Virtuous Professionalism in Accountants to Avoid Fraud and to Restore Financial Reporting

Lail, Bradley E.; MacGregor, Jason; Marcum, James A.; Stuebs, Martin

doi:10.1007/s10551-015-2875-y

Cited by 36 publications

(43 citation statements)

References 45 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Lehman (2014) has already proposed to consider accountants as acting like the phronemos, which is Aristotle's term for a wise and ethical person who has the capacity to judge and act appropriately. Along with Everett and Tremblay (2014), Lehman (2014) used virtue ethics to approach the good by considering both the potential virtues of the person of the accountant and the public interest role of accounting practices (see also Lail et al, 2017).…”

Section: Relevance Of the Common Good Principle In Accountingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Beyond accountants as technocrats: A common good perspective

Frémeaux¹,

Puyou²,

Michelson³

2020

Critical Perspectives on Accounting

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In a context characterised by the scientification of accounting practices and standards, an important question to pose is how might accounting professionals be released from an excessive focus on rationality (technical accuracy, technical neutrality and technical abstraction) and reclaim the profession in the public interest? Grounded in a person-oriented approach, we contend the common good principle can help accountants to mitigate the tyranny of economic rationality/homo economicus notably through greater consideration of public interest, thereby enabling them to exercise stronger ethical judgement. First, the common good can serve as a basis for the establishment of an ethical protocol based on the search for embedded community goods, human development and the personal good of each member. Second, the common good provides specific ethical principles including subsidiarity, totality, teleological hierarchy, longterm commitment, reality and unity that can better assist accounting professionals to exercise ethical judgement and therefore contribute to the public interest. In contrast to defending a strict adherence to ethical rules enshrined in professional codes of conduct, this article argues for an open ended protocol inspired by the common good principle. This will, we contend, better promote the re-contextualisation of accounting practices conducted by reflexive, sentient and publically-conscious practitioners.

show abstract

Section: Relevance Of the Common Good Principle In Accountingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Beyond accountants as technocrats: A common good perspective

Frémeaux¹,

Puyou²,

Michelson³

2020

Critical Perspectives on Accounting

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…For instance, Dellaportas et al () believe that failures in ethical conduct rather than technical errors seem to have caused many of the large corporate collapses and scandals of recent times. Lail, MacGregor, Marcum, and Stuebs () add that fraudulent behavior has a deep root related to professional identity. Hence, the battle should focus on aligning the individuals with the values of the organization and on emphasizing the “awareness of the importance of professional ethical behavior” (Wyatt, , p. 46).…”

Section: Compliance Vs Integrity: Two Connected Approachesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Can compliance restart integrity? Toward a harmonized approach. The example of the audit committee

Calderón

Piñero

Redín

2018

Business Ethics: A Eur Rev

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The compliance‐based approach and the integrity approach have been the mainstream responses to corporate scandals. This paper proposes that, despite each approach comprising necessary elements, neither offers a comprehensive solution. Compliance and integrity, far from being mutually exclusive, reinforce each other. Working together, in a correct relationship, they build a harmonized system that yields positive synergies and which also advocates prudence (phrónesis). It enables the generation of a culture of compliance that tends to minimize the technical and ethical errors in decision making. In order to explore an applied harmonized approach, we analyze the audit committee, a specific and broadly accepted regulatory instrument. Formed by non‐executive members, regulation requires these members to be dedicated, qualified, and independent as a guarantee of efficiency. We show how the compound of those elements produces positive effects in a context of solid governance. We conclude that it is the strong relationship between efficiency and prudence, in the creation of a culture of compliance, which enables the minimization of errors.

show abstract

“…One of these, authored by Lail et al (2015), reviews the causes of the recent accounting and financial reporting frauds and shows that regulatory reforms are insufficient. They argue that, although restoring financial reporting systems should begin with reforms, virtuous professionalism is necessary to restore the public-servant identity of the accounting professional.…”

Section: Professionalism In Accounting and Financementioning

confidence: 99%

Ethics in Finance and Accounting: Editorial Introduction

2016

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In light of the recent crisis and its aftershocks, it becomes crucial to reflect on the relationship between finance and accounting and on how to integrate ethics and efficiency, as well as on how to motivate and empower practitioners in the world of finance to commit to justice, fairness and enhanced understanding, and to improving their personal integrity. This article, written as an editorial introduction to a special issue includes works related to control measurement and ethical behavior, misbehaviors in finances and accounting, professionalism in accounting, ethical investing and corporate reporting. We conclude by suggesting further research for a better integration of technical aspects of accounting and finances into business activity-human activity actually-and an for understanding of ethics not limited to rules, but as a mutual and interdependent system of values (human goods), virtues and principles.

show abstract

Virtuous Professionalism in Accountants to Avoid Fraud and to Restore Financial Reporting

Cited by 36 publications

References 45 publications

Beyond accountants as technocrats: A common good perspective

Beyond accountants as technocrats: A common good perspective

Can compliance restart integrity? Toward a harmonized approach. The example of the audit committee

Ethics in Finance and Accounting: Editorial Introduction

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About