When I do good, I feel good; when I do bad, I feel bad. Thats my religion.

- Abraham Lincoln Good ethics lead us to believe in not doing things that are not right and not saying if they are not true. Ethics is a system of moral principles governing the appropriate conduct of a person or a group. It is a way of being human and having a feeling of compassion, sympathy or regard for others the way we have for ourselves. Good ethics is important to all occupations or social or economic class. Thus, maintaining good ethics is being consistent with the principles of correct moral conduct constantly. Business ethics is similar to our normal every day ethics. Good ethics leads to good business. It is a fundamental requirement of any profession. It is integral to the success of the business as well. Good ethics makes us aware of what we are doing including the consequences of our actions. An organization strives continually to be in pursuit of its goals while benefiting the employees in building up their high competencies. In this pursuit, the adherence to high ethical standards of the employees can be very much contributory to the impressive achievements of business goals being turned out as planned and intended. Ethics refers to human conduct as to make judgments between what is right and what is wrong. It could be that there are several factors that may encourage one to adopt unethical behavior, but the right person is he who, despite facing ethical dilemmas, assesses the situations and makes differentiation between what is morally good and bad in order to follow the rules and code of professional conduct. Good ethics causes to gain confidence of superiors while promoting integrity, which means to continue doing right things even when we are not being watched. Business also has responsibilities, such as, designing proper jobs. After the jobs are created and the employees are appointed, fair reward and promotion systems are necessary for an organization to implement. Employees develop positive feelings, the feeling of pleasure when a need or desired is fulfilled. If an organization does not recognize the talent and hard work of the employees, the consequences may lead the employees toward unethical behavior. Employees must be treated fairly. If they are treated respectfully and in an appropriate way, they are in favor of management else they may get back to adopt unethical behavior. Moreover, it is the responsibility of management to intervene if managers take improper decisions in terms of hiring and firing the employees because the managers of business may sometimes lose their ethics when they take certain decisions that affect the employees career and growth. If the decisions of managers are unethical, both employees and the organization suffer the consequences. It must be seen whether employee morale is enhanced. The policy guidelines related to compensations is a factor affecting employee morale. The difference between the aspects that what compensation the employees expect to get and what is being offered to them is in general prevailing and so it is a reason of dissatisfaction. What in such situation a management needs to do is it should come out with the schemes that can enhance the morale with reasonable compensations. Furthermore, business managers or supervisors need to develop perceptual abilities that on the basis of accurate perceptions, an unbiased outlook may be maintained. Every employee should be treated fairly by inculcating the sense of positive feelings about the organization.

Professionalism should be preferred to favoritism as the practice of giving special treatment or unfair advantages to a person or group creates lots of problems that result in hurting the feelings, causing emotional pain or suffering of another person or group. The importance of ethics in professional life can be evidenced by a number of instances showing failure of businesses and several scandals. It may be rightly said that the situations would not have been so worsened had there been observance of ethical standards. Therefore, maintaining ethical standards is must for the prosperity of an organization as well as the development of ones personality. Good ethics will lead us to maintain our honest image. It will enable us to refrain from such activities that may discredit to our profession. Thus, adhesion to good ethics is to let our conscience be our guide at all times. Albert Schweitzer says, Ethics is the activity of man directed to secure the inner perfection of his own personality. Members of IMA shall behave ethically. A commitment to ethical professional practice includes: overarching principles that express our values, and standards that guide our conduct. PRINCIPLES IMAs overarching ethical principles include: Honesty, Fairness, Objectivity, and Responsibility. Members shall act in accordance with these principles and shall encourage others within their organizations to adhere to them. STANDARDS A members failure to comply with the following standards may result in disciplinary action. I. COMPETENCE Each member has a responsibility to: 1. Maintain an appropriate level of professional expertise by continually developing knowledge and skills. 2. Perform professional duties in accordance with relevant laws, regulations, and technical standards. 3. Provide decision support information and recommendations that are accurate, clear, concise, and timely. 4. Recognize and communicate professional limitations or other constraints that would preclude responsible judgment or successful performance of an activity. II. CONFIDENTIALITY Each member has a responsibility to:

1. Keep information confidential except when disclosure is authorized or legally required. 2. Inform all relevant parties regarding appropriate use of confidential information. Monitor subordinates activities to ensure compliance. 3. Refrain from using confidential information for unethical or illegal advantage. III. INTEGRITY Each member has a responsibility to: 1. Mitigate actual conflicts of interest. Regularly communicate with business associates to avoid apparent conflicts of interest. Advise all parties of any potential conflicts. 2. Refrain from engaging in any conduct that would prejudice carrying out duties ethically. 3. Abstain from engaging in or supporting any activity that might discredit the profession. IV. CREDIBILITY Each member has a responsibility to: 1. Communicate information fairly and objectively. 2. Disclose all relevant information that could reasonably be expected to influence an intended users understanding of the reports, analyses, or recommendations. 3. Disclose delays or deficiencies in information, timeliness, processing, or internal controls in conformance with organization policy and/or applicable law. RESOLUTION OF ETHICAL CONFLICT In applying the Standards of Ethical Professional Practice, you may encounter problems identifying unethical behavior or resolving an ethical conflict. When faced with ethical issues, you should follow your organizations established policies on the resolution of such conflict. If these policies do not resolve the ethical conflict, you should consider the following courses of action: 1. Discuss the issue with your immediate supervisor except when it appears that the supervisor is involved. In that case, present the issue to the next level. If you cannot achieve a satisfactory resolution, submit the issue to the next management level. If your immediate superior is the chief executive officer or equivalent, the acceptable reviewing authority may be a group such as the audit committee, executive committee, board of directors, board of trustees, or owners. Contact with levels above the immediate superior should be initiated only with your superiors knowledge, assuming he or she is not involved. Communication of such problems to authorities or individuals not employed or engaged by the organization is not considered appropriate, unless you believe there is a clear violation of the law.

2. Clarify relevant ethical issues by initiating a confidential discussion with an IMA Ethics Counselor or other impartial advisor to obtain a better understanding of possible courses of action. 3. Consult your own attorney as to legal obligations and rights concerning the ethical conflict. The IMAs code of conduct provides sound, practical advice for management accountants and managers. Most of the rules in the code are motivated by a very practical considerationif these rules were not generally followed in business, then the economy and all of us would suffer. Consider the following specific examples of the consequences of not abiding by the code:

Suppose employees could not be trusted with confidential information. Then top managers would be reluctant to distribute such information within the company and, as a result, decisions would be based on incomplete information and operations would deteriorate. Suppose employees accepted bribes from suppliers. Then contracts would tend to go to suppliers who pay the highest bribes rather than to the most competent suppliers. Would you like to fly in aircraft whose wings were made by the subcontractor who paid the highest bribe? Would you fly as often? What would happen to the airline industry if its safety record deteriorated due to shoddy workmanship on contracted parts and assemblies? Suppose the presidents of companies routinely lied in their annual reports and financial statements. If investors could not rely on the basic integrity of a companys financial statements, they would have little basis for making informed decisions. Suspecting the worst, rational investors would pay less for securities issued by companies and may not be willing to invest at all. As a consequence, companies would have less money for productive investmentsleading to slower economic growth, fewer goods and services, and higher prices.

As these examples suggest, if ethical standards were not generally adhered to, everyone would sufferbusinesses as well as consumers. Essentially, abandoning ethical standards would lead to a lower standard of living with lower-quality goods and services, less to choose from, and higher prices. In short, following ethical rules such as those in the Statement of Ethical Professional Practice is absolutely essential for the smooth functioning of an advanced market economy.

IN BUSINESS
WHO IS TO BLAME? Don Keough, a retired Coca-Cola executive, recalls that, In my time, CFOs [Chief Financial Officers] were basically tough, smart, and mean. Bringing good news wasnt their function. They were the truth-tellers. But that had changed by the late 1990s in some companies. Instead of being truth-tellers, CFOs became corporate spokesmen, guiding stock analysts in their quarterly earnings estimatesand then making sure those earnings estimates were beaten using

whatever means necessary, including accounting tricks and in some cases outright fraud. But does the buck stop there? A survey of 179 CFOs published in May 2004 showed that only 38% of those surveyed believed that pressure to use aggressive accounting techniques to improve results had lessened relative to three years earlier. And 20% of those surveyed said the pressure had increased over the past three years. Where did the respondents say the pressure was coming from? Personal greed, weak boards of directors, and overbearing Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) topped the list. Who is to blame? Perhaps that question is less important than focusing on what is needed greater personal integrity and less emphasis on meeting quarterly earnings estimates.
Sources: Jeremy Kahn, The Chief Freaked Out Officer, Fortune, December 9, 2002, pp. 197202, and Don Durfee, After the Scandals: Its Better (and Worse) Than You Think, CFO, May 2004

Codes and Policies for Research Ethics

Given the importance of ethics for the conduct of research, it should come as no surprise that many different professional associations, government agencies, and universities have adopted specific codes, rules, and policies relating to research ethics. Many government agencies, such as the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) have ethics rules for funded researchers. Other influential research ethics policies include the Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals (International Committee of Medical Journal Editors), the Chemist's Code of Conduct (American Chemical Society), Code of Ethics (American Society for Clinical Laboratory Science) Ethical Principles of Psychologists (American Psychological Association), Statements on Ethics and Professional Responsibility (American Anthropological Association), Statement on Professional Ethics (American Association of University Professors), the Nuremberg Code and the Declaration of Helsinki (World Medical Association).

The following is a rough and general summary of some ethical principals that various codes address*:

Honesty

Strive for honesty in all scientific communications. Honestly report data, results, methods and procedures, and publication status. Do not fabricate, falsify, or misrepresent data. Do not deceive colleagues, granting agencies, or the public.

Objectivity

Strive to avoid bias in experimental design, data analysis, data interpretation, peer review, personnel decisions, grant writing, expert testimony, and other aspects of research where objectivity is expected or required. Avoid or minimize bias or self-deception. Disclose personal or financial interests that may affect research.

Integrity

Keep your promises and agreements; act with sincerity; strive for consistency of thought and action.

Carefulness

Avoid careless errors and negligence; carefully and critically examine your own work and the work of your peers. Keep good records of research activities, such as data collection, research design, and correspondence with agencies or journals.

Openness

Share data, results, ideas, tools, resources. Be open to criticism and new ideas.

Respect for Intellectual Property

Honor patents, copyrights, and other forms of intellectual property. Do not use unpublished data, methods, or results without permission. Give credit where credit is due. Give proper acknowledgement or credit for all contributions to research. Never plagiarize.

Confidentiality

Protect confidential communications, such as papers or grants submitted for publication, personnel records, trade or military secrets, and patient records.

Responsible Publication

Publish in order to advance research and scholarship, not to advance just your own career. Avoid wasteful and duplicative publication.

Responsible Mentoring

Help to educate, mentor, and advise students. Promote their welfare and allow them to make their own decisions.

Respect for colleagues

Respect your colleagues and treat them fairly.

Social Responsibility

Strive to promote social good and prevent or mitigate social harms through research, public education, and advocacy.

Non-Discrimination

Avoid discrimination against colleagues or students on the basis of sex, race, ethnicity, or other factors that are not related to their scientific competence and integrity.

Competence

Maintain and improve your own professional competence and expertise through lifelong education and learning; take steps to promote competence in science as a whole.

Legality

Know and obey relevant laws and institutional and governmental policies.

Animal Care

Show proper respect and care for animals when using them in research. Do not conduct unnecessary or poorly designed animal experiments.

Human Subjects Protection

When conducting research on human subjects, minimize harms and risks and maximize benefits; respect human dignity, privacy, and autonomy; take special precautions with vulnerable