Accounting Students’ Ethical Behaviour in Creating an Awareness of Students’ Individual and Group Potential Business Values

Accounting students’ ethical behaviour is crucial in shaping the integrity of future business professionals. As financial reporting and decision-making heavily rely on ethical standards, accounting students must develop a strong moral foundation to navigate ethical scandals/dilemmas in their careers. Early exposure to ethical principles equips students to make responsible decisions that align with corporate and societal values, reinforcing integrity and accountability. This study aimed to identify accounting students’ individual and group potential business values, the reasons why these values were selected and if these values aligned with the fundamental values of professional ethics. The study used a mixed method. Data was collected over two years. Quantitative data: to identify students’ individual potential business values, an online questionnaire was deployed to Financial Accounting students (Year 1: N = 546; Year 2: N = 605) and to identify group potential business values students engaged in focus groups in their tutorial classes (Year 1: N = 99 groups; Year 2: N = 102 groups). The Rokeach Value Survey (RVS) was used, IBM SPSS Statistics Version 30.0. and Microsoft Excel were used to analyse the data. Qualitative data: collected to determine students’ reasons why ranked their most important potential business values as their first most important value, a thematic analysis was used to analyse the data. Lectures on scandals/dilemmas and focus groups were used to set out the fundamental principles of ethics for professional accountants, which form the foundation of ethical behaviour by professional accountants. The main findings for both years indicated that the values, ‘Disciplined’, ‘Honest’, and ‘Ambitious’ as the most important individual potential business values, while the most important group potential business values were ‘Honest’ and ‘Disciplined’. The values ‘Accountability’ and ‘Transparency’ were found to be important values in the second year. Therefore, students indicated that their individual and group potential business values are aligned with the accounting scandals/dilemmas that could have been prevented if these values were adhered to. The study contributes by fostering ethical awareness among students not only to enhance their professional credibility but also to contribute in creating a business environment rooted in transparency, accountability, and trust.