scholarly journals Editorial

2017 ◽  
pp. 7-8
Author(s):  
Halina Waniak-Michalak
Keyword(s):  
Business Ethics ◽  
Multinational Enterprises ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Management Accounting ◽  
Tax Avoidance ◽  
Fair Value ◽  
International Standards ◽  
Performance Measurement System ◽  
Editorial Team ◽  
Business World

Editorial Issue 93 (149) of „Zeszyty Teoretyczne Rachunkowości” (ZTR) was entitled „Histor-ical and theoretical determinants of contemporary accounting”. It is the sixth fully-English issue of this journal which the editorial team decided to publish. We believe that this volume will contribute both to the presentation of the results of the scientific work of researchers from different countries and to a better understanding of the backgrounds of contemporary accounting – its theoretical and historical contexts. The main purpose of this issue was to present the link between the development of con-temporary accounting and its theoretical and historical bases. The articles concern different topics of accounting and different aspects of historical and theoretical deter-minants, current and near future regulations, and accounting practices in three coun-tries. The articles cover the following topics: accounting regulations and practices, international standards or changes in national accounting, tax regulations important for companies or budgetary units, disclosure on corporate social responsibility, integrated reporting, the development of cost and management accounting concepts and methods. We accepted thirteen papers from three countries. All of them went positively through two independent and blind reviews, one of which was conducted by a foreign reviewer. The accepted papers of the volume present the results of research conducted by scientists in the area of accounting research and practice in Europe, both historical and contemporary. Different research methods were used, such as: content analysis, statistical analysis, literature analysis, and interviews. Four papers concern the education of accountants and the business ethics of profes-sionals. Natalja Gurvitsh, Jaan Alver, and Lehte Alver try to indicate to what extent business ethics is important in today’s business world. In further articles from Ewelina Zarzycka and from Kaidi Kallaste and Jaan Alver, the following questions appear: What is crucial for the profession of accounting? Do job advertisement requirements concern ethical attitudes? Does CPD guarantee that an accountant will behave in an ethical way while providing a service? Michał Mijal and Adam Chmielewski invent-ed a game to teach accounting with respect to the ethical issues which have become even more important as a result of recent economic crises that have led to the deterio-ration of public trust in accountants. Przemysław Kabalski, Joanna Cewińska, Ewa ISSN 1641-4381 print / ISSN 2391-677X online Copyright © 2017 Stowarzyszenie Księgowych w Polsce Prawa wydawnicze zastrzeżone http://www.ztr.skwp.pl DOI: 10.5604/01.3001.0010.3186 8 Editorial Kusideł, and Lena Grzesiak consider how the different personalities of accountants may influence their choices and behavior in business life or in learning. Małgorzata Macuda and Justyna Fijałkowska try to answer the question if companies that behave ethically and contribute to sustainable development, measure and disclose a value of socially responsible business activities. Two papers, one from Poland, from Alicja Brodzka, and the second from Ukraine, from Tetiana Paientko and Kateryna Proskura, concern tax avoidance problems and tax control. The first paper describes the motives of implementing the international country-by-country initiative in order to increase the transparency of the biggest multinational enterprises. The second paper presents the problem of forecasting tax flows from the point of view of government bodies. Management accounting is a topic of two papers from Poland. Anna Szychta and Justyna Dobroszek conducted research to verify if Polish academics perceive differ-ences between the terms management accounting and controlling. Piotr Waśniewski presents a framework of performance measurement system for small enterprises. Alfreda Sapkauskiene and Sergej Orlovskij search for an answer to the question whether we can use fair value estimates for financial decision making, and if we can rely on the values presented in financial reports when we consider the human „factor” in fair value estimations. The aim of the paper from Tomasz Zimnicki is to evaluate the usefulness of seg-ment reports for decision makers. He assessed the change of segmental reporting standards from IAS14R to IFRS8 in the context of feature relevance. IFRS were also the topic of the last paper, written by Magdalena Janowicz. She concludes that a sepa-rate standard is necessary for business combinations under common control, because regulations in national GAAPs don’t guarantee that all requirements of information quality are fulfilled. The editorial team takes the opportunity to thank all the supporters of the English issue of ZTR. We appreciate very much the involvement of the reviewers, the com-mitment of the authors of the papers, as well as the help of other academics and friends engaged in the preparation of the issue. We also encourage you to visit our website www.ztr.skwp.pl which presents the latest information on our projects as well as all the procedures needed to submit a paper to the journal.

scholarly journals International Financial Institutions and the Challenges of Global Business Ethics

2016 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 232
Author(s):  
Henry Kerich
Keyword(s):  
Business Ethics ◽  
World Bank ◽  
Social Action ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Business Practices ◽  
Global Business ◽  
Business World ◽  
Moral Principles ◽  
The People ◽  
Global Business Ethics

<p>Business ethics are moral principles and doctrines that determine behavior in the business world. Although the purpose of every business is to earn profits, it also ought to pay a major role in society by ensuring fair practices. Instead of fairness and equality, greed has taken over the present business scenario leading to unethical business practices. World Bank and International Monetary Fund have been criticized for harsh imposition of austerity measures on member borrower countries. IMF programs are connected with adverse social action like reduced investment in public health and education in the recipient countries resulting in ethical violation and lack of corporate social responsibility to the communities served. A number of World Bank financed projects have social and environmental effects for the people in the affected areas resulting in ethical issues criticism. The IMF and World Bank have also been criticized for violation of ethical issues of equity and fair play.</p>

scholarly journals Inter-Company Investments Between Affiliates Of Multinational Enterprises: Applying The Substance-Over-Form Doctrine To Distinguish Equity From Debt

2011 ◽  
Vol 2 (10) ◽  
Author(s):  
David W. LaRue ◽  
Steven C. Thompson
Keyword(s):  
Tax Evasion ◽  
Multinational Enterprises ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Tax Avoidance ◽  
Financial Accounting ◽  
Taxable Income ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Tax Haven ◽  
Withholding Taxes ◽  
The U.S

The classification of a financial instrument as “debt” or as “equity” is crucial in applying a wide range of income tax provisions.  “Interest” expenses incurred on “debt,” for example, are deductible in computing a firm’s taxable income, whereas “dividends” paid on the firm’s outstanding “equity” are not.  “Interest” paid by a U.S. corporation to a foreign creditor is generally not subject to U.S. withholding taxes, whereas “dividends” paid on stock held by a foreign shareholder are typically subject to U.S. withholding taxes that range from 5% to 30% of the gross amount of the dividend paid.  And the list goes on . . . .  Not surprisingly, these disparities in tax treatment have inspired a plethora of schemes, many of them successful, designed to disguise equity investments as “debt.”  The urge to do so is perhaps nowhere more intense than in situations where the “debt” of a U.S. corporation is held by a foreign sister corporation located in a tax haven country.  Interest paid or accrued on debt would be deductible in computing the U.S. corporation’s U.S. taxable income, and would thereby permanently reduce the debtor’s U.S. tax liability.  The interest income earned by the foreign creditor would be exempt from both U.S. withholding taxes and income taxes in the foreign tax haven country.  This interdisciplinary case was developed from the facts and circumstances before the U.S. Tax Court in litigation that resulted from the government’s assertion that $975 million in “loans” made by a wholly owned Dutch subsidiary of Laidlaw Transit, Ltd. to several of Laidlaw’s U.S. subsidiaries were in substance “equity.”   As in most debt-versus-equity cases, the stakes were high:  Laidlaw’s U.S. subsidiaries had deducted over $133 million of intercompany “payments” made to their Dutch sister corporation as “interest expense” and the IRS was suing to recover $52 million in back taxes (plus interest and penalties).  This case integrates three disciplines – tax accounting, financial accounting, and finance -- in an easy-to-comprehend, yet rich setting appropriate for general management, finance, and accounting audiences.  It invites students to thoroughly explore the substance-over-form doctrine as it applies to the debt-versus-equity issue, together with many of the tax, financial, accounting, and economic ramifications that flow from an instrument’s classification.  It also provides students with an opportunity to identify the ethical issues that attend the formulation and implementation of many tax minimization strategies and to identify factors that separate legal “tax avoidance” from criminal “tax evasion.”

Ethical Issues in the Fast Fashion Industry

2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (8) ◽  
pp. 660-665
Author(s):  
Chi Sheh ◽  
◽  
Peng Chan ◽  
Wen Jun Sim ◽  
◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Business Ethics ◽  
Conceptual Model ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Time Frame ◽  
Fashion Industry ◽  
Fast Fashion ◽  
Life Event ◽  
Real Cost ◽  
Literature Reviews

Fast fashion is becoming more and more popular nowadays and this industry is growing rapidly. In order to supply to the big demand of fast fashion clothing, company will need to increase the production of the clothing in shorter time frame. Besides that, to out beat the competitor, company will provide more choices of clothing in cheaper price to the customers. By practicing these actions to increase the business profits, company is behaving unethical to the manufacturer of the cloth. Most consumers are not aware of these ethical issues. This paper is will used and tested the conceptual model of fast fashion business ethics based on literature reviews. The finding from this paper will manifest the “real cost” of a cheap and branded fast fashion clothing and will be supported by real life event that happened. However, after realizing the problems, some company did make some changes and the solutions are stated in the paper as well.

Brewing Up Controversy: A Case Exploring the Ethics of Corporate Tax Planning

2015 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 311-327 ◽  
Author(s):  
Megan F. Hess ◽  
Raquel Meyer Alexander
Keyword(s):  
Real World ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Tax Avoidance ◽  
Tax Planning ◽  
Learning Assessment ◽  
Class Discussion ◽  
Corporate Tax ◽  
Tax Havens ◽  
Multinational Organizations ◽  
The U.S

ABSTRACT This instructional case explores the ethical issues surrounding the corporate tax-planning and tax-avoidance strategies of multinational organizations. Drawing on the real-world experiences of SABMiller, one of the world's largest beverage companies, this case provides a launching point for students to consider the ethics of corporate tax planning. The ethics of multinational tax practices, especially the use of tax havens, has recently become the focus of media and legislative debate in both the U.S. and the U.K., and many well-respected companies, such as General Electric, Apple Inc., and Starbucks are now feeling the pressure to reform. In a post-case learning assessment, students demonstrated significant improvement in their understanding and indicated that they enjoyed discussing this controversial issue. The “Implementation Guidance” section and Teaching Notes offer guidance for in-class discussion of the ethical and tax issues in this case.

The Relationship between Fair Value Accounting and Presence of Manipulation in Financial Statements

2014 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 221
Author(s):  
Laith Abdullah Alaryan ◽  
Ayman Ahmad Abu Haija ◽  
Ali Mahmoud Alrabei
Keyword(s):  
Business Ethics ◽  
Financial Statements ◽  
Fair Value ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Annual Reports ◽  
Fair Value Accounting ◽  
Before And After ◽  
The Face ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Number Of Firms

The application of fair value has started early in Jordan, which was a bone of contention among supporters and opponents. This study came to provide empirical evidence on the relationship between fair value and financial manipulation. The study extracted data from 45 companies’ annual reports during a ten-year period (1997- 2006) five years before and after the application of fair value to examine the relationship among the application of fair value accounting and the presence of manipulation in financial statements. The result indicates that the number of firms that manipulated information in the financial statements had increased after applying fair value accounting. The results have policy implications, one of which is that the Jordanian government should either enact new regulations or modify the current regulations in the face of an increasing number of manipulations by firms after the application of fair value accounting. These regulations are needed to increase both the managements’ and accountants’ responsibility towards the firms and to enhance the business ethics of the organization.

scholarly journals Fair Value Accounting: Implementation Challenges Facing Small and Medium-Sized Entities in the Agricultural Sector

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 60
Author(s):  
Joseph Kwasi Agyemang ◽  
Owusu Acheampong ◽  
Wiafe Nti Akenten
Keyword(s):  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Agricultural Sector ◽  
Fair Value ◽  
International Standards ◽  
Reporting Standards ◽  
Fair Value Accounting ◽  
Implementation Challenges ◽  
Financial Reporting Standards ◽  
Regulatory Bodies ◽  
Value Reporting

Nowadays, the relevance of fair value in financial reporting is gaining impetus and recent discussions are moving in the trend of full fair value reporting. Small and medium-sized entities are not ignored in this instance. The move to new reporting standards results in various challenges for different interest groups such as auditors, preparers and regulators. The main objective of the study was to establish the fair value implementation challenges facing SMEs in the agricultural sector with evidence from regulatory bodies in Ghana. The study established that there is lack of methodological relationship between existing local laws and IFRS and absence of involvement of regulatory bodies in financial reporting standards setting. In light of these challenges, the study recommends involvement of regulatory bodies in standard setting and consideration should also be given to local laws when setting international standards.

Ethical Preferences among Business Leaders: Implications for Business Schools

2000 ◽  
Vol 63 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-31 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roger N. Conaway ◽  
Thomas L. Fernandez
Keyword(s):  
Business Ethics ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Business Schools ◽  
Environmental Risks ◽  
Business Leaders ◽  
Ethical Values ◽  
Business Faculty ◽  
Insider Information ◽  
Ethics Program ◽  
Arthur Andersen

Since 1976, the American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) has encouraged business schools to include ethics in their curricula. Because lan guage is the means for conveying values, including ethical values, business com munication faculty play an important role in deciding what should be taught, and how. But until very recently, most researchers failed to look specifically at actual practices and perceptions in the workplace. To address that need, we conducted a survey of 250 business leaders concerning their ethical preferences and compared our results with an earlier study of business faculty and students. The survey, adapted from one used in the Arthur Andersen Business Ethics Program, consists of 20 narratives which presented respondents with the need to judge the impor tance of certain issues and their approval or disapproval of the action or decision described. We found no significant differences in responses to the 14 items which addressed ethical issues in such areas as creating health and environmental risks, taking credit when credit is not due, focusing on disability issues, deceiving cus tomers with products and services, and using insider information to gain personal advantage. We did find significant differences in responses to six narratives focused on ignoring wrongdoing in the workplace, doing special favors for others to gain personal advantage, and covering up flaws in merchandise or operations. Our results, and the survey instrument itself, provide useful tools for the business com munication classroom.

scholarly journals A Fresh Apple or a New Barrel: Business Ethics from an Individual to Corporate Level

2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 8
Author(s):  
Sibel Oktar Thomas
Keyword(s):  
Business Ethics ◽  
Human Nature ◽  
Boards Of Directors ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Holistic Approach ◽  
Codes Of Ethics ◽  
Global Scale ◽  
Economic Effects ◽  
The Public ◽  
Purpose Of Business

The moral nature of corporations has been discussed for a long time. But, since 2001, with enormous economic effects of the misconduct of some corporations this discussion gained another dimension, it moved into the public sphere, the subject became more sensitive. The anger and mistrust of the public toward business triggered legislators and corporations to take urgent action. For example, just after the collapse of Enron (2001) the American Congress passed the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (2002) that covers the responsibilities of boards of directors and requires compliance training at all levels. It also revived the old controversial arguments about the nature of business – whether the only purpose of business is to make profits, the relationship of business and ethics – whether business ethics is an oxymoron, and human nature – whether it is ‘bad apples’ or ‘bad barrels’. Yet, with new sets of regulations, in 2017, we are still witnessing the misconduct of corporations on a global scale. This article investigates the effectiveness of corporate efforts such as revisiting mission statements, polishing the codes of ethics and conducting training, by evaluating the nature of business, human nature and the understanding of ethics in the workplace. By looking through the lens of utilitarianism of ethical issues in business, I will argue that codes of ethics and ethics training are necessary but not sufficient. Within the scope of this paper I wish to pave the way to a holistic approach which is necessary and sufficient to create ethical businesses.

scholarly journals A Framework for Authentic Ethical Decision Making in the Face of Grand Challenges: A Lonerganian Gradation

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patricia Larres ◽  
Martin Kelly
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Business Ethics ◽  
Ethical Decision ◽  
Ethical Decision Making ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Codes Of Ethics ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Human Flourishing ◽  
Invariant Structure ◽  
Grand Challenges

AbstractThis paper contributes to the contemporary business ethics narrative by proposing an approach to corporate ethical decision making (EDM) which serves as an alternative to the imposition of codes and standards to address the ethical consequences of grand challenges, like COVID-19, which are impacting today’s society. Our alternative approach to EDM embraces the concept of reflexive thinking and ethical consciousness among the individual agents who collectively are the corporation and who make ethical decisions, often in isolation, removed from the collocated corporate setting. We draw on the teachings of the Canadian philosopher and theologian, Fr. Bernard Lonergan, to conceptualize an approach to EDM which focuses on the ethics of the corporate agent by nurturing the universal and invariant structure that is operational in all human beings. Embracing Lonergan’s dynamic cognitive structure of human knowing, and the structure of the human good, we advance a paradigm of EDM in business which emboldens authentic ethical thought, decision making, and action commensurate with virtuous living and germane to human flourishing. Lonergan’s philosophy guides us away from the imposition of over-arching corporate codes of ethics and inspires us, as individual agents, to attend to the data of our own consciousness in our ethical decision making. Such cognitional endowment leads us out of the ethics of the ‘timeless present’ (Islam and Greenwood in Journal of Business Ethics 170: 1–4, 2021) towards ethical authenticity in business, leaving us better placed to reflect upon and address the ethical issues emanating from grand challenges like COVID-19.

scholarly journals International Real Estate Review

2010 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 323-350
Author(s):  
Andrés Navarro-Galera ◽  
◽  
María del Carmen Pérez-López ◽  
Lázaro Rodríguez-Ariza ◽  
◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Real Estate ◽  
Fair Value ◽  
International Standards ◽  
Financial Reports ◽  
The Real Estate ◽  
Construction Company ◽  
Value Evaluation ◽  
Value Model ◽  
Real Estate Assets

Some international standards have proposed that the fair value approach should be used to evaluate real estate assets. The choice to use this method or another approach could influence the quality of the financial reports published in response to information demands by company stakeholders.In this study,we will examine whether fair value evaluation, in the real estate context, improves the utility of construction company financial reports. For this purpose, we have addressed a questionnaire to financial directors that concern the relevance, reliability and viability of this valuation criterion. Based on the opinion of the respondents, our results show that the fair value model would improve the usefulness of financial reports to evaluate company solvency, and would also improve the comparability, timeliness and understandability of such reports.

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