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Ethical attitudes are especially important for accounting students as they transition from higher education into a profession where continuing education requirements for ethics are pervasive across state boards. We examine if generational categorization impacts ethical attitudes. We compare 172 student responses from an ethical survey to results reported in the prior literature from 1997, 2004, and 2007. We find evidence consistent with current students becoming less tolerant of ethically questionable behavior. Also, we explore students with self-declared Certified Public Accountant (CPA) aspirations to other students revealing minimal differences. This suggests that discussions around ethical attitudes might be beneficial in the workplace as multigenerational individuals need to make subjective decisions when working together. More specifically, our study encourages the development of additional ethical vignettes that include technological innovation twists to foster more robust classroom ethics discussions as many students fail to find a significant ethical gray area with the traditional vignettes.

This study explores auditors’ professional attitudes and behaviours. It tests the influence of public interest commitment, independence enforcement beliefs and organisational ethical culture on auditors’ acceptance of and engagement in practices that compromise their objectivity. The study is based on survey responses of 122 Spanish auditors. To analyse the combined effect of the variables under study, variance-based structural equation modelling (partial least squares, PLS) was employed. The results suggest that the regulatory efforts to improve auditors’ behaviours by enforcing independence rules have been internalised by auditors. The results also reinforce the need to instil the societal responsibilities of professional auditors, since auditors’ public interest commitment is related to their ethical decision making. Furthermore, this study reveals that firms’ ethical cultures influence auditors’ commitment to the public interest, as well as their ethical decision making. The study raises practical implications for auditing professionals, regulators and audit firms. Understanding auditors’ beliefs and behavioural patterns is critical to proposing mechanisms that enhance their ethical behaviours, which could ultimately enhance audit quality. The chapter contributes to the field by analysing the combined effect of the regulatory framework and organisational context on auditors’ professional values and behaviours.

This research follows Emerson and Conroy (2004) by examining student attitudes regarding a number of ethical vignettes, and extends their research to incorporate an investigation of the effects of different ethical prompts (including the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) Code of Professional Conduct) on responses. We explore relationships within the responses and identify significant patterns in attitudes by gender, major, and experimental treatment. While female subjects consistently view unethical behavior less favorably, our results suggest that status as an accounting major also may lead to less acceptance of the unethical behavior portrayed in the vignettes. For example, male and female accounting students were less accepting of padding expense accounts and insider stock trading, indicating that ethical training in accounting classes may be delivering some desirable results.

Retail or entrepreneurial shops support economic growth, conducting studies in this area is needed. Our study examines whether the buyers have moral intensity, religious beliefs, and self-concept affect purchase ethics. Using quantitative analysis, we employ 150 respondents, consisting of 94 women and 56 men; the analysis tool used is the structure equation modeling model. The results showed that moral intensity influences religiosity. Moral intensity does not affect self-concept, but religiosity stimulates self-concept, and self-concept impacts purchasing ethics. The limitations of this study have not tested the ethical attitudes of retailers, and respondents are very limited.

Throughout history, the actions of human beings have been analysed based on ethics. In every aspect of human life, ethics is an essential element, and business life is no exception. Business ethics, and marketing ethics in particular, has been a subject of interest in both the academic and business world. Apart from doing what is perceived as correct, acting in a socially responsible and sustainable manner becomes compulsory, as the changes in ecological and social environment necessitate this. There have been warning signs from nature such as environmental disasters and climate change, and it is no longer possible for for firms or individuals to continue with previous behaviours. Acting as if the world’s resources are limitless has caused damage to the environment. A new way of thinking and behaving is needed. The awareness and involvement levels about sustainability and social responsibility are not the same everywhere in the world. Culture has significant impact on perception of social issues such as social responsibility and sustainability. Turkey, as a developing country with its own cultural dynamics, differs from developed Western countries which makes analysing consumer ethics, corporate social responsibility and sustainable consumption in Turkey worthwhile.

In this chapter, concepts of business ethics, marketing ethics, consumer ethics, sustainable consumption and corporate social responsibility are discussed with specific examples from Turkey.

This paper examines why ordinary people engage in aberrant consumer behavior (ACB), and pays particular attention to the extent to which consumer perceptions of corporate ‘unfairness’ lead to a response in kind. The study examines five ethical scenarios including insurance claim exaggeration and software piracy, using data from 344 UK consumers. Ajzen's theory of planned behavior (TPB) provides an initial analytical framework. The study also adopts an additional variable, perceived unfairness, referring to the extent to which an actor is motivated to redress an imbalance perceived as unfair.

In comparison to TPB, the study reveals different components of ACB. Furthermore, analysis of variance indicates that consumer perceptions of unfairness by insurance companies provide a significant reason for claim exaggeration. This suggests that ACB is one form of market response to unfair corporate performance. Thus it is argued that an examination of ACB will not only help to understand which ethical aspects of corporate performance might be perceived as unfair, but also to evaluate the extent to which it contributes to a negative perception of particular industries and corporations. The closing discussion considers how a consumer negative response to corporate performance might relate to pricing, product attributes and customer relationships.

Much rhetoric around the construct of a work-ready graduate has focused on the technical abilities of students to fulfill the expectations of the future workplace. Efforts have been made to extend from the technical skills (e.g., skills in calculation for engineers) to include soft or behavioral skills (e.g., communication). However, within previous models of understanding of the work-ready graduate there has been little done to explore them as critical moral agents within the workplace. That is, whilst the focus has been on being work-ready, it is argued here that in current and future workplaces it is more important for university graduates to be profession-ready. Our understanding of the profession-ready graduate is characterized by the ability to demonstrate capacities in critical thinking and reflection, and to have an ability to navigate the ethical challenges and shape the organizational culture of the future workplace.

This chapter aims to explore a movement of thinking away from simply aspiring to develop work-ready graduates, expanding this understanding to argue for the development of profession-ready graduates. The chapter begins with an exploration of the debates around the characteristics of being work-ready, and through a consideration of two professional elements: professional identity and critical moral agency, argues for a reframing of work-readiness towards professional-readiness. The chapter then considers the role of work-integrated learning (WIL) in being able to support the development of the profession-ready graduate.