The standards of professional conduct can be revealed through the specifications of ethical concepts. This paper reviews four basic standards of ethical behavior that have to be adopted at work: competence, integrity, confidentiality, and credibility. Since moral conduct stipulates social responsibility, it is vital to encourage the adoption of professional attitudes (Valentine and Fleischman 658).
The standard of professional competence marks a set of individual abilities and aptitudes that are attributed to particular social groups, individuals or work teams, which manage to meet the set requirements of achieving specific goals. The concept of professional competence is often correlated with the notion of performance. The idea was employed by professor Chomsky, who managed to create one of the most powerful professional theory platforms that carry the name of the competence-performance model. The practical verification of its functions reveals that the natural abilities that are combined with knowledge and proficiency acquisition account for the foundation of successful professional achievements (Weinert 7).
The contemporary ethics code positions integrity as a fundamental hallmark of professional conduct. The concept implies the combination of such qualities as honesty and unification. Therefore, the standard of integrity imposes a moral responsibility on the accountants since it requires them to adopt a fair and impersonal treatment of occupational matters. One should note that the conception borders with the idea of morality. That is why, many specialists have troubles with making business decisions, for it is quite challenging to find a balance between the personal ideals and the persuasions that are specific for the sphere of occupation. In this respect, it is recommended to dwell on the code of professional ethics (“Integrity in Professional Ethics” par. 15).
The protection of privacy characterizes the standard of confidentiality, which is considered to underline the ultimate principles of professional behavior. The concept supports the values that exclude any opportunities of compromise since the legitimate right of privacy is the driving force of any human relations. The accountants are required to be well-acquainted with the particular types of confidentiality so that to apply the ethics standard at work. Specifically, they are expected to preserve privacy in respect to written records, verbal communication as well as in the attitude towards colleagues and clients. Therefore, the private information that is revealed in the course of investigations or reviews has to be treated with extreme caution since the violation of confidentiality principle inflicts harsh professional restrictions (“Issues in Ethics: Confidentiality” par. 11).
The standard of credibility has some consistent professional implications for the IMA members. Thus, it is claimed that any information flow that is conducted within its organizational structures has to rely on the fair and objective data. In other words, credibility accounts for satisfying the clients’ requirements through disclosing the information that is relevant to him/her, unless the data usage violates the principle of confidentiality. It is a standard practice for multiple institutions to cover the facts that relate to professional deficiencies and improper data treatment. It should be emphasized that such acts are strictly prohibited by the code of professional ethics and have to be disregarded by the IMA accountants (“IMA Statement of Ethical Professional Statement” par. 7).
To sum it up, accounting ethics creates a reliable professional platform for both small business affiliations and big corporation (Petryni par. 4). The contemporary code of ethics is based on four ultimate standards of occupational conduct and creates space for the favorable business affairs management.
References
IMA Statement of Ethical Professional Statement 2009. Web.
Integrity in Professional Ethics 2009. Web.
Issues in Ethics: Confidentiality 2009. Web.
Petryni, Matt. Accounting Ethics and Integrity Standards. 2005. Web.
Valentine, Sean and Gary Fleischman. “Professional Ethical Standards, Corporate Social Responsibility, and the Perceived Role of Ethics and Social Responsibility.” Journal of Business Ethics 82.3 (2008): 657-666. Print.
Weinert, Franz. Concepts of Competence, Munich: Max Planck Institute, 2005. Print.