Running head: ACCOUNTING ETHICS 1

Accounting Ethics and its Effects

Abigail Padilla

University of Texas at El Paso

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Accounting Ethics and its Effects

Accountants have access to financial data and information. They can steal vast amounts

of money through unethical actions. Accounting ethics has not been a big concern in the

economy in the past years but as the economy progressed, the amount of money increased which

introduced the idea that accounting ethics is more important now than ever before. Before

beginning, ethics is the practice of moral principles and the perceptions of right versus wrong.

On the other hand, unethical is an idea or action that is not morally correct. The idea of

accounting ethics will be discussed through given information between two genres. Ethics in

Finance and Accounting: Editorial Introduction is a journal article created by Domenec Melé,

Josep M. Rosanas, and Joan Fontrodona that gives an overview of the causes, effects, and

potential solutions of unethical practices regarding accounting ethics. Why are Accounting Ethics

Important is a video filmed by The United CPA (certified public accountant) Association

(UCPAA) and posted to YouTube. It is more effective than the first genre because its purpose

persuaded the intended audience since it consists of information that covers the causes and the

effects of unethical actions by the work of accountants.

Audience and Purpose

The first genre, Ethics in Finance and Accounting: Editorial Introduction, is a peer

reviewed journal article published on September 28, 2016. The purpose of the article is intended

to inform its readers on the effects of unethical practices and why accountants should avoid

committing misbehaviors. The second genre, Why are Accounting Ethics Important, a video

posted to YouTube on April 28, 2019, was created to inform its viewers on the consequences of

unethical decisions of accountants, why they commit to making those decisions, and why ethics

in accounting are important.

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The intended audience for the journal article (Ethics in Finance and Accounting:

Editorial Introduction) is targeted towards people who are in the field of business or a college

student researching the topic and are looking to seek information and reasoning as to why

accountants make certain decisions that are unethical. The journal article includes information on

the effects and consequences of the unethical behavior and how to avoid it. The intended

audience for the YouTube video (Why are Accounting Ethics Important?) targets business

students who watch YouTube and are interested in learning about why ethics plays a big role in

accounting. The video provides a short and simple way of understanding the importance of ethics

in accounting as well as learning the effects of unethical practices. In Ethics in Finance and

Accounting, the article informs its readers of how unethical decisions can be avoided by

suggesting to integrate ethics into any decision whereas the video does not provide any

information to its readers as to how to avoid making decisions that are not ethical.

Both genres differ minimally, depending if the person will be reading the journal article

or watching the video but in both cases, the internet will be required. Ethics in Finance and

Accounting: Editorial Introduction can be found using the internet and requires reading that

ranges from about 5-10 minutes of reading. The article is five pages long, allowing readers to

understand the purpose of the article. Why are Accounting Ethics Important can be viewed on

YouTube and has a length of five minutes and 56 seconds. The duration allows the viewer to stay

interested throughout the video and a simple understanding of the concept.

In relation to both genres, their purpose’s is to inform their intended audience on the idea

of accounting ethics as well as the causes and effects of unethical decision making. In Ethics in

Finance and Accounting, the typography, provides suggestions as potential solutions for

preventing unethical practices in accounting. They strongly encouraged firms to have a strong
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sense of both internal and external missions. They also suggest to attempt to satisfy the needs of

employees and customers whilst not harming stakeholders. To avoid unethical practices, they

proposed to make decisions in accordance with the two previous missions as well as integrating

ethics into any management decision. The video, Why are Accounting Ethics Important, is

formal in how they present their purpose to their audience. The narrator is a middle-aged male

dressed in business attire with the proper amount of knowledge on the topic. The presentation is

set in an office which makes the video seem formal. The language the narrator uses is

appropriate to college business students who are educated on the topic and businesspeople who

seek a simpler way of understanding ethics in accounting.

Rhetorical Issues

Furthermore, both types of genres express their rhetorical issues in a different way

regarding the type of genre.

Ethos

The first genre, Ethics in Finance and Accounting: Editorial Introduction, the journal

article presents its credibility by having the title of the article and the authors of the article at the

top of the introductory page. The main author, Melé, is a professor at the University of North

Carolina in the college of business which adds credibility to the article. At the end of the article,

there are additional resources. Additional resources also means that the article is credible because

it has a great amount of information that has been gathered from other types of resources. In the

second genre, Why are Accounting Ethics Important, the YouTube video is created by The

United CPA Association (UCPAA) which makes the video credible because they provide a great

amount of formal work, information, and resources and the video is made by a certified

association.
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Pathos

The stimulated emotions from the audience in both genres are quite similar. They both

evoke the emotion of disappointment for the accountants that are unethical. Ethics in Finance

and Accounting stimulates displeasure from the audience because the causes of unethical

practices comes from bad management. According to Melé (2016), “through the pressure put on

executives by the measurement and reward system… they fostered unethical practices…” (p.

611). Furthermore, Why are Accounting Ethics Important evokes a feeling of opposition because

the reason behind unethical behavior is money since it states, “there are many reasons that

accountants are tempted to break the rules of ethical accounting practices. Needless to say, these

temptations are usually of a financial nature…” (time 2:54- 3:05).

Logos

Ethics in Finance and Accounting: Editorial Introduction uses logic by making the reader

realize that unethical decisions can have a tremendous effect on anyone and everyone. The more

ethical decisions made, the better for the economy because no firm wants to end up like Toshiba.

Toshiba was one of the top 10 largest firms in Japan, but “they fostered unethical practices (lying

to obtain an economic advantage) and damaged the whole company…” (p. 611). On the other

hand, Why are Accounting Ethics Important uses its logic by emphasizing the importance and

need for accountants to be educated in ethics by saying, “ethical accounting practices are more

important now, than they’ve ever been before…” (time 1:10- 1:15). Both genres persuade the

audience by using logic in different ways on the topic of accounting ethics.

Structure and Delivery

Ethics in Finance and Accounting: Editorial Introduction delivers its message to its

readers by publishing an article on the internet, while Why are Accounting Ethics Important
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creates a short film and posts it on the internet to get its viewers to receive the message. The

information given in Ethics in Finance and Accounting had some limit of space regarding the

information they were delivering so that the authors could avoid boring the audience by writing a

five page paper instead of a 20-page paper. Why are Accounting Ethics Important had limit of

space because they kept the video to a short and simplified, six minute video. Although the

design of the article was not eye-catching, the structure made it easy for the readers to read

because of the use of subheadings before the paragraph of information was given. On the other

hand, the film starts and ends with the narrator speaking clearly- which made it easy to

understand- throughout the video with a setting of a professional office space. The differences

between the two genres is that the typography is text-based with no visuals for the audience to

read. The iconography consists more of listening and using visuals for the audience to view.

Conclusion

To sum up, both genres present their topics in a great manner and informed their intended

audience of their purpose. Ethics in Finance and Accounting: Editorial Introduction and Why are

Accounting Ethics Important was mature, given that only the target audience would be able to

understand the article and the video in an informative manner. Both genres mentioned the issues,

causes, effects, and the possible solutions but expressed them in different views on the idea of

accounting ethics. Although, Why are Accounting Ethics Important is more effective because its

purpose persuaded the intended audience since it provided an adequate amount of information as

well as having a limit of space so it kept the audience hooked throughout the entire video. The

audience should be practicing ethics in accounting because it’s important in the daily lives of

everyone in the economy.

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References

Melé, D., Rosanas, J., & Fontrodona, J. (2017). Ethics in finance and accounting: Editorial

Introduction. Springer Nature. doi:10.1007/s10551-016-3328-y.

[The United CPA Association]. (2019, April 28). Why are Accounting Ethics Important?

Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjkgwUP0Rf0.