Moral uevoplemenL Models

kohlberg's model
Cne of Lhe problems wlLh Lhe sLudles dlscussed above ls how Lhey deLermlne wheLher one some
ob[ecLlve scale of morallLy A conslderable number of Lhe comperaLlve sLudles llke Lhose above draw on
Lhe work of Lawrence kohlberg and hls model ls rouLlnely used Lo gauge an lndlvldual's maral maLurlLy
based on Lhelr responses Lo a serles of hypoLheLlcal dllemmas ( ee Lhe example of Lhe helng dllemma ln
box 23)
As Lhe earller dlscusslon lndlcaLes CMu has been applled Lo accounLlng sLudenLs accounLlng
pracLlLloners aL varlous sLages ln Lhelr carees and Lo sLudenLs sLudylng dlfferenL dlscllpnes and
pracLlLloners from dlfferenL professlons
Levels SLages ulsposlLlon
3 posLconvenLlonal 6 8ased on unlversal
moral prlnclples
3 lmparLlal wlLh a concem
for everyone's lnLeresL
2 convenLlonal 4 lnformed by socleLy's
laws
3 Conformlng Lo group
norms
1roconvenLlonal 2 SelflnLeresL ls Lhe
prlmary moLlvaLlon
1 Avold punlshmenL

Cllllan's model
Whlle kohlberg's model ls qulLe promlnenL wlLhln Lhe accounLlng body of work LhaL crlLlques hls
poslLlon 1o beln wlLh Lhere ls some debaLe as Lo wheLher a dlfferenL level of moral reasonlng
necessarlly resulLs ln dlfferenL Lypes of behavlour ( 8elLer 1996)
8oLh Cllllgan's and kohlberg's work ls qulLe perLlnenL for explorlng Lhe eLhlcs of accounLlng Lwo lssues
are relevanL here llrsL Lhelr work encourages us Lhe reflecL on how we mlghL concepLuallze Lhe moral
of Lhe lndlvldual accounLanL
1here ara also obvlous educaLlonal lmpllcaLlons dependlng on Lhe Lype of model espoused by Lhe
professlon 8elLer (1996) suggesL LhsL Lhe ma[orlLy of eLhlcs educaLlon wlLhln accounLlng has been
underplnned by Lhe kohlberg model
INDIVIDUAL A11kI8U1LS AND L1nICAL 8LnAVICUk 1nL LIILC1 CI AGL AND GLNDLk
kohlberg's model haa also been used Lo explore Lhe lmpacL of personal characLerlsLlcs on eLhlcal
declslons 1he characLerlsLlcs of gender and age ln parLlcular have been explored ln some deLall LhaL
females are more eLhlcal Lhan males
CognlLlve moral developmenL research has also provlded overwhelmlng evldence LhaL moral reasonlng
ls also affecLed by age (1revlno 1992 resL 1983 Serwenek 1992) 1hese sLudles woul suggesL LhsL Lhe
way ln whlch an lndlvldual accounLanL engages wlLh a moral dllemma mlghL be lnfluenced by LhaL
lndlvldual's age
lL would Lherefore seem LhaL lndlvldual characLerlsLlcs generally Lend Lo have qulLe a slgnlflcanL
lnfluence on eLhlcal producLlvlLles of accounLanLs and Lhe way ln whlch eLhlcal lssues are experlenced
L1nICS AND S1kUC1UkAL CnAkAC1LkIS1ICS
ersonal characLerlsLlcs lnfluence boLh eLhlcal awareness and Lhe way ln whlch lndlvlduals respond Lo
eLhlcal dllemmas oLher sLudles suggesL LhaL Lhe conLesL wlLhln whlch Lhe lndlvldual ls embedded can
also have a slgnlflcanL lmpacL on eLhlcal declslonmaklng we wlll focus Lwo lssues flrsL culLural lssues
and second organlzaLlonal facLors
Cu|ture
WlLhln Lhe moral phllosophy llLeraLure regardlng Lhe lnfluence of culLure of Lhe eLhlcal predlsposlLlons
of lndlvlduals 1he quesLlon here ls wheLher dlfferenL naLlonal value sysLems affecL lndlvldual eLhlcal
behavlour 1he evldence ls mlxed !akubowskl and Colleagues (2007) suggesL LhaL naLlonal dlfferences
are reflecLed ln Lhe eLhlcal codes of accounLanLs across dlfferenL counLrles and karnes colleagues (1990)
conLend LhaL accounLanLs of dlfferenL naLlonallLles do have dlsparaLe percepLlons of whaL ls and ls noL
eLhlcal
Powever noL all sLudles supporL Lhe hypoLhesls LhaL dlfferenL naLlonal culLures equaLe Lo dlfferenL
noLlons of professlonal eLhlcs
Crgan|zat|ons and groups of |nd|v|dua|s
A second lssue relaLes Lo Lhe observaLlon LhaL accounLanLs are embedded wlLhln proups wlLhln
organlzaLlons We would llke Lo hlghllghL Lwo lssues here LhaL conLrlbuLe Lowards undersLandlng Lhe
eLhlcal behavlour of lndlvldual accounLanLs Lhere lssues are qtooptblok ooJ otqoolzotloool coltote
8esearch suggesLs LhaL an lndlvldual's eLhlcal declslonmaklng may change when Lhey become parL of a
more formal grouplng (houpLman and Plll 1991) or even a large crowd Slms (1992)labels Lhls
phenomenon 'groupLhlnk' 1he characLerlsLlcs and dynamlc of Lhe groups Lo whlch accounLanLs belong
may Lherefore affecL Lhey way ln whlch lndlvldual accounLanLs encounLer and resolve eLhlcal dllemmas
8ocklness and 8okness (2003) and kullk and colleagues (20080 lmply LhaL eLhlcal predlsposlLlons are
also affecLed by organlzaLlonal culLure ln general and uouglas and colleagues (2001) found a clear llnk
beLween Lhe organlzaLlonal culLure wlLhln large accounLlng flrms and eLhlcal predlsposlLlons lndedd a
number of sLudles have shown LhaL personal values ofLen have llLLle lmpacL on eLhlcal declslons ln
buslness or wlLhln organlzaLlonal conLexLs
1he llLeraLure also suggesLs LhaL lndlvldual eLhlcs ofLen change dependlng on Lhe poslLlon and level (or
Lhe subgroups)an lndlvlduals occuples wlLhln an organlzaLlon lound LhaL Lhe sophlsLlcaLlon
accounLanL's eLhlcal reasonlng lncreases as Lhey aLLaln supervlsory levels wlLhln Lhe flrm buL Lhe
decreases among managers and parLner Pe suggesLs a number of posslblllLles for hls flndlngs lncludlng
confllcLlng soclals lnfluences aL dlfferenL hlerarchlcal levels and Lhe posslblllLy of selfselecLlon processes
aL work ln oLher words cerLaln Lype of lndlvlduals are elLher moLlvaLed Lo become managers or parLner
and/or cerLaln Lypes of lndlvlduals