Current Ethical Codes Research Articles

Ethical Issues and the Current Code of Ethics for Management Accountants-Are They Compatible?

In recent years, ethics in business has become a much discussed topic. The bank failures, insider trading, and other scandals have led many to believe that there has been a decline in the morals and ethics of people in government, business, and even religion. While the instances of unethical behavior may or may not be indicative of an overall breakdown in the moral and ethical standards of our system of business and professions, it does indicate that we need to reevaluate our ethical standards on a continuing basis. Because professionals in business serve a varied public-stockholders, employees, customers, they have an obligation to serve the public interest. Therefore, ethics must be an ongoing and integral part of a profession's culture. Management accountants, as business professionals, serve a di verse public and therefore have an obligation to maintain the highest standards of ethical conduct. In recognition of this obligation, in 1983 the National Association of Accountants (NAA) and the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA) adopted a code of ethics for management accountants. This code of ethics, currently in force, provides general guidance concerning Competence, Confidentiality, Integrity, and Objectivity to management accountants. The current code of ethics is a valuable tool for improving the ethical atmosphere of management accounting and management accountants. The code provides a degree of stability and consistency in ethical decision making in the management accounting profession. However, the current code of ethics is not comprehensive (as no code can ever be) to meet every ethical situation confronting the profession. In the past, three research studies identified some of the key elements of a code of ethics for management accountants. In this paper, we compare the results of these three studies with the current

Parental consent for psychological evaluations: Legal, ethical and practical considerations

This article explores the legal, ethical, and practical considerations underlying the requirement for acquiring parental consent prior to a psychological assessment of children in school settings. Publ. L. 94-142 now mandates that parents for all children potentially labeled as handicapped give permission for a preplacement evaluation. This article reviews in detail specific aspects of that mandate, argues that this procedure be generalized to all situations where psychologists propose to evaluate children by reviewing both current ethical codes and standards for practice and public policy which favors such an undertaking. Finally, the authors indicate methods for implementing the mandate by discussing such issues as who should obtain consent and what information parents should receive prior to giving consent.

Infants, children, and informed consent.

Obtaining informed consent for non-therapeutic experimentation on infants and children has ethical and legal implications that cause great controversy. There is some danger that worthy research will be inhibited if current ethical codes are interpreted too strictly, yet infants, children, and other vulnerable groups clearly must be protected from exploitation as research subjects. It is suggested that permission from parents coupled with integrity of the investigator will remain the child's best protection, but several additional protective mechanisms are available and should be used. Some guidelines for non-therapeutic research are suggested which should not only provide adequate protection for infants and young children involved in research projects, but allow investigators reasonable freedom to prosecute worthy research vital to continued improvements in child care.