Business Ethics Capstone Project
Introduction
Business and ethics are really important in all aspects of life. There is the need for every human being to follow rules and this includes generally accepted morals as well as laws. In most cases, laws seem to evolve from morals and generally accepted customs and practices. However, laws come with specific sanctions whilst morals often come with softer consequences like reputational issues. There are many situations where organizations set up ethics as a means of ensuring that the workers observe moral standards in order to reduce the risks of legal problems and issues in its operations.
Ethical dilemmas come up when people face issues and problems that have potential ethical and moral risks. Therefore, they help to provide pointers and areas in which issues and reputational risk matters can be handled and the proper choices can be made in such matters. The purpose of this capstone research is to present a personal perspective and point of view on some ethical matters relating to the writer. To this end, the research will present some personal ideas and views of the writer in order to show how they have evolved over the years. This will lay the foundation for discussions into personal Christian principles as well as factors that influences decisions and choices and management skills and improvement plans.
I am a billing specialist at the moment. I work in the accounting department of my current job and I have a lot of experience in accounting and finance in the past years. I have worked as a payroll specialist, accounts manager and office manager. This has put me close to the accounting department and I ultimately hope to work and expand my qualifications in order to work as an accountant and financial manager in a large corporation.
Over the years, I have seen a lot of competition and contest in organizations I have worked in. This has led to many ethical problems and issues that give me an awareness of how the ethical framework of my accounting industry is. This is because there are many matters and issues that relate to moral and ethical dilemmas that have to do with laws and other moral issues and problems. In this section, I will discuss three of these issues:
Pressure from management in financial reporting;
Whistleblowing and exposing unethical practice;
Policy formulation and office politics.
These are the biggest ethical problems that any accountant and financial manager must expect. Therefore I will discuss them into detail and analyze their implications to the work environment and why they are important to an accountant.
Pressure from Management in Face of Objectivity in Financial Reporting
Every accountant is employed by the directors of a company. An accountant is employed to work to provide services that objectively report information and present the information that reflect the “true and fair view” of the financial activities of a given period. There are many accounting standards and legal regulations that provide specific instructions on why and how an accountant should deliver neutral financial reports that are detached from the personal sentiments and desires from the accountants. At the same time, the law forbids the imposition of the desires and interests of other third parties who might influence the activities and processes of an accountant.
Providing a non-objective financial report that is influenced by management’s manipulation is one that provides false and misleading information to users of financial information. Also, management might have a lot of things that they might want to hide in financial statements. This means they are likely to put pressure on accountants when they are undertaking financial reporting and financial plans.
This problem is not just restricted to ethical problems of financial statements misleading users. The problem has to do with laws that were made after major scandals like the Enron case and WorldCom problem that led to major losses after years of management-manipulated financial reporting. This now comes with conviction and prison times for managers and accountants who are known to lie about financial reports. Therefore, an accountant has a duty to avoid pressures from managers and directors to manipulate financial reports.
Financial statements have to present the true and fair information about financial activities. However, due to the fact that managers and directors can be powerful and often manipulate accountants, it is a major moral dilemma that could be very difficult and almost impossible to honor at all times and in all situations.
Whistleblowing in face of Unethical Practice
Another obligation that accountants have is that they have a legal duty to disclose information in the public’s interest. This is located in laws and most professional associations that involve accountants have similar regulations that require accountants to disclose information that might be in the interest of the public.
Information in public interest include improper conduct that occurs within an organization that an accountant works. This is something that an accountant must be aware of. And when it comes to the attention of an accountant, s/he has to disclose it and make it available to the relevant authorities so that action could be taken.
The main areas that this occurs include aspects of wrongful trading, evading taxes, frauds, disclosure and omissions. The main scandals in corporate affairs were often disclosed by insiders like accountants and lawyers. The Enron saga was disclosed by a whistleblower. This is because the system was rigged and it was almost impossible for authorities to notice what was going wrong. Therefore, accountants have a duty required by law to blow the whistle when they have information about illegal activities in their organization.
However, whistleblowing is not a simple thing. It requires betraying people close to you and people you know so well and stay in the same organization with. It could have serious implications like causing people to go to jail for actions that they might have believed you would have kept quiet about. On the other hand, whistleblowing is required by law. If you do not disclose these kinds of information as an accountant or financial professional, you could go to jail for collusion. So this is a major ethical and moral problem that comes with many dilemmas that an accountant will have to review and analyze closely in order to make the right and most appropriate choices.
Policy formulation and Office Politics
Accounting units play a role in formulating policies in organizations. This is because accountants are entrusted with financial information and financial analysis that is necessary to draw logical conclusions about policies in companies.
Office politics is strong because it involves the competing claims and demands of different interest groups like investors, employers, suppliers, shareholders amongst others. However, there is the need for accountants and financial personnel to present objective and realistic information that can help to provide the best of policies. There are some personal inputs and discretional choices that an accountant can make that could tilt decisions and corporate choices to certain directions and in certain areas. This could be something that could open the floodgates for accountants to side with various competing groups and this would be destructive.
Accountants’ roles in providing information that suits certain groups is something that could lead to various audit risks and issues. This include risks like opening up for corrupt practices and negative activities that could lead to fraud and error. Therefore, an accountant will have to ensure neutrality and diligence in providing inputs in policy making and policy choices. The procedure might be a bit difficult and could have far-reaching consequences and elements.
Therefore, there is an ethical challenge for an accountant to be neutral and also work hard to ensure that financial information given in policy formulation is one that is not compromised. This includes providing information that prevents fraud and error and promotes the best interest of the company. There is an obligation to ensure that information is provided in a professional manner in order to achieve the best of results and move the company to the best and most appropriate end.
Personal Christian Principles
I consider myself as a strong Christian. I go to Church regularly and I try to blend Christian values in everything that I do. In order to analyze Christianity and its basis for ethics, we need to understand some basics.
First of all, work is important and required by Christian principles and ideas. This is a fundamental part of the Protestant Reformation that moved Europe from obscure backwardness to the current modern status of Eurocentric societies. Proverbs 10:4 says “poor is he who works with a negligent hand, but the hand of the diligent makes rich”. This means that we have to work hard and we must do what we need to do in order to achieve results and feed ourselves and our families.
However, it must be pointed that being diligent and avoiding negligence requires following ethics and being careful with everything that one needs to do. Leviticus 19:36 says a false balance is an abomination to the Lord and people have to work hard and ensure they use fair values and measures. This therefore means that every Christian will have to work and work within a framework of ethics and standards that will guide conduct and ensure that he or she works to achieve goals and results that are dignified and positive in every way and form.
We all commit sins and being human, we know from Christian values show that we have to work to prevent sins from being committed. Therefore, ethics are important and vital in guiding our conduct in all ways and forms. We have to put God before us and after us. And we must do everything in our power to achieve results and work hard to become better people. For the Bible says of the woman caught in adultery in John 8:7 that none is holy. Therefore, to ensure that we can stay in God’s favor, we need guidance and we need to make an effort to have ethics and guidelines that will ensure that we stay within the right framework we can apply and utilize.
I consider myself as a liberal because I believe that in all things, love wins. Christianity is about love and sensitivity. And we have to love one another and do everything we can by promoting love ahead of being judgmental. Again John 8:7 says let he who has no sin cast the first stone. Many of the people who set high standards and are judgmental only show righteousness outwardly. I have seen many bosses who set extremely high standard for their workers but were bigger hypocrites than the people they condemned. No wonder Matthew 23:28 says that “Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.”
My conclusion is that in human societies, we all need to accept our vulnerabilities and accept that if we fail to hold ourselves to high ethical standards, we would make mistakes. If we present ourselves as faultless, we will allow for complacency to exist.
Therefore, in the workplace, I consider myself to be under personal and organizational ethics. I try hard to stay within the ethics of the company and also pursue standards and rules that exists in the company. My personal standards are generally higher because I believe I am far from being perfect. Therefore, I hold myself to high ethical standards that I utilize to guide my conduct. This way, I often find myself within the standard and regulations issued by the company.
In Church, I look out for priests who preach about equality, fairness and love. Religion must promote unity, it should not lead to division. Religion must encourage people to be better. Therefore, I always ensure that in church, I follow ethics that are going to help me to help other people and make Christianity attractive to all.
At home, I try to empower everyone by setting standards and expectations. In cases of all people around me, I try to encourage everyone to work to improve in order to stay relevant to the standards and expectations. This way, the process enables me to become a better person and guide people around me to be better in any way and form they can.
Influence Factors in Decisions or Actions
There are many things that define the backgrounds of people. This is because there are many values that come together to define the main framework within which people can carry out their actions and processes that lead to ethical standards. The influences and pointers are major things that come to form and define my personality and the personality of anyone. They form the core philosophy of people around me in order to achieve the best of results in what I do.
There are many ethical processes that are linked to conduct and various basic pointers that guide the way and manner in which people can build a character of protecting ethical standards and values. There are some of these values that I have developed over the years and they include:
Honest: This is a character that is about telling the truth and living with the view that it is wrong to lie. Therefore, I try my best to present the truth in all situations and processes. Honesty forms a basis for forming a character of transparency and neutrality that leads to the achievement of results that causes me to work hard to promote the best of character processes.
Loyalty: I always give up my life and love to people and help them in order to work hard and provide what people need at any point in time. I build trust over the years and I work hard to faithfully meet goals and objectives of every group I join. Therefore, it helps me to be better and constantly improve in the process of trying to be a better person and provide very ethical standards and values.
Effectiveness: I always try to find out the goals and targets of every task I am assigned with. Through this, I work hard to meet the best of results by matching inputs with outputs. This way, I ensure that I do everything I need to do and take things in order to integrate and accept everything that anyone has to do to ensure that the input-output relationship I have with people is done to achieve the best of results.
Fairness: There are many different processes and many different people that require some specific and close attention. This is the way through which justice can be served in everything that is done. Therefore, I try my best to ensure that I listen closely and understand the elements of need that all other people might have and what they expect and demand.
Stakeholder Sensitivity: I also thought in the past that all I needed to do was to work hard and please my bosses. I was to work and only pursue my personal interests and desires. However, over the years, I have come to realize that everything has consequences that are far reaching than just what we see or those we think to be powerful. Therefore, stakeholder sensitivity is important and everything I do has to consider what different groups of affected people could be honored and made to benefit from what I do and how I do it.
Probity: This is about being decent and trying to integrate all values and pointers that are relevant and could do things that will make people better and improve them. There is a process that is done through the presentation of fair and relevant information to everything I do and this helps me to achieve better results and promote better processes in doing things and handling matters.
My personal action at work and home in the church seem to be good and appropriate. However, I find myself to be limited in two main areas and processes which come back to harm me and limit me in several ways and this includes:
Vulnerability to Exploitation: I try hard to work too hard. However, people believe that opens me up to exploitation. And this process means that I need to set up rigid contracts and set limits in order to ensure that I meet the needs and desires of everyone in everything that is done.
Rigid Anti-Corruption Processes: Sometimes, I seem to be very rigid and tough in everything I do. I try to exact results and this seem to be problematic and dangerous because there are many people who sometimes get offended in the processes and procedures. This is because I follow the highest and most important standards in meeting results. This seem to be a bit mechanical and less productive in some areas.
Management Skills and Self-Improvement Plan
In spite of this, there are some things I believe I need to develop in the next there years in order to stay on the path to getting into a financial and accounting career and process. This way, I can have some important tools and competencies that will help me in order to operate as an effective leader that would create the basis for the attainment of results.
Define High Excellence Standards: I will need to identify some of the highest and most relevant standards of excellence that need to set high targets and ensure that everyone will be able to live with them. 2 Corinthians 8:7 recommends that all Christians must pursue excellence because that is an attitude that all Christians must work on and attain in their lifestyle. This is because there are many needs and expectations that are to be met and must be met in the best way and form possible. Therefore, I need leadership skills and competencies that are based on excellence.
Legal Competency: The Bible urges us all to work hard and follow laws in every country. Ideally, Christianity promotes a view that people must do what they need to do to follow the law and try to be better. This way, the Bible means that I have to work hard and understand new and emerging laws and regulations that come up that is relevant to the accounting profession. This way, there are many pointers and features that will make me more reliable and more effective without issues.
Demanding Accountability: There is the need for me to achieve the best level of accountability in all people and in all situations. This is because accountability is important to prevent the weakness of being exploited or being too good. Therefore, in this process, there is the need for me to set up some levels of accountability and setting up major backgrounds and pointers that can enable me to work to achieve people’s desires and expectations for accountability.
Growing in Respect and Sensitivity: In spite of my need to be more exacting and demanding through accountability, I do not need to lose my sensitivity to other people. I therefore hope to increase my levels of respect and ability to understand people and what people want.
References
Broad, C. D. (2011). Five Types of Ethical Theory. London: Routledge.
Brooks, L. J., & Dunn, P. (2015). Business and Professional Ethics. Mason, OH: Cengage.
Graham, G. (2013). Eight Theories of Ethics. Florence, KY: Taylor & Francis.
Mandall, S. (2012). Ethics In Business & Corp Governance. Delhi: Tata McGraw Hill.
Witte, J. (2012). Religious Human Rights in Global Perspective: Religious Perspectives. Amsterdam: Martinus Nijhoff.
