The effects of personal and organisational attributes on ethical attitudes of professional accountants: evidence from Ghana
Journal of Global Responsibility
ISSN: 2041-2568
Article publication date: 18 January 2022
Issue publication date: 4 July 2022
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine the effects of personal attributes (greed and desire for personal gains, behaviour of peers and superiors, personal values, family influences and pressures, religious background, ego strength, etc.), organisational attributes (company policies, codes of conduct and visionary leadership, etc). and the moderating role of ethical codes of conduct on the ethical attitudes of professional accountants.
Design/methodology/approach
The study uses data from a survey of 340 professional accountants in Ghana, using the ordinary least square regression analysis to test hypothesized relationships.
Findings
The results suggest that personal attributes collectively have positive and significant influence on ethical attitudes. Similarly, organisational attributes collectively have positive and significant influence on ethical attitudes. Moreover, ethical codes of conduct moderate the positive relationship between personal and organisational attributes and ethical attitudes of accountants.
Originality/value
In the light of the social contingent theory, the findings imply that personal and organisational attributes, when interacted with professional code of conduct strengthens ethical attitudes of accountants. To the best of the knowledge, this is the first paper to have examined the moderating effect of professional code of conduct on ethical attitudes of accountants from a developing country context.
Keywords
Citation
Onumah, R.M., Simpson, S.N.Y. and Kwarteng, A. (2022), "The effects of personal and organisational attributes on ethical attitudes of professional accountants: evidence from Ghana", Journal of Global Responsibility, Vol. 13 No. 3, pp. 245-267. https://doi.org/10.1108/JGR-04-2021-0041
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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