Ethical Awareness： Do We Need to Teach Accounting Ethics？ The Case of Bahrain

Based on the premise that ethics education leads to creation of the required （acceptable level of） ethical awareness, the general streamline of accounting ethics literature is strongly in favor of teaching adequate, efficient, and effective accounting ethics. This paper takes the position that this premise must be checked in an educational setting in which accounting ethics education lacks the characteristics of being adequate, efficient, and effective. Accordingly, a questionnaire with two parts was distributed to accounting students about to graduate from the University of Bahrain （UoB）. The first part is an exploratory investigation consisting of 21 variables/questions. The second part is an experimental investigation consisting of 13 hypothetical accounting cases representing various ethics violations. The general tendency by an accounting student based on the two parts indicates that he/she holds an acceptable level of ethical awareness, despite the fact that accounting education programs lack an adequate, efficient, and effective approach to teaching accounting ethics.     

提升商业人员伦理决策能力的理论与实践:中美比较

美国社会对商业伦理始终保持高度的关注,伦理决策研究在最近几十年里取得了长足进展,企业积极实施伦理计划,商学院也反思并调整商业伦理教育。在中国,快速致富的狂热心理使得社会放松了对企业活动的伦理考察,研究者很少对商业伦理做实证探讨,企业普遍性的败德行为已经严重危害经济的健康发展与市场的有序运行,高校的商业伦理教育存在普及程度低,教学资源欠缺两大困境。     

Ethics and the Financial and Budgetary Discipline in the Ministry of Defence

This article deals with the relation between ethics and financial and budgetary discipline during economic and social recession in the Czech Republic. We find causes of economic and social recession in the Czech Republic in the loss of democratic and human values. Czech Republic was ranked the 57th place in the Corruption Perceptions index 2013 out of the 177 countries assessed, which is the same result achieved by Bahrain, Croatia, and Namibia. Among the 31 European Union （EU） member states and Norway, Switzerland, and Iceland, the Czech Republic is on the 25th site. Market as well as public sector and public finances should follow unwritten rules of ethics and ethical behavior. Such rules should be followed especially by politicians, officials, soldiers, and businessmen. Do we need ethics in present time？ How is the role of the code of ethics in increasing financial and budgetary discipline in the defence sector？ Is it possible to measure efficiency of the code of ethics for financial and budgetary discipline？ We explain the importance of codes of ethics and formulate essential elements that each code of ethics must contain. Next, we deal with the main rules of both financial and budgetary disciplines. Furthermore, this article offers a comparison of several codes of ethics and describes the main problems in our implementation. In the end, we introduce our draft of Code of Ethics for Economic Service Officer in the Ministry of Defence and talk about possible influences of these codes on the quality of employee＇s performance.     

基于商业伦理约束的网络口碑营销重塑

基于网络沟通的匿名性特点使企业在网络口碑营销中偏离了基本的商业伦理规则,做出许多有违道德底线的行为。本文基于商业伦理约束,对企业营销的意义提出企业在口碑营销中应该以诚信作为基本的商业伦理准则,提出了口碑不是炒作,必须遵循商业伦理要求,把握网络口碑原则,树立正确竞争意识和观念,以此重塑网络口碑营销。     

Applications of Business Process Management （BPM） in Chinese Firms： A Managerial Accounting Perspective

Based on a questionnaire survey, the aim of this paper is to explore the relationship of business process management （BPM） with managerial accounting system （MAS） and their economic performance consequences in Chinese firms. Statistical data show that more firms accept business process improvement （BPI） other than business process reengineering （BPR） and optimize their activity chains other than supply chains. Through the construction of three elements, i.e., goal-setting, monitoring, and incentive schemes, of MAS, the study finds that when implementing BPM, firms usually use accounting indexes to set goals of the effect of business processes and combine the goals with monitoring and incentive schemes. Statistical data also show that incentive schemes get the lowest usage degree compared with goal-setting and monitoring. In addition, there are differences in their managerial accounting usages for BPM among firms considering ownership, industry, and scale. The main finding of this paper is that BPM empirically brings favorable changes to firms＇ economic performance via managerial accounting in general, and via goal-setting, monitoring, and incentive schemes in particular.     

Does feminism belong in business ethics?

Contemporary society is experiencing dramatic shifts in its expectations for business and its practices. Within the academic realm two voices of change are the “feminist” and “business ethics” perspectives; unfortunately, these two perspectives often advocate conflicting expectations for business organizations. The purpose of this article is to provide an analysis of the expectations each perspective advocates, and to draw relevant implications for future business practices. Our general conclusion is that the feminist perspective maintains a system of gender dichotomies and fails to recognize shifts in the balance of powers. In contrast, a business ethics perspective moves beyond gender issues and dichotomous systems to the recognition that contemporary society is comprised of minorities, and that the rights of all minorities must be recognized and balanced. We suggest that the feminist perspective must reposition with the rapid shifts currently occurring within our society before it can be a “voice” that should be listened to by business organizations.     

企业伦理视角的会计职业道德建设障碍与路径探讨

会计职业道德是会计人员必须遵循的行为准则和行为规范。然而,当发生利益冲突时,不少会计人员不能坚持原则,往往违反会计法规。本文论述了在企业伦理视角下会计职业道德的含义和特点,指出了企业伦理视角下会计职业道德的体系结构和影响,分析了企业伦理视角的会计职业道德建设的障碍和原因,最后提出了在企业伦理视角下建立会计职业道德体系的路径。     

Investor Relations （IR） in Business Communication on the Example of Poland

This paper focuses on investor relations （IR） as an element of companies＇ communication with the external environment. It shows the place and role of IR in communication with the general market, and the stock exchange market in particular. The study is illustrated with an example of IR in Poland, a relatively new European Union （EU） member state and an emerging market. As can be seen, IR goes beyond the traditionally understood maintenance of communication with the capital market. It is also shown that the main role of IR ought to be the reduction of investment risk and enhancement of the companies＇ value, which is of particular significance in light of the current globalization of capital markets. It has been found that Polish companies, especially those listed on the Warsaw Securities Exchange （WSE）, commonly rely on IR as a means of communication with the environment. And yet, as the results of the analysis show, the quality of that communication is still far from satisfactory, despite efforts undertaken by various external entities to encourage more focus on the development of IR, or understanding of the company＇s relevant staff of its important role.     

Value Creation of Business Process Management （BPM） and Managerial Accounting System （MAS）： A Case Study

This paper explores the value creation of business process management （BPM） and managerial accounting system （MAS） using a case study. The findings show that BPM shortens the management chain and increases the connections among functions in the organization by right reassignment. Accounting indicators in MAS provide necessary information about business processes, which assists performance evaluation in BPM, and meanwhile, incentive schemes give enough motives, which guide employees to take actions in accordance with the organizational strategies and processes＇ goals. The information effect and motive effect of MAS increase employees＇ work satisfaction and their cooperation with each other. In the end, the integration of BPM and MAS improves the organizational economic performance, thus creating value for the organization. The results explain the reason why so much BPM fails in practice, because right assignment, performance evaluation system, and incentive schemes constitute organizational architecture, which is critical to organizational value. Additionally, the value creation of BPM and MAS depends on their coordination with the external environment, the internal situation, and the organizational strategy. From the view of managerial accounting perspective, MAS not only changes with the organization development but also facilitates the organization development.     

Exploring the Usefulness of Extensible Business Reporting Language （XBRL） for Reporting Intellectual Capital （IC）： Evidence From Italian Preparers

Intellectual capital disclosure （ICD） has experienced a substantial increase in recent decades and many frameworks and guidelines have been issued to provide directions with regard to what constitutes ＂good＂ ICD. Companies can use Extensible Business Reporting Language （XBRL） to ＂build＂ their own intellectual capital （IC） reports. This digital format has both technical and operating characteristics suitable for reporting non-financial information. This paper reports the findings of a survey of the views of 37 Italian preparers on the scope, the taxonomy, and the assurance of IC reporting via XBRL. It was found that respondents favor the adoption of an IC reporting framework and the standardization of IC indicators. Preferences reveal uncertainty about the level of flexibility for tagging IC information, while supporting the main benefits of XBRL and indicating a marked inclination for tagged information certified by an independent audit. Overall, despite a low awareness of XBRL, the importance placed on standardization of IC information and on the usefulness of the comparability and the speed attribute of XBRL supports the appealing features of this language for developing IC reporting.     

企业伦理视角的竞争优势构建

随着市场竞争的加剧,企业的获利行为已经不能仅仅依靠企业的竞争优势,伦理优势的作用逐步显现出来。伦理的投入可以得到长期的回报,伦理优势最终可以转化为竞争优势。因此,企业应通过树立良好的企业信誉和企业形象、推行"以人为本"的管理模式、用道德投资来增加企业价值的长期投入、建立"自利+他利"的竞争理念、坚持义利统一的经营原则等途径构建起企业伦理优势。     

企业伦理对员工忠诚度的影响探讨

人才竞争成为企业竞争的核心,如何留住人才是关键。企业伦理已成为管理理论和管理实践发展的精神动力。本文提出了企业伦理与员工忠诚度关系的理论模型,为企业提高员工忠诚度提供了参考。     

企业伦理视角下的中粮屯河核心竞争力探析

核心竞争力是企业持续竞争优势的源泉,卓越伦理是提升企业核心竞争力的关键要素。中粮屯河在发展过程中,对待所有利益相关者都能以一个负责任的大企业的行为举止体现出高伦理标准的要求,使企业具备了卓越伦理的核心竞争力企业的特征。     

The Prospect of Ethical Consulting

Ethical consulting is a critical professional activity that is very critical to the very survival of the corporate world and is thus likely to boom within the shortest possible time in the future. This predictive statement is based on the consequential effect of the bankruptcy of Ertron and WorldCom and its aftermath legislature, Sarbanes-Oxley Act （Lander, 2004）. The main issues boarder on how ethics influence organizations＇ operations and to what extend these influences can be coded and managed to enhance objectivity and minimize fraud. The methodology applied in this paper was an exploratory approach under the qualitative design. It encapsulates a thorough review of literature on the subject matter and draws inferences to address the research objectives. It was found that ethical consulting was possible and consultants venturing into the area need to be strategically diversified to enable them to design and develop customized ethical codes for the heterogeneous clientele with appropriate supporting monitoring and compliance procedures.     

论企业伦理化经营的价值与构建路径

企业伦理化经营要求企业的经营活动必须经得起伦理道德尺度的评判与检验,它是对企业将营利作为唯一目标的反思。企业伦理化经营不仅是整个社会和谐和持续发展的需要,也有助于企业提高声誉,树立良好的形象,与核心利益相关者建立起良好的关系。企业伦理化经营要建立失信惩罚机制、伦理化经营的治理机制,并制定和实施企业伦理规范。     

Communicating the Ethos of Codes of Ethics in Corporate Australia, 1995–2001: Whose Rights, Whose Responsibilities?

This paper considers the commitment to business ethics of the top 500 companies operating in the Australian private sector and communicates the results of a longitudinal study conducted from 1995 to 2001. Primary data was obtained (in 1995 and again in 2001) via a self-administered mail questionnaire distributed to a census of these top 500 Australian companies. This commitment of each company to their code of ethics was indicated and measured via a range of methods used by organizations to communicate the ethos of their codes to employees. Just as they were in 1995, it would appear that companies in 2001 still are good at ensuring that their rights are protected, but at the same time they do not seem to take on the responsibility to ensure that employees' rights are just as well protected. This double standard leads to cynicism towards the current business ethics processes inherent in Australian companies.     

上市公司盈余管理行为研究——基于企业伦理理论的视角

本文将企业伦理引入盈余管理行为分析框架,认为盈余管理行为是企业的理财行为,更多的涉及到企业的理财道德;文章运用企业伦理的原则评价盈余管理行为,并剖析了过度盈余管理行为的伦理道德根源;认为相关者利益、企业利益与伦理道德是一致的,盈余管理使企业违背了伦理道德,其不能使个人利益和企业利益最大化。企业盈余管理行为可能能够促进企业短期利润的提高,但最终不利于企业的长期发展。     

Business ethics: A model to position a relative business ethics decision and a model to strengthen its application

The maxims of normative ethics are often in conflict. Thus business practitioners facing ethical questions often find themselves operating in the area of relative ethics. There are arguably two dimensions to this area. One lies on a spectrum from weak companies in highly competitive industries to strong companies in protected industries. The second dimension places the would-be ethical manager in awkward situations imposed from either the hierarchy or from corrupt markets. This article develops an analysis model to portray this relative ethics dilemma. Then, an argument is made that the more the individual manager practices good ethics, the higher the level of ethics the individual is able to maintain. This article proposes an adaptation of the 1950s feedback model of group dynamics known as the “Johari Window” to show this improvement in ethical behavior.     

我国中小企业营销伦理初探

文中以企业伦理学、企业文化学和市场营销学等基本理论为指导,探讨我国中小企业营销中忽视伦理道德的行为表现、成因及其危害;阐述我国中小企业营销中应遵循的伦理道德规范、评价体系和建设途径。     

会计职业道德建设

会计职业道德是指在会计职业活动中的职业行为准则和规范。会计人员作为特殊从业人员,不仅要有良好的业务素质,还要有较强的原则性、政策观念和职业道德水平。除了必须将本职工作置于法律法规的约束和规范之下外,还必须具备职业道德。