A Pedagogy for Inculcating Professional Values in Accounting Students: Results from an Experimental Intervention

Author(s):  
Donald L. Ariail ◽  
Katherine Taken Smith ◽  
Lawrence Murphy Smith

Research has shown that rankings of personal values significantly differ between accounting professionals and accounting students in the United States and other countries. This difference implies a lack of Person-Organization (P-O) fit between students and the accounting profession. This study presents an educational pedagogy, using both a Curriculum Modification (CM) Intervention and a Value Self-Confrontation (VSC) Intervention, that highlights professional values and can lead to value change in accounting students. Experimental results indicate that this pedagogy can have a significant impact on converging student values with those of the profession (AICPA ethics code). This finding suggests that a Curriculum Modification Intervention combined with a VSC Intervention could be used by educators globally to converge values of accounting students with those of professional accountants, thereby improving ethical decision-making by individuals, as well as having positive impacts on accounting firms' hiring, socialization, and retention of employees.

Author(s):  
Kenneth S. Pope

This chapter examines how ethical issues are approached differently by two prominent psychological associations, how they are encountered by psychologists, the formal complaints they give rise to, and how they can be approached systematically to avoid missteps. Included are basic assumptions about ethics; the unique approaches to developing a ethics code taken by the American Psychological Association (APA) and the Canadian Psychological Association (CPA), and what each of these two codes provides; empirical data about what ethical problems psychologists encounter and what formal complaints they face; four major sets of ethical issues that are particularly complex and challenging (confidentiality, informed consent, competence, and boundaries); an area of major controversy (clinical psychology and national security); steps in ethical decision-making; and four possible lines of future research.


2009 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 221-237 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven M. Glover ◽  
Douglas F. Prawitt ◽  
Mark H. Taylor

SYNOPSIS: The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX) established the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) to oversee the accounting firms that audit publicly traded companies in the United States. In this commentary we outline why we believe the PCAOB’s audit standard-setting and inspection models are inefficient and dysfunctional. We assert that the Board’s ability to achieve its mission is limited by its early choices, together with its incentives, organizational composition, and structure. We support our assertions with a number of indicators of serious problems and flaws in the current approach. We also present high-level recommendations for change for policy makers, regulators, and leaders in the profession to consider in developing improved approaches to audit standard setting, inspection, and enforcement.


2016 ◽  
Vol 24 (6) ◽  
pp. 675-685 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan Yarbrough ◽  
Pam Martin ◽  
Danita Alfred ◽  
Charleen McNeill

Background: Hospitals are experiencing an estimated 16.5% turnover rate of registered nurses costing from $44,380 - $63,400 per nurse—an estimated $4.21 to $6.02 million financial loss annually for hospitals in the United States of America. Attrition of all nurses is costly. Most past research has focused on the new graduate nurse with little focus on the mid-career nurse. Attrition of mid-career nurses is a loss for the profession now and into the future. Research objective: The purpose of the study was to explore relationships of professional values orientation, career development, job satisfaction, and intent to stay in recently hired mid-career and early-career nurses in a large hospital system. Research design: A descriptive correlational study of personal and professional factors on job satisfaction and retention was conducted. Participants and research context: A convenience sample of nurses from a mid-sized hospital in a metropolitan area in the Southwestern United States was recruited via in-house email. Sixty-seven nurses met the eligibility criteria and completed survey documents. Ethical considerations: Institutional Review Board approval was obtained from both the university and hospital system. Findings: Findings indicated a strong correlation between professional values and career development and that both job satisfaction and career development correlated positively with retention. Discussion: Newly hired mid-career nurses scored higher on job satisfaction and planned to remain in their jobs. This is important because their expertise and leadership are necessary to sustain the profession into the future. Conclusion: Nurse managers should be aware that when nurses perceive value conflicts, retention might be adversely affected. The practice environment stimulates nurses to consider whether to remain on the job or look for other opportunities.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ibrahim El-Sayed Ebaid

Purpose Undergraduate accounting program at Umm Al-Qura University in Saudi Arabia is a unique case. The program includes 147 credit hours of which 28 credit hours are religious courses. This study aims to examine the effect of teaching these religious courses on students’ ethical perceptions and decisions. Design/methodology/approach A survey was conducted for a sample of accounting students at Umm Al-Qura University. The sample was divided into two groups; the first group includes students who did not study religious courses, while the second group includes students who study religious courses. The questionnaire contained three groups of questions that aimed to explore students’ perceptions of ethics in general, students’ perceptions of business ethics and explored their ethical attitudes regarding some accounting decisions that involve ethical dilemmas. Independent two-sample t-test and multiple regression analysis were used to determine whether the responses of the two groups were significantly different. Findings The findings of the study revealed that teaching religious courses led to an improvement in students’ perception of business ethics and an improvement in students’ ethical decision-making. However, the results of the independent sample t-test showed that this improvement was not significant. The results of the study also revealed that male students tend to make less ethical decisions than female students. Research limitations/implications The findings offer an indication for those responsible for managing the accounting program at Umm Al-Qura University to start developing the program so that some of the general religious courses are replaced with specialized courses in accounting ethics that focus directly on ethical dilemmas faced by the accountant when practicing the accounting profession. Originality/value This study contributes to the current literature related to examining the effect of teaching ethics courses on the ethical perception of accounting students by focusing on accounting students in Saudi Arabia as a context that has not been examined before.


2014 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 205-216 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara S Brown ◽  
Deborah F Lindell ◽  
Mary A Dolansky ◽  
Jeannie S Garber

Background: Growing evidence suggests that collaborative practice improves healthcare outcomes, but the precursors to collaborative behavior between nurses and physicians have not been fully explored. Research question: The purpose of this descriptive correlational study was to describe the professional values held by nurses and their attitudes toward physician–nurse collaboration and to explore the relationships between nurses’ characteristics (e.g. education, type of work) and professional values and their attitudes toward nurse–physician collaboration. Research design: This descriptive correlational study examines the relationship between nurses’ professional values (Nurses Professional Values Scale–Revised) and their attitudes toward nurse–physician collaboration (Jefferson Scale of Attitudes toward Physician–Nurse Collaboration). Ethical considerations: Permission to conduct the study was received from the hospital, and the Institutional Review Boards of the healthcare system and the participating university. Participants/context: A convenience sample of 231 registered nurses from a tertiary hospital in the United States was surveyed. Findings: A significant positive relationship was found between nurses’ professional values and better attitudes toward collaboration with physicians ( r = .26, p < .01). Attitude toward collaboration with physicians was also positively associated with master’s or higher levels of education ( F(3, 224) = 4.379, p = .005). Discussion: The results of this study can be helpful to nurse administrators who are responsible for developing highly collaborative healthcare teams and for nurse educators who are focused on developing professional values in future nurses.


Author(s):  
Imam Prayogo ◽  
Teuku Afrizal

This study aims to examine differences in perceptions between teaching accountants, accounting students, and accountants on the ethics of preparing financial statements. Ethical indicators for the preparation of financial statements are represented in earnings management, misstatements, disclosures, cost-benefits, and responsibilities. This research was conducted at universities and public accounting firms in Semarang. This research was conducted with a survey method of 70 respondents from teaching accountants, 75 accounting students, and 40 accountants respondents at universities and public accounting firms in Semarang. As an analysis tool, ANOVA is used for hypotheses H1, H2, H3, and H4. Before testing the hypothesis, first the validity and reliability tests are carried out for all the questionnaires that have been collected. Validity and reliability tests show that all data are valid and reliable. Then the questionnaire was tested by ANOVA and strengthened by the Independent Sample T Test. Anova results show that there are differences in perceptions between teaching accountants, accounting students and accountants. However, there was no difference in perceptions between teaching accountants and accountants. Therefore it can be concluded that there are differences in perceptions between teaching accountants, accounting students, and accountants on the ethics of preparing financial statements.


2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 123-141
Author(s):  
David W. O'Bryan ◽  
Jeffrey J. Quirin ◽  
Mary Jo Goedeke

ABSTRACT The tax return is often a key piece of evidence in a forensic accounting engagement. Forensic accounting students need to understand what a tax return can tell its reader about the taxpayer. This case is designed for an introductory or advanced course in fraud examination or forensic accounting. Students are placed in the hypothetical role of a person beginning a job as a bankruptcy auditor with the United States Trustee Program. The bankruptcy auditor must utilize two consecutive years of tax returns to determine the primary sources of income and assets for the debtor. Information from the tax returns will be compared to the bankruptcy petition to identify red flags that could indicate the debtor has committed fraud or abuse of the bankruptcy process. Successful completion of this case requires students to integrate skills from auditing, taxation, business law, and forensic accounting and communicate findings in a written report.


Author(s):  
Philmore Alleyne ◽  
Renée M. Thompson

Academic dishonesty (AD) has plagued many higher education institutions (HEIs). This chapter examines AD among accounting students in business schools and discusses possible mechanisms to reduce misconduct among students, as well as staff. Today's students are tomorrow's accounting professionals. Yet, some HE students strive to succeed at all costs by using unethical means including being aided by dishonest academic staff. For example, the unethical and corrupt practices in Enron, and the subsequent closure of one of the leading international accounting firms, Arthur Andersen, raised questions pertaining to codes of conduct, ethics, and morality being taught in business schools. This chapter reviews the literature, identifies issues from an internet search of actual cases, and then offers recommendations for reducing such detrimental behaviors.


Author(s):  
Maria Lai-Ling Lam

This chapter is based on the author's reflection using 27 years' experience in business education in Hong Kong and the United States and decades of research concerning empathy and character development. In this chapter, empathy is defined as a process to consider a particular perspective of another person, to feel as another person feels, and to take action for the needs of that other person. It is related to concern, perspective taking, and action through intersubjective discovery. It has developmental characteristics and includes shared experiences and insightful discoveries in the interpersonal process. She advocates these key four benefits of mature, informed, and mindful empathy: intellectual virtues, effective leadership development, ethical decision making, and social capital at firm level which ultimately enhances profitability and firm valuation. She also shares her years of practice of developing students' empathetic skills in service-learning projects and in her organization behavior course.


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