1. Ethics: a brief discussion
Ryan Peterson, PhD, CMA
University of Central Missouri

2. What is ethics? What is ethics? Do laws define ethics?
moral principles that govern a person's behavior or the conducting of an activity (what is acceptable)
Do laws define ethics?
Not exactly…

3. Disclaimer: I’m no expert
“I don’t subscribe to a code of ethics. A code of ethics only makes it easier for people like me to take advantage of you.”

4. Can ethics be taught? Bobek, et al. (2017, BRIA) Lu and Lin (2014)
Ethical environment of CPA public accounting firms are perceived as stronger than CPAs working in industry
Ethical environment of big 4 is perceived to be more ethical than non-big 4.
Lu and Lin (2014)
Perceptions are positively associated with ethical behavior
Mayer et al. (2010)
Perceptions are negatively associated with misconduct

5. Can ethics be taught?
Ethics & Compliance Institute (The State of Ethics & Compliance in the Workplace report)

6. But… why does it matter?
''What about us?'' said Sandra Stone, 51, an executive assistant who lost a $49,000-a-year job and Enron stock rewards that were valued at $150,000 at one point.
Jeffrey Skilling gets out of prison

7. So it matters… how do we teach it?

8. AICPA Code of Professional Conduct
By accepting membership, a certified public accountant assumes an obligation of self-discipline above and beyond the requirements of laws and regulations.

9. IMA Statement of Ethical Professional Practice
“Members of IMA shall behave ethically. A commitment to ethical professional practice includes overarching principles that express our values and standards that guide member conduct.“
Principles
Honesty, Fairness, Objectivity, and Responsibility
Standards
Competence, Confidentiality, Integrity, and Credibility
Clearly they are important… but why?

10. Is a didactic approach effective?
Reading a code of ethics to students is quick
They can memorize it fairly easily …
It has little to no effect on their decision-making

11. Alternatives? Use examples Personal experience
Discuss personal values (wealth, civic duty, integrity, etc)
Paying taxes, voting, jury duty, etc)
Use smaller felonies than larger
Controversy is good for discussion and discussion is good for exploring ethics
Smaller, less egregious case studies offer more opportunities for individuals to see that all unethical behavior isn’t black and white. 

12. Giving Voice to Values https://youtu.be/U9t4KQYcO6M
Rather than a focus on ethical analysis, the Giving Voice to Values (GVV) curriculum focuses on ethical implementation and asks the questions: “What if I were going to act on my values? What would I say and do? How could I be most effective?"

17. To Break Ships or Not to Break Ships
“Explosion at Pakistan Ship Breaking Yard Kills More than 10 People”
Us Companies are some of the companies outsourcing this work
US ship breaking operations are safe and profitable, largely driven by contracts with the US military

18. To Break Ships or Not to Break Ships - summary
A long established US boat breaking company experienced losses after many successful years
Hired a new CFO who expanded the company to recycling and exported the boat breaking operations to Pakistan, ship breaking name change
Recycling is cyclical and experienced a downturn, causing losses, but kept afloat by outsourced ship breaking operations
Ship breaking operations experience a major event that killed and injured workers
CEO must decide to continue operations or risk the loss of thousands of jobs in Pakistan and the US and declare bankruptcy

19. To Break Ships or Not to Break Ships - Goals
Students can identify the ethical dilemmas and stakeholders in a real- world case
Students can identify decisions available to the decision maker and the ethical consequences of those decisions
Students can suggest a course of action and support their decision by applying the IMA Statement of Ethical Professional Practice

20. To Break Ships or Not to Break Ships - questions
Identify the ethical dilemmas presented in the case
Review the IMA SEPP and discuss the standards most applicable when selecting a course of action
What are the CEO’s responsibilities as the CEO and chairman of the board?
Discuss whether there is conflict between CEO’s responsibilities to SBSRC identified in question 3 and committing to the IMA SEPP
Critically evaluate the alternatives and discuss what alternative you would select if you were the CEO
Develop and present a fourth alternative to the alternatives presented above

21. Ship breaking industry
More than 800 large ships are broken up each year, the vast majority on Asian beaches. Owners can earn an extra $1M to $4M per ship (~1.6B) when selling to Asian yards via cash buyers, instead of opting for recycling yards with higher standards,” says Jenssen. “No one forces the industry to send ships to be dismantled there. They choose to send them”
Thousands of workers have been killed or maimed dismantling the world’s ships

22. Has Ethical Behavior Changed or Improved?
Ethics & Compliance Institute (The State of Ethics & Compliance in the Workplace report)

23. Has Ethical Behavior Changed or Improved?

24. Questions/comments?