IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/jbuset/v140y2017i1d10.1007_s10551-015-2656-7.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Developing and Measuring the Impact of an Accounting Ethics Course that is Based on the Moral Philosophy of Adam Smith

Author

Listed:
  • Daniel P. Sorensen

    (Oklahoma Christian University)

  • Scott E. Miller

    (Edinboro University)

  • Kevin L. Cabe

    (Indiana Wesleyan University)

Abstract

Accounting ethics failures have seized headlines and cost investors billions of dollars. Improvement of the ethical reasoning and behavior of accountants has become a key concern for the accounting profession and for higher education in accounting. Researchers have asked a number of questions, including what type of accounting ethics education intervention would be most effective for accounting students. Some researchers have proposed virtue ethics as an appropriate moral framework for accounting. This research tested whether Smithian virtue ethics training, based on Adam Smith’s “The Theory of Moral Sentiments” (1790/1976), is effective in improving accounting student’s cognitive moral development (CMD). This research used a pre-test, treatment, post-test, quasi-experimental design utilizing the Defining Issues Test 2 (DIT-2) instrument to measure students’ CMD. Analysis of DIT-2 gain scores did show a significant improvement in subjects’ personal interest scores and a significant improvement in an overall measure of CMD, the DIT N2 index, whereas their DIT-2 post-conventional scores did not improve significantly. This research supports the proposition that the concepts contained in Smithian virtue ethics can contribute to an effective accounting ethics education intervention. However, further research is required to determine what concepts should be included to improve accounting students’ post-conventional moral reasoning.

Suggested Citation

  • Daniel P. Sorensen & Scott E. Miller & Kevin L. Cabe, 2017. "Developing and Measuring the Impact of an Accounting Ethics Course that is Based on the Moral Philosophy of Adam Smith," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 140(1), pages 175-191, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:140:y:2017:i:1:d:10.1007_s10551-015-2656-7
    DOI: 10.1007/s10551-015-2656-7
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10551-015-2656-7
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10551-015-2656-7?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ponemon, Lawrence A., 1992. "Ethical reasoning and selection-socialization in accounting," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 17(3-4), pages 239-258.
    2. Deirdre McCloskey, 2008. "Adam Smith, the Last of the Former Virtue Ethicists," History of Political Economy, Duke University Press, vol. 40(1), pages 43-71, Spring.
    3. T. Libby & L. Thorne, 2007. "The Development of a Measure of Auditors’ Virtue," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 71(1), pages 89-99, March.
    4. Joan Hise & Dawn Massey, 2010. "Applying the Ignatian Pedagogical Paradigm to the Creation of an Accounting Ethics Course," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 96(3), pages 453-465, October.
    5. Brian Mayhew & Pamela Murphy, 2009. "The Impact of Ethics Education on Reporting Behavior," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 86(3), pages 397-416, May.
    6. Ralph Welton & Daryl Guffey, 2009. "Transitory or Persistent? The Effects of Classroom Ethics Interventions: A Longitudinal Study," Accounting Education, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(3), pages 273-289.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Alina Beattrice VLADU & Dan Dacian CUZDRIOREAN, 2022. "Considerations on the Improvement of Ethical Decision Making in the Accounting Profession," CECCAR Business Review, Body of Expert and Licensed Accountants of Romania (CECCAR), vol. 3(1), pages 44-52, January.
    2. Tamara Poje & Maja Zaman Groff, 2022. "Mapping Ethics Education in Accounting Research: A Bibliometric Analysis," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 179(2), pages 451-472, August.
    3. Janie Bérubé & Yves Gendron, 2023. "Developing Ethical Sensitivity in Future Accounting Practitioners: The Case of a Dialogic Learning for Final-Year Undergraduates," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 183(3), pages 763-781, March.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Yves Mard & Christelle Chaplais & Sylvain Marsat, 2014. "De la possibilité d'accroître l'éthique de l'auditeur : Le cas d'une formation," Post-Print hal-01899102, HAL.
    2. Ulfert Gronewold & Anna Gold & Steven Salterio, 2013. "Reporting Self-Made Errors: The Impact of Organizational Error-Management Climate and Error Type," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 117(1), pages 189-208, September.
    3. Lamar Pierce & Jason Snyder, 2015. "Unethical Demand and Employee Turnover," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 131(4), pages 853-869, November.
    4. Christian Hauser, 2019. "Fighting Against Corruption: Does Anti-corruption Training Make Any Difference?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 159(1), pages 281-299, September.
    5. André, Kévin, 2013. "Why Should Business Education Care About Care? Toward an Educare Perspective," ESSEC Working Papers WP1315, ESSEC Research Center, ESSEC Business School.
    6. Rafael Morales-Sánchez & Carmen Cabello-Medina, 2013. "The Role of Four Universal Moral Competencies in Ethical Decision-Making," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 116(4), pages 717-734, September.
    7. Tsui, Judy S. L., 1996. "Auditors' ethical reasoning: Some audit conflict and cross cultural evidence," The International Journal of Accounting, Elsevier, vol. 31(1), pages 121-133.
    8. Neubert, Mitchell J. & Montañez, George D., 2020. "Virtue as a framework for the design and use of artificial intelligence," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 63(2), pages 195-204.
    9. Christian Prat Dit Hauret, 2006. "Ethique et décisions d'audit : une analyse à travers le cadre conceptuel de Forsyth," Post-Print halshs-00548124, HAL.
    10. William E. Shafer & Richard S. Simmons, 2011. "Effects of organizational ethical culture on the ethical decisions of tax practitioners in mainland China," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 24(5), pages 647-668, June.
    11. Elaine Doyle & Jane Frecknall-Hughes & Barbara Summers, 2014. "Ethics in Tax Practice: A Study of the Effect of Practitioner Firm Size," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 122(4), pages 623-641, July.
    12. Paul D. Mueller, 2014. "Adam Smith, Politics, and Natural Liberty," Journal of Private Enterprise, The Association of Private Enterprise Education, vol. 29(Fall 2014), pages 119-134.
    13. Josep M. Lozano, 2017. "Leadership: The Being Component. Can the Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius Contribute to the Debate on Business Education?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 145(4), pages 795-809, November.
    14. Breda Sweeney & Don Arnold & Bernard Pierce, 2010. "The Impact of Perceived Ethical Culture of the Firm and Demographic Variables on Auditors’ Ethical Evaluation and Intention to Act Decisions," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 93(4), pages 531-551, June.
    15. Tara J. Shawver & William F. Miller, 2017. "Moral Intensity Revisited: Measuring the Benefit of Accounting Ethics Interventions," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 141(3), pages 587-603, March.
    16. Loréa Baïada-Hirèche & Ghislaine Garmilis, 2016. "Accounting Professionals’ Ethical Judgment and the Institutional Disciplinary Context: A French–US Comparison," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 139(4), pages 639-659, December.
    17. Matthias P. Hühn & Claus Dierksmeier, 2016. "Will the Real A. Smith Please Stand Up!," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 136(1), pages 119-132, June.
    18. Albert D. Spalding & Gretchen R. Lawrie, 2019. "A Critical Examination of the AICPA’s New “Conceptual Framework” Ethics Protocol," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 155(4), pages 1135-1152, April.
    19. Cameron Graham & Martin E. Persson & Vaughan S. Radcliffe & Mitchell J. Stein, 2023. "The State of Ohio’s Auditors, the Enumeration of Population, and the Project of Eugenics," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 187(3), pages 565-587, October.
    20. David Dawson, 2018. "Measuring Individuals’ Virtues in Business," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 147(4), pages 793-805, February.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:140:y:2017:i:1:d:10.1007_s10551-015-2656-7. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.