society. For that to happen, organizations need to abide by ethics or rule of law, engage themselves in fair practices and competition; all of which will benefit the consumer, the society and organization. Primarily it is the individual, the consumer, the employee or the human social unit of the society who benefits from ethics. In addition ethics is important because of the following: Satisfying Basic Human Needs: Being fair, honest and ethical is one the basic human needs. Every employee desires to be such himself and to work for an organization that is fair and ethical in its practices. Creating Credibility: An organization that is believed to be driven by moral values is respected in the society even by those who may have no information about the working and the businesses or an organization. Infosys, for example is perceived as an organization for good corporate governance and social responsibility initiatives. This perception is held far and wide even by those who do not even know what business the organization is into. Uniting People and Leadership: An organization driven by values is revered by its employees also. They are the common thread that brings the employees and the decision makers on a common platform....
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...Running head: IMPORTANCE OF ETHICS IN ACCOUNTING Importance of Ethics in Accounting Everest University Importance of Ethics in Accounting Accounting fraud is common but is not as trivial as the common cold; a typical organization loses annual revenues of nearly 5 percent to fraud. In addition, almost one-quarter of reported fraud is exceeding $1 million dollars. The accounting industry is constantly growing and changing. Consequently, difficult decisions have to be made every day. While accountants follow a simple code of conduct; nevertheless, due to the infamous scandal of Enron, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 was constructed to reestablish confidence in the public marketplace. The importance of ethics and integrity are highly significant to individuals in this profession. In fact, ethical behavior in accounting is described as “societies accepted standards of moral behavior that is behaviors as right rather than wrong” (Nickels, McHugh, & McHugh, 2013, p. 91). Therefore, accounting as a whole plays a significant role in society and business. At one time, society considered professional accountants to have the highest standard in ethical and moral conduct. While maintaining accurate and truthful statements is an essential part of financial reporting; therefore, as a society as a whole it is essential that a professional accountant fully understand the importance of ethical values. One unquestionably problematic misconception is that ethics consist of moral...
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...JAMAICA GLEANER THE IMPORTANCE OF BUSINESS ETHICS published: Sunday | April 11, 2004 [pic] [pic] FITZ-RITSON and LOPEZ Ayanna Kirton, Staff Reporter IN RECENT years the term 'business ethics' has taken on new relevance in the wake of accounting scandals that have discredited some of the world's largest and well-respected companies. The list includes WorldCom (now MCI), Tyco International, Parmalat, and Enron whose financial executives have faced charges and possible jail time for financial misdeeds. Now, the Business Roundtable (BRT) aims to restore public confidence in Corporate America with a US$3 million initiative to educate future CEOs on business ethics. According to an article published by Business Week, on January 14, 2004, the BRT, an association of 150 chief executive officers of leading United States companies, announced it was creating a new business-ethics centre. The Business Roundtable Institute for Corporate Ethics will be housed at the University of Virginia's Darden Graduate School of Business Administration. The BRT hopes to deflect criticism of CEO excesses by developing a business school ethics curriculum as well as train executives and conduct research. Ethics education and training are important elements in the creation of ethically sensitive business cultures. In a presentation on Jamaican Business Ethics, Dr. Michael Witter, senior lecturer and head of the Department of Economics at the University of the West Indies (UWI), said to understand...
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...CHAPTER 1 – THE IMPORTANCE OF BUSINESS ETHICS 1. ------------------------------------------------- What are the potential ethical issues faced by Acme Corporation? By Frank giving gifts to Otis to entice him into purchasing more inventory, the ethical issue of bribery arises. If consumers or potential customers learn about Frank giving gifts to get sales, it could cost Acme Corporation fines and declined consumer trust. Outsiders could perceive Acme’s misconduct as a bribe or the impression that the company has to give bribes because their products are inferior. In addition, the fact that Frank is concerned about management finding out about the gift giving to Thermocare; despite Amber’s approval of his actions, means Acme may not approve of the gift giving, or the misappropriation of corporate funds. 2. ------------------------------------------------- What should Acme do if there is a desire to make ethics a part of its core organizational values? An ethics program should be created and an ethics officer assigned to oversee it. The program should include the values, beliefs, and established and enforced patterns of conduct that employees will need to have in place to identify and respond to ethical issues. The company may also want to include a section in the ethics protocol that bans gift giving to attract sales. 3. ------------------------------------------------- Identify the ethical issues of which Frank needs to be aware. The ethical issues...
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...INTRO Business Ethics (also known as corporate ethics) is a form of applied ethics or professional ethics that studies the ethical principles and moral or ethical problems that arise in a business environment (source: Wikipedia). This applies to all aspects of business conduct and is relevant to the behavior of individuals and organizations overall business. Applied ethics is a field of ethics dealing with ethical questions in many fields such as medicine, engineering, law and business ethics. Business ethics can be a discipline both normative and descriptive. As the practices of the company and a career specialization, the field is primarily normative. The scope and quantity of business ethics reflects the degree to which its business is considered contrary to the social values of non-economic. , For example, today most major corporate sites put pressure on the commitment to promote social values of non-economic under various posts (eg code of ethics, social responsibility). In some cases, companies have to reformulate their core values in the light of considerations of business ethics....
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...The Importance of Business Ethics Business ethics has been described as a social science; it is a vast field and can often be problematic as it tends to mean different things to different people. It generally addresses the entire scope of responsibilities and obligations that a company has to each of its stakeholders. The term ethics can have many different definitions in a broad context and it can be difficult to find common understanding of the term which will be later discussed. Business ethics poses many different advantages and opportunities for businesses once correctly done. Business ethics refers to “managing corporate citizenship and sustainability in the age of globalization” (Crane, A., Dirk, M. 2004). Ethics is broadly concerned with the values underpinning action or behaviour’s for the individuals, organisations or societies. Being ethical is an aim of corporate governance and should be supported by the framework of controls within an organisation, however it is often a very complex problem which requires an in-depth understanding of the many factors which contribute to employees’ decisions to behave ethically or unethically (Stead and Worrell, 1990). Ethics within a business are often the moral standards which are relied upon in order to reach a conclusion and make decisions; they are implemented in order to ensure that a certain required level of trust exists between consumers and various forms of market participants within a business. Public interest has...
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...involves normative judgments and secondly, it the decision has to consist of a question of morality. Morality is referred to as the society’s highest standard of behavior and it is widely accepted (Dessler, 2010). What is Business Ethics? According to various individuals, each has their own meaning of Business Ethics, but generally it is the understanding of knowing what is right and wrong in the workplace in regards to the effects of products, services and the relationship with stakeholders. According to Wallace and Pekel, the attention to business ethics is condemnatory throughout fundamental change, i.e the circumstances that businesses now face both for non-profit and for...
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...“Title Rhenzl” Business is an economic activity whereas its concern is continuously and constantly producing and distributing goods and services to market in order to provide and satisfy human needs, wants and demand (Henry, 2015). Meanwhile, ethics had been studied by the philosophers for about 2500 years, since the time of Plato and Socrates. As of today, ethics is considered as the moral standards that an individual is relying upon when making a judgment and decision. This statement is supported by Bennett wherein ethics clearly defines what is the right and wrong things and shapes what kind of behavior the business should act on (2014). For the sense of business according to Joseph, ethics are constructed and decided by each business...
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...The Importance of Ethics in the Workplace Ethics, defined by Webster’s Dictionary, is “the discipline dealing with what is good and bad or right and wrong or with moral duty and obligation” (Merriam-Webster, 2002). There are no hard and fast rules that govern ethics, just agreed standards of moral duty and obligation. There are also civil, criminal and family laws, etc., that describe right and wrong for everyone. However, there are occupations where you do not violate the law but violate ethical standards. For example, as an attorney you can violate the ethical standards set by the State Bar Association; one might not be jailed for the offense but one will only be reprimanded. Workplace ethics can have a negative or positive outcome. Matt Larson used good ethics with a positive outcome; he went to great lengths to assist a member of the credit union where he worked. Queiana Hill used good work ethics in her workplace, hoping for a positive outcome; however, the ethics of her supervisor were most definitely negative. Given the two following examples, a Code of Ethics is standard in most businesses and generally used as a guidepost with or without an absolute outcome (University of Phoenix Material, n.d.). Good ethics in the workplace can often be the result of the personal ethics of the individual employee. An employee’s concern for their work or those they help can wield a multitude of results based on how they handle the situation. Matt Larson’s example is a good interpretation...
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...Biblical concepts as written in Scripture underscore the importance of ethical behavior and its relevance in demonstrating to God we trust, believe and belong to Him. Society is built on a foundation of ethical principles important in both personal and business connections. This expected Christian behavior is the foundation of God’s desire for us to not only believe in right and wrong, but to live it through our actions. As references in Leviticus 19:35, “Do not use dishonest standards when measuring length, weight or quantity,” we learn the great importance God places in being faithful and honest. These concepts directly relate to the fields of accounting and finance as witnessed through professional associations, ethical decision-making, and numerous biblical teachings. American Institute of Certified Public Accountants The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) was established as a professional organization to assist members with their role and responsibilities as accountants. More specifically, the foundation of their profession is built upon a Model Code of Professional Conduct guiding members in the basic belief and framework of ethical conduct. These guiding principles call for an “unswerving...
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...Introduction People are often facing decisions that have a big impact in their future, It is difficult to distinguish if the actions made or words said by us will hurt our family or friends, but to prevent those actions person who faces this kind of situation has think if the action that they are about to do it is right, the reason for thinking about that are personal ethics which result in good or bad decisions, in this essay, author focuses on ethics in business organisations and discriminations within which is one of the main problems inside companies. Ethics in Business Words like “morality” and “values” are associating with word “ethics”. Ethics is differencing and thinking between right or wrong choice. it is making choices that...
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...Importance of Ethics in International Business Executive Summary Ethics in the business world is important and global. Ethics indicate what is right and what is wrong in business branches and also lead employees and stakeholders with moral values. Due to the globalization of markets and production processes, business people have to deal with ethical issues in cross-cultural settings at an increasing number. The purpose of this paper is to explain the importance of international business, emphasise the ethics of a business and the significance of ethics in terms of expanding internationally. Ultimately, creating and maintaining acceptable organizational ethics will become beneficial in international business. Why do businesses expand internationally? Expanding a business to an international level has a huge upside. In a broader sense, without international trade, countries could only consume what they produce domestically, making it harder for every single country. An international business opens new opportunities such as new markets and more jobs. Today, developing countries represent about 80% of global population. Uncertainty and legal applications are sometimes great sources of concerns in international business operations (Hewhorn, 2008). Therefore, an international business has to take into consideration and become aware of the countries in which operating in. Today, companies are affected by global events and competition whether the corporation is enormous or...
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...Discuss the importance of business ethics in an organization We hear about this word ‘Ethics” almost every day. We are all aware of the fact that there is a public consciousness which is related to ethics that is way much more important than it was few years back. It is obvious that business ethics are important throughout every area of the business. Most businesses are often more likely to become successful when they are known for dealing honestly with people from its employees and customers to shareholders and vendors. What does the word ‘business ethics’ really mean? Business ethics are nothing more than the code of values and principles that govern the actions of an individual, or a group of individual, regarding what is right and what is wrong. Business ethics are not just about the difference between right and wrong, but they are the actual application of that knowledge to business. Their absence in an organization can be harmful to the progress of any businesses or organizations. Every time a new business is launched, whether it is business of a sole trader or an enterprise, the owner or owners must first legally adopt a code of ethics. For small businesses, the code of ethics is usually unwritten and sometimes not even discussed and decided upon, but still it exists. Where as, for larger businesses such as a full-blown brick-and-mortar corporate enterprise, they often have written codes of ethics and employees are trained and required to adhere to it. It is...
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..."U.S. employers are not required to comply with the requirements of Title VII, the ADEA, or the ADA if adherence to that requirement would violate a law of the country where the workplace is located (n.a., 2003)". Most importantly they must know the definition of business ethics to decide if they are doing what is morally acceptable. "Advocates of business ethics often look to human nature to explain abuses or to propose a path of change" (n.a., 2012). I believe this excerpt from the textbook can be broken down to mean that to determine if something is right or wrong in business ethics, people look at what people's general feelings and behavioral traits are of that issue and sometimes they can use this as an excuse to change a current existing...
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...When discussing ethics in decision making, there are a lot of factors that go into how the decision should be made. Your own personal feelings, the position that you are in, the possible outcomes, the backlash, and basic human rights are all things that one has to consider in the decision-making process. In the situation where a highly visible privately-owned television company is receiving criticism from politicians and the pubic due to its employee's discussion of political matters on social media, a decision needs to be made to make sure that these criticisms come to an end since public opinion can have a detrimental impact on a television companies well-being. As the CEO of the company, the decision that I will have to make will affect...
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