Ethics as an Imperative

While the last few years have seen disturbing ethical scandals in virtually every sector of society, Enron and other financial scandals have raised particularly serious concerns about the ethical failure of the accounting and auditing profession. To regain the trust and respect it previously enjoyed, the profession must rebuild its reputation on its historical foundation of ethics and integrity. On that theme, this paper focuses on ethics in the accounting and auditing profession and the role accounting academics have played and will play in the development of ethical behavior within the profession. They don't have any choice about whether academics or practitioners will or will not teach ethics. Practitioners and academics assume that role when they convene a meeting as a partner in a professional services firm, or stand in front of a class of students - whether they want to or not. Those who lead invariably teach and influence-and not just in areas related to the subject matter. Their lives and personal conduct teach far more effectively than what they say about the subject matter.