会计伦理决策影响因素研究——基于计划行为理论的检验

诚信建设是社会主义文化大发展大繁荣的重要组成部分,会计诚信是社会诚信的重要基础,会计诚信的建设立足于会计人员高标准的伦理道德水平。本文以计划行为理论为基础,采取情景实验研究法,通过问卷调查的方式探讨了我国会计人员的伦理决策现状以及影响其伦理决策的因素。结果发现,在被调查样本中,只有60%左右的会计人员能做出符合伦理标准的决策,其中,态度和主观规范对他们的伦理意向有显著影响,认知行为控制对伦理意向的影响程度视情景性质而定。本文的研究表明,我国应加强对会计人员的伦理意识和规范意识的教育,同时应注重组织伦理氛围的营造。     

Factors that affect accountant's perceptions of alternative work arrangements

Advances in technology have impacted accounting careers with resulting changes in where, when and how accountants perform their job duties. In addition, employee attitudes towards, and need for, better work/life balance has led to more firms offering alternate work arrangements (AWA). Research suggests that AWA programs can lead to many benefits for both employers and employees. Despite the prevalence of these programs there are relatively few accountants working under these arrangements and concerns about work/life balance continue. This study examines factors that shape perceptions of the cost and benefits associated with the adoption and/or support of AWAs across work culture, gender and participation experience. Our results suggest that work environment had a significant effect on perceptions of AWAs. Public accountants perceived greater costs related to career advancement but correspondingly less concern about administrative issues than management accountants. We also found that accountants who have participated (or are currently participating in an AWA), perceived greater benefits and less concern for potential negative consequences to their careers than non-participants. Finally, women perceived greater benefits to result from participation in an AWA and men perceived correspondingly more costs. Regardless, both genders perceived that AWAs were not strictly a women's issue. These findings contribute to our understanding of alternate work arrangements and point to factors that must be addressed to increase the acceptance and success of these programs.     

“Holier-than-thou” perception bias among professional accountants: A cross-cultural study

Theoretical conceptions of culture in accounting research are controversial, ranging from highly deterministic, quantified and componential perspectives (such as Hosfstede's five dimensional model) to those that suggest continual changes in cultural values brought about by forces of acculturation. This paper makes a contribution to cross-cultural accounting research by examining the influence of competing theoretical perspectives of culture and acculturation on “holier-than-thou” perception bias. “Holier-than-thou” perception bias leads to individuals perceiving themselves as acting more ethically than comparable others when confronted with ethically uncertain work-related behaviours. This study contributes to cross-cultural accounting research by surveying Australian and Indian professional accountants from big four accounting firms. We firstly seek to establish the prevalence of “holier-than-thou” perception bias in both cultural settings. Secondly, we examine the differential and competing influences of culture and acculturation on perceptions of accountants from the two countries on measures of this bias. Data was collected through a survey questionnaire administered to samples of senior accountants from the big accounting firms in Australia and India. The questionnaire comprised an auditor-client conflict and two whistle-blowing scenarios and used two questions to measure the magnitude of the bias. The results show that “holier-than-thou” perception bias exists among accountants within each of the two countries. However, the magnitude of the bias was not significant between the countries. The results support the theory of acculturation in big accounting firms. Our findings have implications for accounting research where the presence of “holier-than-thou” perception bias needs to be considered in cases where respondents are questioned on socially sensitive issues. The findings may be useful to accounting researchers, managers of multinational enterprises in general, and big-four accounting firms in particular. Our conceptual framework applied in this study is innovative and provides a template for assessing current controversies in cross-cultural accounting research.     

Do gender,educational level,religiosity, and work experience affect the ethical decision-making of U.S. accountants?

Accounting plays a key role in the social and economic progress of a nation. Ethical standards are a hallmark of the accounting profession. An important question is what factors affect the ethical choices made by accountants. Past research suggests that factors such as gender, educational level, religiosity, and work experience may be related to the development of a person's ethical standards. This study attempts to do two things. First, the study provides a short review of contemporary ethical models, including the hermeneutical model. Second, the study examines factors affecting a person's ethical perspectives. Understanding the factors which shape the ethical standards of future accountants will help educational institutions develop appropriate ethics curriculum and help firms develop appropriate ethics training for their employees. Failure to bring appropriate ethical standards to the workplace will most assuredly hamper the profession's time-honored commitment to serve the public interest. The findings suggest that there are differences in individual ethical standards based on gender, college level (graduate versus undergraduate), religiosity, and work experience.     

Cultural relativity of accounting professionalism: Evidence from New Zealand and Samoa

This study investigates the value orientations of two culturally distinct countries in the South Pacific, namely, Samoa and New Zealand, with a view to providing empirical evidence on the relationships between accounting and culture. It uses Rokeach's value survey (1973), Schwartz and Bilsky's motivational domains (1987, 1990), and Hofstede–Gray framework to establish the possible linkages between values and accounting professionalism. The results provide culture-related evidence that suggests the possibility for the existence of major differences in the levels of accounting professionalism in the two countries. This study may have implications for the application of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and the analysis of differences in judgments of professional accountants on measurement, disclosure, and ethical issues. It is the first substantial accounting study on Samoa.     

Ethical evaluations and behavioural intentions of early career accountants: the impact of mentors,peers and individual attributes

This study examined how mentoring support, peer influence and individual attributes of early career accountants (ECA) influence their ethical evaluations and behavioural intentions. Respondents indicate that their evaluation of the seriousness of the ethical conflict is affected by the perceived standard of ethical conduct of their peers, their personal ethical orientation, the extent of ethics education at university, and gender. ECAs’ evaluation of a senior colleague's unethical behaviour is affected by mentoring support and the perceived standard of ethical conduct of peers. In terms of ECAs’ willingness to contact accounting professional bodies for ethical advice, the size of the accounting firm and the extent of their ethics education at university are significant factors. Furthermore, the likelihood of respondents choosing a more ethical decision is correlated with his or her individual ethical orientation and the extent of ethics education at university.     

Ethics and accounting education in the UK — a professional approach?

Although the expectation of accountants is that they will always employ high ethical standards, empirical evidence suggests that individual accountants are, at best, no more ethically aware than average. This gap between expectation and reality could be the result of inadequate education. Universities cannot be relied upon to teach accounting ethics to prospective professional accountants principally because too few accountants have an accounting degree and because of the surface nature of accounting students' learning. The professional bodies pay only lip-service to ethics education in their syllabi and their treatment of ethics is thus both quantitatively and qualitatively inadequate. Accountants are consequently ill-prepared to face ethical dilemmas.     

The impact of perceived ethical intensity on audit-quality-threatening behaviours

Although there has been significant interest among researchers in audit-quality-threatening behaviours (QTBs), the decision process through which staff auditors engage in those behaviours has received relatively little attention. It seems likely that the ethical intensity of the behaviours perceived by auditors may play an important role in that process; to date, this has not been tested. This study examines the mediating role of perceived ethical intensity in the relationship between perceived ethical culture of the firm and the auditors' ethical evaluation of, and intention to engage in, three different forms of QTBs. A multi-item measure of ethical intensity is developed and the findings provide the first empirical evidence of a direct relationship between perceived ethical intensity and ethical decision-making regarding QTBs. Moreover, the findings show that perceived ethical intensity fully mediates the relationship between perceived ethical culture and ethical decision-making. Implications of the findings for accounting firms and for researchers are discussed and areas for future research on the mediating role of perceived ethical intensity are suggested in the paper.     

A new approach to accounting examinations: The Final Qualifying Examination in New Zealand

New Zealand's Final Qualifying Examination for accountants was introduced in 1989 and has developed in a different way from professional accounting examinations in other countries. It provides a final check on the quality of the individuals concerned, but it does not re-test the subjects studied at the university. It includes ethical issues facing accountants, and current issues facing the accounting profession. This paper examines the origins of the Final Qualifying Examination (FQE), and the influences on its subsequent development. Some problem areas are also discussed in order to assist others to learn from the experience of the FQE. Further modifications that will shortly impact the New Zealand accounting profession's admission policy are also introduced.     

Ethical climate in Chinese CPA firms

Much concern has been expressed in recent years regarding the state of business ethics in the People’s Republic of China, and it has been suggested that unethical behavior is common both in the business community and in accounting firms. Despite such concerns, very little empirical research has been done on ethics in the Chinese public accounting profession, and no previous study has examined the ethical culture or climate in Chinese CPA firms. The current paper reports the results of a preliminary study of the ethical climate in local and international CPA firms operating in China, and the influence of ethical climate and personal ethical orientations on decision-making. Contrary to expectations, the perceived ethical climate in local firms was not more negative; however, auditors employed by local firms judged questionable actions as more ethical and indicated a higher likelihood of committing similar actions. Consistent with our hypotheses, perceptions of the ethical climate in one’s organization had a significant effect on intentions to commit ethically questionable acts. In addition, high relativists (who tend to reject broad moral principles in favor of situational analysis) were significantly influenced by the perceived organizational ethical climate, but low relativists were not similarly influenced.     

Accounting benefits and satisfaction in an ERP environment

Over the past decade, organizations all over the world have adopted enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. There has been little research at a global scale regarding the accounting benefits of adopting enterprise systems. Moreover, there are virtually no studies that examine in detail the relation between accounting benefits and ERP user satisfaction. Sutton (2006) addressed the need for empirical research on the impact of ERP in terms of accounting advantages and disadvantages. The principal aim of our study was to investigate the accounting benefits that the adoption of an ERP system by companies may entail in relation to ERP user satisfaction. This study explored the impact that the ERP system has had on accounting information and practice. This study also examined whether or not there are differences between accountants and IT professionals concerning how each group assesses ERP accounting benefits and ERP user satisfaction. The participants of this study comprised 175 accountants and 96 IT professionals from 193 companies in Greece. The empirical evidence confirms a number of accounting benefits derived from ERP systems particularly for accounting process. No statistically significant differences were found between the perceptions of accountants and IT professionals concerning ERP accounting benefits. Furthermore, this research identifies factors related to accounting benefits and ERP cost which affect the level of ERP user satisfaction. The implications of these results for practice and research are explored. The findings of this study will be of value to any companies considering the inclusion of their accounting techniques and operations in an ERP system. Furthermore, the results of this study will provide stimulus for consequent research in the field in order to further examine and account for the accounting benefits that can occur from ERP system implementation as well as the effect of those benefits on ERP user satisfaction.     

User involvement in the standard-setting process: A research note on the congruence of accountant and user perceptions of decision usefulness

This is an exploratory study which examines whether accountants and users of financial statements hold congruent or incongruent views on the decision usefulness of accounting information. This issue is important to the question of whether users require direct involvement in the standard-setting process, or whether their views may be adequately represented in the process by other participants such as accountants. Drawing on the sociology of professions literature under which professionals, such as accountants, are assumed to seek to maintain the judgement domain and indeterminacy of their professional task, it is hypothesised that accountant and user views on decision usefulness will be incongruent in those situations where a change in accounting method reduces judgement domain or indeterminacy. Specifically, it is hypothesised that, compared to users, accountants will perceive a lower degree of decision usefulness to be associated with a change in accounting method that reduces judgement domain or indeterminacy. Using a survey questionnaire, developed around a series of accounting method change scenarios, and administered to a sample of accountants and investment analysts (as an example of users), support was found for our hypothesis in relation to judgement domain, but not for indeterminacy.     

Organisational Factors and Dimensions of Satisfaction:A Comparative Study of Accountants in Australia and the US

This paper compares perceptions of organisational characteristics and their relationship to job satisfaction dimensions of US and Australian accountants. Data were collected from accountants in an international accounting firm on perceptions of job satisfaction dimensions, autonomy, feedback on performance and access to job-related information. Given the cultural similarities of the two countries and the use of a single firm, differences were not expected. Results indicated that accountants in the two countries had similar perceptions of the organisational variables and similar levels of satisfaction. However, there were extensive differences in how the organisational variables related to the satisfaction dimensions.     

Risk cultures and dominant approaches towards disasters in seven European countries

This paper builds upon the risk culture concept started with Mary Douglas’ and Aaron Wildavsky’s seminal work on risk and culture. Based upon the empirical results of a qualitative sociological study on sociocultural factors affecting risk perception and crisis communication in seven European countries, a theoretical model, illustrating how differences in disasters framing imply diverse approaches to risk and disaster management, is suggested. According to this framework, culturally bounded assumptions and conventions strongly influence how communities make sense of risks and hazards and how these communities consider some ways of dealing with disasters more appropriate than others. The framework suggested in this article distinguishes between risk cultures of a given society, which do not necessarily respond to nation states. In order to explain differences in how cultures deal with risks and disasters, and to define the main features of our typology, three main interrelated dimensions have been selected: disaster framing, trust in authorities and blaming. By analyzing differences and similarities in how people perceive and interpret disasters, as well as to whom the responsibility for risk prevention and crisis management is attributed, in seven European countries, three specific ideal types of risk cultures emerged: state-oriented risk culture, individual-oriented risk culture and fatalistic risk culture. Implications for crisis management and communication in case of a disaster will be addressed for each of these risk cultures.     

Adopting International Financial Reporting Standards for Small and Medium‐sized Enterprises

Diverse complications and controversial issues in the adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) for Small and Medium‐sized Enterprises (SMEs) have been reported by many jurisdictions, prompting them not to adopt this set of standards. Conversely many jurisdictions have adopted or are in the process of adopting IFRS for SMEs. This study considers the impetus for successfully achieving accounting convergence with IFRS for SMEs in those jurisdictions. The possible transition issues that may arise when countries adopt IFRS for SMEs are also highlighted. Furthermore, to provide pioneering evidence on the problems accountants encounter when applying IFRS for SMEs, we conduct a survey on accounting practitioners in Fiji – an early adopter of this set of standards. Both the insights provided on the process of embracing IFRS for SMEs in Fiji and the opinions elicited from accountants highlight new dimensions to the inherent problems in IFRS for SMEs. Scant attention has been given to this issue so far; hence the empirical evidence provided by our study informs not only the global convergence of SME accounting but also the quality of the current suite of IFRS for SMEs.     

The effect of the 150-hour requirement on new accountants’ professional commitment,Ethical orientation,and Professionalism

This study examines the professional commitment, ethical orientation, and professionalism of 414 accountants beginning their careers at two Big 5 public accounting firms. After comparing the accountants possessing 5-year degrees with those possessing four-year degrees, we find insufficient evidence to conclude that the 150-hour requirement affects new accountants’ professional commitment, ethical orientation, or professionalism.     

Vocational skills in the accounting professional profile: the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) employers' opinion

The increasingly dynamic environment in which accountants work has necessitated a reorientation of accounting education. In some countries this issue has raised great interest amongst accounting educators and practitioners. The ongoing debate has already resulted in the publication of several statements and research papers that have raised the question of the relevance of the role of vocational skills in accounting education. Examples of these vocational skills are communication skills, interpersonal skills, and problem-solving skills. This paper reports on the importance that the employers of management accountants gave to a specified set of vocational skills and capabilities and the level of ability of these skills exhibited by students. In order to prioritize future developments an integrated analysis of the two attributes, importance and exhibited level, is enabled by the use of strategic mapping. The results of this study suggest that the employers perceive deficiencies in several capabilities that they have identified as being quite important. These deficiencies exist, in the employers' opinion, both prior to recruitment and on professional qualification. The research also indicates that, in the opinion of these employers, the development of these skills should be a central concern for universities and professional bodies. The employers also indicated that vocational skills should be attained in an integrated way.     

Is it Shameful to be an Accountant? GenMe Perception(s) of Accountants' Ethics

The function that accountants fulfil in the economic system is dependent on their ability to maintain the perception of high ethical standards. Building on the idea that birth cohorts, otherwise known as generations, are a useful proxy for the socio‐cultural environment of different time periods, we focus on the so‐called ‘GenMe’, that is, students and young workers born in the 1980s and 1990s. In particular, combining the accounting and business ethics literature, the purpose of our paper is to contribute to an increased awareness of the GenMe perceptions of accountants, with special attention given to ethical aspects. We believe that the perceptions of this age group are particularly crucial for the future of the accounting profession as it is these young people who will either become professional accountants or the accountants' future clients. Using an extensive database of 1,794 questionnaires, results show that the impression of the accountant as a corrupt professional is not dominant among GenMe and seem to suggest the existence of a multifaceted perception of accountants' ethics. Specifically, the factors that contribute to influencing GenMe perceptions of accountants' ethics are level of education, having attended an accounting course at high school level, gender, and belonging to the accounting profession. Finally, our study indicates that there is room for improving public perceptions of accountants' ethics through university courses in ethics, continuing education programs, and focused communication strategies by accounting firms and professional bodies.     

Accountants’ cognitive styles and ethical reasoning: A comparison across 15 years

Recent attention to accountants’ ethics in the news, in professional practice, and by academia leads to questions about the ethical and cognitive characterization of students selecting accounting careers. We employ the Myers/Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) for assessing cognitive styles, and the Defining Issues Test (DIT) for assessing ethical reasoning to study differences between two groups of accounting graduates and new hires entering the accounting profession across a period of 15 years. We show that the dominant cognitive make-up of accountants has not changed significantly over the study period, which is consistent with prior research. Also, we hypothesize and provide evidence that this dominant style is associated with lower levels of ethical reasoning (as measured by the DIT) than other cognitive styles. The ethical reasoning scores are lower for the 2005 sample than for the 1990 sample. This result may be attributable to age, gender, grade point average, or political orientation; however, incomplete data in our sample does not allow us to make definitive conclusions regarding these control variables. We discuss the implications of these findings for curriculum development and professional practice.     

Approved routes and alternative paths: The construction of women's careers in large accounting firms. Evidence from the French Big Four

Despite decades of gender-balanced recruitment and clear-cut criteria for promotion based on meritocracy, women in public accounting firms remain proportionally fewer in number in the highest levels of the hierarchy than men. This paper aims to explore the mechanisms fostering women's rarity in top positions within French accounting firms in terms of organizationally constructed approved paths. Drawing on 23 semi-structured interviews with both male and female accountants, the specificities of these approved paths, alongside the construction of alternative, feminized routes, lacking the legitimacy of the former and often implying a derailment of women's careers from a very early stage, will be explored. It is suggested that more than a matter of only lifestyle preferences or practical constraints, this rarity is constructed by the interplay between the two, often resulting in “unintended and unwanted consequences, which retroactively may become unacknowledged conditions of future actions” (Giddens, 1984: 76). The focus of this study is to understand how the discursive and practical components of daily routines contribute to the reproduction of Big Four's gendered culture. Furthermore, this paper challenges the concept of the glass ceiling and instead conceives of the construction of women's careers in the accounting profession in terms of a labyrinth.