Ethics concepts and applications

Ethics and Morality

Ethics represent a system of moral principles, or the rules of conduct established by certain organizations and institutions regarding a class of human actions or a particular group of some kind. Ethics also represent the moral principles of individuals (Thesaurus, 2010). The field of ethics includes areas like: metaethics, normative ethics, and applied ethics.

Each profession has its code of ethics, established in time, by groups, organizations, and other interested parties, derived from the problems emerged in relationship with the profession in case. This code of ethics is established in order to ensure that the activity of individuals that address this profession respect that interest and well-being of individuals and organizations affected by them.

Ethics are extremely important in the case of accounting as a profession. This is because accounting deal with financial decisions of companies (Kidder, 2009). These decisions are made based on the information and judgment of the accountants of the company case. Therefore, their role is very important and their activity must rely on ethical rules.

There are several organizations that have published codes of ethics for their members in the field of accounting. In case these codes of ethics are not respected by the members of these organizations, there are certain disciplinary actions that can be directed towards the members that did not apply ethical rules. The severity of these actions varies in accordance with the impact of the situation in case.

There are several manners in which unethical behavior in accounting can take place. For example, the individuals in case manipulate a series of accounting data for their benefit, or for the benefit of their employers or other interested parties. In such a situation, it is required to investigate the accountants in case, but also the superiors that encouraged this behavior.

Another unethical behavior in the accounting field is represented by fraud. This is a very common felony, and it can be observed in both the public and the private environment. Fraud can be committed by individuals or by companies. In addition to this, fraud can be committed by individuals that are not necessary accountants.

The falsification of accounting documents is another situation that reflects unethical accounting behavior. This is also a common unethical behavior in the field of accounting. In this case also, the punishments vary in accordance with the effects of the deed.

There are several reasons for which ethics is important in the accounting activity. The most important reason relies on the fact that accountants have access to important personal information about their clients, like Social Security numbers and bank accounts. Handling such data is very important, given the fact that the unethical manipulation of such information can have significant effects on the individual in case.

Also, ethics are important in the field of accounting because unethical behavior in this activity reflect on the entire industry and affect most accounting firms, not just the firm that is responsible for behaving in an unethical manner. In other words, people's opinion on accounting companies can be easily distorted by accounting scandals and unethical activities that harm clients.

The importance of ethics in accounting is also revealed by the legal actions that can be taken against individuals or companies in the accounting field that behave in unethical manners. There are several examples that reveal the importance of ethics in the accounting field, and their repercussions (ENotes, 2010). The legal actions in such cases are various.

There are numerous accounting scandals that can be studied in order to understand the phenomenon and its effects. One of the most important accounting scandals that are considered to be partly responsible for the economic and financial crisis is represented by scandal involving Fannie Mae. In this case, senior executives are accused of manipulating accounting in order to collect important sums of money that rook the form of undeserved bonuses and to deceive investors (MSNBC, 2006).

Another important accounting scandal is represented by the Enron scandal. In this case, the unethical behavior is represented by fraud (Buondonno et al., 2010). The company's managers committed significant frauds that led to the bankruptcy of the company and its owners. Fraud is also the reason that determined the Tyco scandal. Same as in the case of Enron, the executive managers at Tyco serve time in jail.

In order to ensure that the accounting profession follows high ethical standards, it is recommended to include ethical codes in the strategy of the company in case. This way, employees understand that ethics are an important part of the business and must be respected. This applies to both managers and their subordinates.

It is also necessary to join one of the organizations in this field of activity because they provide codes of ethical conduct and resources for applying them. The fact that these organizations also establish punishments in cases where ethical standards are not respected, determines their members to be more careful in this direction.