Ethics and professional responsibility in the accounting and auditing profession from a research perspective: Theory VS practice

By

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

No words can express my appreciation and gratitude to my research advisor _______ through the course of this research, Professor _____has taught me numerous values that extend well beyond the realm of _________ (Your Subject Name).

DECLARATION

I [type your full first names and surname here], declare that the contents of this dissertation/thesis represent my own unaided work, and that the dissertation/thesis has not previously been submitted for the academic examination towards any qualification. Furthermore, it represents my own opinions and not necessarily those of the University.

Signed __________________ Date _________________

ABSTRACT

General ethics is the study of ideal conduct, the reflection of right versus wrong, good versus bad. More specifically, general ethics involve choices of conduct determined by balancing outer conditions, such as peer reaction or extrinsic rewards, with inner self (i.e., one's value system). General ethics, then, include both choice and the consequences of choice. Likewise, ethical conduct among professionals also involves making choices in light of the consequences of alternatives. Thus, professional conduct is very closely related to general ethics. The continuing influence and impact which personal and professional ethics exerts upon individuals, organizations and society, and the factors influencing organizational ethics, is embodied in both the current research as well as research conducted over the past ten years. Ethical issues faced by auditors are neither always straightforward nor easy to resolve. If they were, the subject of professional audit ethics might deserve little more than a few lines or footnotes in the literature. Such is not the case, results of research into ethical behaviour by accounting/audit professionals, and the impact of ethics upon organizations is present across a broad spectrum of relevant literature. The scandals in the past few years have raised questions over the application of ethical standards and fulfilment of professional responsibility of accountants and auditors. This dissertation has identified that there was a difference in the ethical and professional standards of the accountants and auditors with the help of three different research tools, i.e. secondary data, interviews, and questionnaire analysis.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTII

DECLARATIONIII

ABSTRACTIV

LIST OF TABLESXI

LIST OF CHARTSXII

LIST OF FIGURESXIV

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION1

1.1 Background of the study1

1.2 Introduction3

1.3 Problem statement4

1.4 Research questions5

1.5 Rationale of the study5

1.6 Outlay of the study6

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW8

2.1 Ethics9

2.1.1 Historical perspectives9

2.2 History of accounting ethics11

2.3 Current ethical standards of the accounting industry14

2.4 Accounting, auditing, professional ethics and professional responsibility17

2.5 The theory of ethics18

2.6 Accounting, professional standards, and the education of ethics19

2.7 Accounting education and ethics20

2.8 The impact of ethics education on accountants and auditors23

2.9 Ethics and accounting educators24

2.10 Kohlberg's Theory to define ethical perception in accountants and auditors25

2.11 Cognitive moral reasoning and accountants/auditors26

2.12 Ethics and Professionalism in auditing and accounting27

2.13 Ethical conduct in accounting and auditing28

2.14 Ethical standards guiding auditor independence29

2.15 Auditor Independence30

2.16 The impact of goals on ethical and professional standards of accountants and auditors31

2.17 Auditor judgment and ethical standards33

2.18 Creative accounting: Ethical or unethical?34

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY38

3.1 Introduction38

3.2 Overview of qualitative and quantitative research ...