Empirical Evidence of Group Impact in the Context of Ethical Decision Making

Recent accounting scandals involving the collapse of large corporate firms have brought into question the adequacy of ethics education within accounting programs. This paper investigates the ethical decisions of accountancy students and in particular analyses the effect of group (as opposed to individual) decision-making on ethical decisions. Two classes of final year accountancy students were presented with five (5) ethical vignettes which they completed as individuals. The two classes were subsequently divided into groups of 3 participants and each group completed the same survey instrument. Group responses yielded a significantly more ethical attitude in three of the five scenarios, the other two displaying no significant difference. Evidence also exists however of groups restraining potential whistleblowing, suggesting group work can have both a positive and negative effect. The critical implication of this finding is in relation to how accounting educators attempt to convey the ethical message. Many accounting programs place emphasis on group work. Group work may enhance students’ abilities to work as a team and may be an effective means of producing the optimal decision in complex areas such as ethical decision-making but may on occasion retard highly ethical individual

Pushing Elephants Uphill - Teaching Ethics. It Works!

Recent releases from the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) highlight the importance of ethics education. Academic institutions employ varying methods of teaching ethics and place varying levels of emphasis on ethics teaching during a business/accounting degree. This paper attempts to evaluate whether teaching ethics to final year accountancy students is beneficial. At the commencement of a semester one class of 155 students were given five ethical scenarios on which to make an ethical decision. During the semester they were subject to three different methods of teaching ethics, a traditional lecture/tutorial; use of a computer based interactive case study to work through an ethical dilemma; and, forming groups to complete a group written assignment solving another ethical dilemma. The subjects were subsequently given the original five ethical scenarios and asked to complete them again. In all five instances the mean responses were more ethical after the instruction methodologies (4 significantly so). When asked to evaluate the methodologies the subjects considered all three to have a positive effect on their ethical thinking and the combined effect was more positive than any individual method. Hence it appears teaching ethics can impact positively, the challenge is to find the optimal method(s)

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

The Effect of Groupwork on Ethical Decision-Making of Accountancy Students

Recent accounting scandals involving the collapse of large corporate firms have brought into question the adequacy of ethics education within accounting programs. This paper investigates the ethical decisions of accountancy students and in particular analyses the effect of group (as opposed to individual) decision-making on ethical decisions. Final year accountancy students (sample size of 165) were randomly allocated into two experimental conditions. The participants were then presented with five (5) ethical vignettes. One experimental condition involved completing the ethical decisions as individuals (60). The other involved completing the ethical decision making as a group of 3-4 participants (34). A consistent pattern of behaviour was observed in the analysis of individual versus group responses. Individuals displayed stronger tendencies than groups to take the extreme actions of acting either unethically or ethically (whistleblowing), whereas groups displayed stronger tendencies to take the safer (neutral) options. It was concluded that groups reached consensus decisions, in an ethical context, probably as a result of peer pressure. The significant implication of this finding is in relation to the emphasis accounting programs place on group work. Group work may enhance students’ abilities to work as a team. However, as revealed in this study’s results, group work may not be an effective means of producing the optimal decision in all subject matter areas, especially complex areas such as ethical decision-making

Advances in the synthesis of acyclic peroxides

Peroxide-containing compounds are an attractive synthetic target, given their widespread abundance in nature, with many displaying potent antimalarial and antimicrobial properties. This review summarises the many developments in the synthesis of acyclic peroxides, with a particular focus on the past 20 years, and seeks to update organic chemists about these new approaches. The synthetic methodologies have been subdivided into metal-catalysed reactions, organocatalytic reactions, direct oxidation reactions, miscellaneous reactions and enzymatic routes to acyclic peroxides

Virtual learning environments and digital tools for implementing formative assessment of transversal skills in STEM

This publication is the fourth report in a series of reports part of the Assessment of Transversal Skills in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (ATS STEM) project. The report is written within the framework of the project ATS STEM (http://www.atsstem.eu/). Assessment of Transversal Skills in STEM is an innovative policy experimentation project being conducted across 8 EU countries and involving a partner network of 12 educational institutions

Cumulative radiation exposure from diagnostic imaging in intensive care unit patients.

AIM: To quantify cumulative effective dose of intensive care unit (ICU) patients attributable to diagnostic imaging. METHODS: This was a prospective, interdisciplinary study conducted in the ICU of a large tertiary referral and level 1 trauma center. Demographic and clinical data including age, gender, date of ICU admission, primary reason for ICU admission, APACHE II score, length of stay, number of days intubated, date of death or discharge, and re-admission data was collected on all patients admitted over a 1-year period. The overall radiation exposure was quantified by the cumulative effective radiation dose (CED) in millisieverts (mSv) and calculated using reference effective doses published by the United Kingdom National Radiation Protection Board. Pediatric patients were selected for subgroup-analysis. RESULTS: A total of 2737 studies were performed in 421 patients. The total CED was 1704 mSv with a median CED of 1.5 mSv (IQR 0.04-6.6 mSv). Total CED in pediatric patients was 74.6 mSv with a median CED of 0.07 mSv (IQR 0.01-4.7 mSv). Chest radiography was the most commonly performed examination accounting for 83% of all studies but only 2.7% of total CED. Computed tomography (CT) accounted for 16% of all studies performed and contributed 97% of total CED. Trauma patients received a statistically significant higher dose [median CED 7.7 mSv (IQR 3.5-13.8 mSv)] than medical [median CED 1.4 mSv (IQR 0.05-5.4 mSv)] and surgical [median CED 1.6 mSv (IQR 0.04-7.5 mSv)] patients. Length of stay in ICU [OR = 1.12 (95%CI: 1.079-1.157)] was identified as an independent predictor of receiving a CED greater than 15 mSv. CONCLUSION: Trauma patients and patients with extended ICU admission times are at increased risk of higher CEDs. CED should be minimized where feasible, especially in young patients

TFOS European ambassador meeting:Unmet needs and future scientific and clinical solutions for ocular surface diseases

The mission of the Tear Film & Ocular Surface Society (TFOS) is to advance the research, literacy, and educational aspects of the scientific field of the tear film and ocular surface. Fundamental to fulfilling this mission is the TFOS Global Ambassador program. TFOS Ambassadors are dynamic and proactive experts, who help promote TFOS initiatives, such as presenting the conclusions and recommendations of the recent TFOS DEWS II™, throughout the world. They also identify unmet needs, and propose future clinical and scientific solutions, for management of ocular surface diseases in their countries. This meeting report addresses such needs and solutions for 25 European countries, as detailed in the TFOS European Ambassador meeting in Rome, Italy, in September 2019

A Bi-National Study of Accountancy Students' Ethical Attitudes

Ethics is an integral part of the accountancy profession. As the profession becomes more internationalized, it is critical to accept that different nations may still advocate differing treatments for similar issues. This study evaluates whether the accountants of tomorrow already display differences in their attitudes, based upon nationality. The attitudes of final year accountancy students from two countries, Malaysia and Australia were compared across some ethical scenarios. Significant differences were found to exist based upon nationality. When confronted with bribery/corruption scenarios, Malaysian students were more likely to refuse participation but do nothing about them. Australian students were more likely to inform the relevant authorities. Malaysian students were more likely to cheat in an exam than participate in corruption, whereas Australian students were more likely to do the opposite. Hence ethical attitudes are affected by nationalistic traits. The ramifications for professional training should therefore be considered

The successful influence of teaching ethics on Malaysian accounting students

The Malaysian accounting profession is committed to promoting education that results in a strong ethical culture within accountants. However, some consider ethical training unproductive since trainees may have their ethical values formed pre-commencement. This paper investigates the impact of ethics instruction on final year accounting students, the future accountants of Malaysia. 85 final year accounting students were given five ethical scenarios, and asked what action they considered appropriate. They were then subject to two ethical training methodologies, a traditional lecture/tutorial process and a group assignment. After a significant gap, students were re-presented with the ethical scenarios and asked what action they now considered appropriate. In all five instances students offered a more ethical response the second time. Also, participants rated both training methods and their combined effect as effective. Results suggest there is benefit in including ethics teaching and indeed emphasising its importance in accountancy courses, if the profession’s goal of ethical practitioners is to be achieved