1. Introduction:
Currently, in the complex global business environment, economic performance alone no longer guarantees business success. One of the integral driving factors for this success is the transparency and integrity of the management system. In many countries, there is enormous number of leading corporations coordinating ethical management into business practices to stay in tune with wider societal values.
However, there still exist corporations where profit triumphs all other considerations. In Vietnam, with lax management mechanism and legal loopholes, many monstrous corporate scandals relating to unethical behaviors have been revealed. These corporate scandals extensively hurt public confidence in financial reporting and question the morality of businessman in general and accountants in particular.
Confronting with these burning issues, our report aims to provide comprehensive picture about the importance of ethics in business and accounting. Firstly, we will focus on the various perspectives of ethics and how ethics affects enterprise and accountants. Secondly, we present some real-world examples associating with the unethical business practices, which cause irreparable damages for Vietnam economy. Lastly, lessons and recommendations for corporate governance and state administration are raised.
2. The importance of ethics in business and accounting.
2.1. Definition of ethics
Ethics is a system of moral principles, with respect to the rightness and wrongness of certain actions and the ends of those actions.
2.2. The significance of ethics in business
In modern world, business has experienced the essential role of ethics in many perspectives. Generally, the primary role of ethics is to keep a company and its ...
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Our economy has been built upon for decades creating growth within the business industry. Businesses provide jobs, finances, and security for individual’s within society and is a main source of what defines our prosperous country. Every business has an ethical responsibility to its members and employee’s and to society at large. Ethical responsibility is a major component in which society needs to reinforce because it helps create principles, values, and standards, all of which help to guide a person’s behavior (Ferrel et al. 2013). Ethics help to create balance which in turn will have positive results for the business versus negative results. It seems that no matter where we look today, companies like Enron, WorldCom, AIG and many, many others substantiate the lack of business ethics in this country. At no other time than the last few decades has the need for ethical business oversight been of such importance to the prosperity of our country. As an example, Bernard Madoff is known to be the executor of the most fraudulent and deceitful Ponzi scheme in history, creating a stark reminder that the corrosion of ethics and lack of basic moral principles have taken this country to the point where trust in institutions and the very market driven systems that make our society work are in imminent danger of collapse. The Bernie Madoff case is a clear example of what can occur when businesses ethics are not in place. This case outlines a business man who defrauded thousands of people for years and caused major problems for those involved and for society at large. This essay is going to outline the major aspects of the case which include the nature of the problem, who are the major stakeholders, what is the problem from each of the stake...
Nelson, K., & Trevino, L. (2004). Managing business ethics: Straight talk about how to do it right (3rd ed.). New York: Wiley
In today’s global society, a Code of Ethics policy is used to label established, acceptable behaviors among that industry’s business associates, potential investors, and the corporation’s executive officers and employees, and most important, the consumer (Ethics Resource Center, 2003). In an attempt to promote an increased efficiency and productivity potential level, among employees and prospective clients, a corporation’s standard Code of Ethics should guide its members toward a more in-depth examination of their personal moral activity, and how these actions affect the people or acquaintances they encounter. A company should utilize this strategy as a model for the professional behaviors and responsibilities of its constituents, and proves the occupational advancement of that business. Ethics are important in every level of a corporation, but specifically in the day-to-day actions of its members, and the image the company broadcasts to its associates is fundamental in building a stable business foundation. These pledges are a vital communication tool used to covey the firm’s standards for business operations, and predominantly, its relationships with the surrounding communities (Ethics Resource Center, 2003).
Incorporating ethics into everyday decisions in the business world can greatly reduce the scandalous behavior that has as of late has run ramped. Obviously, we have seen the results and consequences of business conducted absent any moral or ethical boundaries. When decisions are made without the consultation of ethics there is no direction from the moral compass and surely consequences will follow. Choices contemplated by managers may often seem difficult, but assessing the options against ethics can assist the manager in making the best decision.
Ethics in business environment is core values and standards to guide one’s decision-making. (Mintz and Morris, 2008) Maxwell (2003) introduces “Golden Rule” to decide what constitutes to be ethical by asking one “How would I like to be treated in a particular situation?” Hence, unethical behaviours include allegedly inflating earnings to meet stockholders expectation in Healthsouth Scandal in 2003.
For a company to be successful ethically, it must go beyond the notion of simple legal compliance and adopt a values-based organizational culture. A corporate code of ethics can be a very valuable and integral part of a company’s culture but I believe that it is not strong enough to stand alone. Thought and care must go into constructing the code of ethics and the implementation of it. Companies need to infuse ethics and integrity throughout their corporate culture as well as into their definition of success. To be successfully ethical, companies must go beyond the notion of simple legal compliance and adopt a values-based organizational culture.
Ethics essentially refers to a set of rules or guidelines that defines what is right and wrong and therefore shape behavior of an individual or group. There is no specific definition of the term ethics; however it is usually mentioned in terms of good or bad. An ethical issue is present in a situation when a particular action or actions of any individual or organization may harm or benefit others. In organizations ethical behavior leads to good governance. However, what is considered ethical by one person may not be considered ethical by another.
Business ethics simply can be defined as the application of business values in the business practice of a company (Seawell 2010, p. 2). For a multinational company, business ethics is one of the critical aspects need to be taken into account in business decision-making processes. Failure to give attention on ethics may bring consequences on company’s reputation (Meyer & Jebe 2010, p. 159). The company is expected not only to pursue its own profits but also contributing to the environmental and social welfare of the community where it operates (Svensson & Wood 2008, p. 308).
It is contended that a business should only focus on making profit and most of the businesses think business ethics costs too much to put up with, but being ethical and socially responsible is necessary for companies. Business ethics is a group of moral principles in the business environment. Many factors of business environment can cause corporates to act unethical such as competition, the urge to make profit and selfishness. Generating revenue is vital for corporates, that’s unquestionable, but competi...
An organization needs to adhere to ethics in order to effectively implement its mission, vision, and objectives in a way in which offers a solid foundation to management and their subordinates to properly develop and implement its strategies. By doing so, the organization as a whole is essentially subscribing to one commonality that directs all of the actions of the employees of the organization. Additionally, it assists in preventing such employees from divergence in regard to the proposed strategic guideline. Ethics additionally ensures that a strategic plan is developed in accordance to the interests of the appropriate stakeholders of the organization, both internal and external (Jin & Drozdenko, 2010). Likewise, corporate governance that stems from various regulatory parties makes it necessary for organizations to maintain a high degree of ethical standards; this is done by incorporating ethics within the organization’s strategic plan so as to foster a positive corporate image for the stakeholders and general public (Min-Dong Paul, 2009).
The concept of business ethics refers to a set of guiding principles that encourage individuals in an organization to make decisions based on the company’s stated beliefs and attitudes toward business practices within its industry (Lisa McQuerrey., 2016). Ethical and Unethical business decisions have long been a predicament encountered by organisations, these practices are concerned with how the companies interact with the global business world, and to their one-on-one dealings with individuals (Garry Crystal, 2016.) The concept of ethics and social responsibility emerged into the business world in the early 1970s after the end of World War I, saw these organisations become more profit driven resulting in negative impacts on society at large.
The Code of Ethics of the professional accounting bodies in Australia and its fundamental principles ………………………………………………………………………….…………3
This paper discusses the role of ethics in corporate governance. I seek to show the application of moral and ethical principles in corporate governance. Ethics is a topic that has generated a lot of interest in the last decade especially after high profile scandals. The failures of prominent companies such as WorldCom, Enron, Merrill lynch and Martha Stewart portrays the lack of corporate ethics. The failure of such business has seen an increased pressure to incorporate ethics in corporate governance. The result of corporate scandals has been eroding investor and public confidence. The entire economic system has experienced some form of stress from loss of capital, a falling stock market and business failures.
In the contemporary society, unethical and illegitimate activities within organisations are increasing, in order to remain competitive. Examples of violations are disrespectful behavior, non-compliance to company’s policies, unlawful conduct such as misuse of company’s fund and sharing of confidential information. In fact, all these activities cost a lot and organisations have to bear the consequences. Such consequences include tarnished reputation of the company, loss of trust among its stakeholders and unable to recruit the best talents in the industry. Studies have shown that many companies only realize the importance of ethical business practice after their wrongdoings are made known to the public. (Green 1997)
Treviño, L. K., & Nelson, K. A. (2007). Managing business ethics: Straight talk about how to do it right Fourth ed., Retrieved on July 30, 2010 from www.ecampus.phoenix.edu