Accounting

What does the law require of me? • What do ethical standards of behavior demand of me? • How should I act to conform to both? The Gray Area When the rules are unclear, an ethical person looks beyond his / her own self-interest and evaluates the interests of the stakeholders potentially affected by the […]

Ethical Perspective If you cross the double yellow line that divides the roadway, you have violated the motor vehicle laws. We are told never to cross a double yellow line and travel into oncoming traffic. But the ethical action would be to do just that, given that you have determined it appears to be safe.

What Is Ethics? The term ethics is derived from the Greek word ethikos, which itself is derived from the Greek word ethos, meaning “custom” or “character.” Morals are from the Latin word moralis, meaning “customs,” with the Latin word mores being defined as “manners, mor- als, character.” Therefore, ethics and morals are essentially the same.

The Universality of the Golden Rule in the World Religions Religion Expression of the Golden Rule Citation Christianity All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, Do ye so to them; for this is the law and the prophets. Matthew 7:1 Confucianism Do not do to others what you would not like

Religious and Philosophical Foundations of Ethics Virtually all the world’s great religions contain in their religious texts some version of the Golden Rule: “Do unto others as you would wish them to do unto you.” In other words, we should treat others the way we would want to be treated. This is the basic ethic

Integrity: The Basis of Accounting Ethical Reasoning: Implications for Accounting 3 Joe Paterno and other university leaders did not act with integrity. They let external considerations of reputation and image dictate their internal actions. Ironically, the very factor—reputation—that they guarded so closely was the first to be brought down by the disclosure of a cover-up

EXPLANATIONS FOR UNETHICAL ACTIONS Former Penn State president Spanier who was fired by the board of trustees in November 2011, is quoted as saying in an interview with Jeffrey Toobin of the New Yorker online after the trial of Sandusky that ended on June 22, 2012, about how the university worked that “honesty, integrity, and

REASONS FOR UNETHICAL ACTIONS The report gives the following explanations for the failure of university leaders to take action to identify this child vic- tim and for not reporting Sandusky to the authorities: • The desire to avoid the bad publicity that reporting the incident would bring • The failure of the university’s board of

 Implications for Accounting Chapter PENN STATE CHILD ABUSE SCANDAL: A CULTURE OF INDIFFERENCE What motivates an otherwise ethical person to do the wrong thing when faced with an ethical dilemma? Why did Joe Paterno and administrators at Penn State University look the other way and fail to act on irrefutable evidence that former assistant football

The Basis of Accounting According to Mintz (1995), “Integrity is a fundamental trait of character that enables a CPA to withstand client and competitive pressures that might otherwise lead to the sub- ordination of judgment.” 6 A person of integrity will act out of moral principle and not expediency. That person will do what is