Code of Ethics is the cornerstone of business organization, though cases regarding unethical behavior have continued to take place in the industry. Therefore, to ensure organization is effectively & properly managed, the ethical decision making ability for Financial & Accounting personnel has become a critical topic in business management.
This research was conducted among current and prospective Financial & Accounting personnel within small & medium-sized enterprises in Taiwan. Research questionnaire was compiled with scenarios adapted from movies based on true stories. The research framework applied in this study combined eastern Mandela Model and western Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) Method to derive 13 hypotheses. This research utilized PLS-SEM and SmartPLS 3.3.3 analytical method to analyze and verify the data, in order to identify the ethical decision marking approach for Financial & Accounting personnel.
Based on total sample size, it was concluded that aside from one hypothesis regarding 「desire」vs.「ego」is not valid, the rest of 12 hypothesis are all valid. Additional conclusions derived from the sub population analysis: 1) For population with income: among people who are streetwise & seasoned in life (ego), their level of knowledge on social norms (knowledge) does not have a positive correlation to how ethically they chose to behave in the scenarios. Based on this finding, it was inferred that there is a higher possibility that this population would succumb to various influences such as pressure and behave unethically. 2) For population without income (including students): This population are more likely to resist temptation or pressure, possibly because they do not have excessive desire and haven’t seen the reality in life.
This research suggests that corporation should reinforce the ethics education among senior leaders via real life case studies that have resulted in negative consequences. Through this approach would leaders lead by example and inspire employees to follow their footsteps, ultimately achieving the goal of improving corporate long term competitiveness.
