Governance factors affecting internal auditors' ethical decision making: an exploratory study

Purpose This paper explores the ethical decision making of internal auditors and the impact of corporate governance mechanisms thereon. It also explores whether ethical decision making is influenced by years of experience in internal auditing. Design/methodology/approach Sixty-six internal auditors were presented with five ethical dilemmas. For each scenario, a key element of corporate governance was manipulated to assess its impact on ethical decision making. These were audit committee support; management integrity regarding accounting policies; management integrity regarding pressure on internal audit; external auditor characteristics; and organisational code of conduct. Findings Participants were generally sensitive to ethical dilemmas but were not always confident that their peers would act ethically. A higher quality external audit function was positively associated with internal auditors’ ethical decision making. However, the strength of other governance mechanisms did not appear to influence ethical decision making. Finally, more experienced internal auditors adopted a more ethical stance in some cases. Research limitations/implications Our sample was self-selected and may not be representative of internal auditors in general. Our lack of significant results may be due to insufficient variability in our manipulations and/or an oversimplification of reality in our scenarios. Practical implications The study has implications for the internal audit profession with respect to training and the provision of support mechanisms to strengthen the ability of internal auditors to withstand pressure when dealing with ethical dilemmas. Originality/value This paper is the first to study whether the strength of other governance mechanisms influence internal auditors’ ethical decision making

Ethical dimensions of ocean governance

On this essay in honour of Elisabeth Mann-Borgese, by analyzing the Ethical Dimensions of Ocean Governance, we explore the ethical principles behind one of her most relevant gifts for the Oceans and society: the promotion of the common heritage of mankind concept at UNCLOS. Her work, together with other important personalities, was imbued of deep ethical roots, whichever the main ethical schools one might choose, from Ancient Greeks to modern days. She can be considered one of those rare people earning the higher level and stage of ethical adequacy. Furthermore, she made us aware that we need a solid scientific knowledge if we want to establish a proper Ocean Governance to promote society to the next level, while it is clear that only Ethics will keep us there. To do so, not just the well-being of humankind has to be pursued, but also the wealth of all life forms and the systems that sustain them in good shape, in order to give for future generations, and us, the opportunity of enjoying the Oceans.Fil: Marone, Eduardo. Universidade Federal do Paraná; BrasilFil: Marone, Luis. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Investigaciones de las Zonas Áridas. Provincia de Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Investigaciones de las Zonas Áridas. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Instituto Argentino de Investigaciones de las Zonas Áridas; Argentin

ASSESSING COMPLIENCE WITH CORPORATE GOVERNANCEPRINCIPLES IN CASE OF ROMANIAN FINANCIAL INVESTMENT COMPANIES

Corporate governance includes structures that combine relationshipsbetween parties who invest resources and persons that monitor and manage businesses.These relationships are both formal, defined by rules and regulations and informal,materialized in business practices or ethical codes. The paper intends to assess thecompliance level with corporate governance principles in case of Financial InvestmentCompanies as institutional investors traded on Romanian capital market (BucharestStock Exchange). The research methodology mainly consists in processing data obtainedfrom questioners addressed to these investment companies as well as observingcorporate governance statements issued by each of these entities. As presented in theconclusion section, the authors reached valuable conclusions regarding a satisfactorycompliance level with corporate governance requirements that apply to FinancialInvestment Companies.Financial Investment Companies, corporate governance, principles, ethical codes,regulations

Ethical and compliance-competence evaluation: a key element of sound corporate governance

Motivated by the ongoing post-Enron refocusing on corporate governance and the shift by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) in the UK to promoting compliance- competence within the financial services sector, this paper demonstrates how template analysis can be used as a tool for evaluating compliance-competence. Focusing on the ethical dimension of compliance-competence, we illustrate how this can be subjectively appraised. We propose that this evaluation technique could be utilised as a starting point in informing senior management of corporate governance issues and be used to monitor and demonstrate key compliance and ethical aspects of an institution to external stakeholders and regulators

Research governance in children's services: the scope for new advice (Research report DFE-RR072)

"In 2009, following a period of informal consultation with key stakeholders, the former DCSF commissioned the work reported here, with the following overarching aims: to identify and evaluate existing arrangements for research governance and ethics review in children’s services in England; and to make recommendations for the future development of those governance arrangements, with the overall goal of ensuring a more coherent and transparent system, that is proportionate to the governance needs and ethical risks in research with users of children’s services." - Page iii

Insider Perceptions of Insider Trading and Corporate Governance at Nigerian Banks

This study investigates the perceptions of uncertainty associated with Nigerian banks from an insider viewpoint. A critical review of Nigerian corporate environment shows that there have been several cases of trust abuse by board of director members at some banks. When banks’stability is questioned by the public or investors, it negatively impacts the economy. However, it may be difficult to know what is going on unless those with inside knowledge are consulted. This study uses a confidential survey of bank employees, followed by correlation analysis, to assess perceptions of ethical corporate governance and performance. The findings reveal a strong positive correlation that bank practitioners perceive ethical corporate governance is linked to financial performance. Recommendations are given for financial practitioners and banking industry consumers

New order in banking

Corporate Governance in the Banking Sector; rozdziałThe fi nancial crisis has highlighted many areas of corporate governance failures system in banks. Currently, politicians, regulators, supervisors and environmental bodies are trying to create the foundations for a new order in banking. The article presents the key areas of identifi ed irregularities and new regulations introduced to tighten the system. The main focus is however is on the issue of ethical culture, which should become the cornerstone of the reforms and to shape the new rules of corporate governance in banks

Governance and information governance: some ethical considerations within an expanding information society

Governance and information governance ought to be an integral part of any government or organisations information and business strategy. More than ever before information and knowledge can be produced, exchanged, shared and communicated through many different mediums. Whilst sharing information and knowledge provides many benefits it also provides many challenges and risks to governments, global organisations and the individual citizen. Information governance is one element of a governance and compliance programme, but an increasingly important one, because many regulations apply to how information is managed and protected from theft and abuse, much of which resides with external agencies usually outside the control of the individual citizen. This paper explores some of the compliance and quality issues within governance and information governance including those ethical concerns as related to individual citizens and multiple stakeholders engaged directly or indirectly in the governance process

Willingness to Comply with Corporate Law: An Interdisciplinary Teaching Method in Higher Education

Using an innovation training project, an interdisciplinary cross-sectional teaching strategy was developed to enhance students’ willingness to comply with the law. Thirty-five business, finance and accounting teachers examined the effects of ethical education on 484 university students’ willingness to comply with corporate law. Ethical education was based on building students’ ethical decisions on three court judgments in the new Spanish Corporate Governance Code. The ethical training was carried out by developing and applying social justice counter arguments. This perspective allowed students to imagine what decisions other person could have taken if they had managed the company ethically. The results suggest that ethics education in higher education can improve the willingness to comply the law. This methodology can be applied to interdisciplinary departments teaching ethics in business, finance and accounting

Does Sarbanes-Oxley Foster the Existence of Ethical Executive Role Models in the Corporation?

If compliance with, or the efficacy of, Sarbanes-Oxley and other corporate governance initiatives requires that executives (or other firm leaders) be good ethical role models, then it is important to ask whether Sarbanes-Oxley - or any other attribute of existing corporate governance regulation - in fact promotes or permits the production or preservation of ethical role models in the executive ranks of public companies. An absence of support for ethical role models in public companies may signal the failure of broad-based federal corporate governance initiatives like Sarbanes-Oxley. This Article assumes that ethical roles models may be important to the maintenance of good corporate governance (in general) and the success of Sarbanes-Oxley as a corporate governance initiative (in specific). With that in mind, the Article preliminarily analyzes, using legal and social sciences literature, whether Sarbanes-Oxley may encourage or discourage the existence of ethical role models in the corporation