ACCT1117: Ethics and Sustainability in Accounting

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• To introduce students to the ethical, social, environmental and sustainability-related contexts in which accountants operate, including examples of issues from the world of work and wider society.
• To ensure students demonstrate an awareness of professional codes of ethics for accountants.
• To ensure that students can differentiate between the various ethical approaches, identify when an ethical issue arises and propose alternative solutions.

• Normative ethical theories
• Ethical concepts of duty and justice
• Ethical decision making
• Working in the public interest
• Professional codes of ethics
• Corporate social responsibility
• Moral development
• Sustainability

Subject-specific Knowledge:

• On completion of this module students should be able to:
• Describe and compare ethical frameworks including consequentialist and non-consequentialist approaches.
• Explain why sustainability is important to society, to organisations, and to accounting and finance professionals.
• Apply this knowledge to scenarios from the business and accounting contexts.

Subject-specific Skills:

• On completion of this module students should be able to:
• Identify and evaluate an ethical dilemma in an accounting context and propose a solution (s).
• Assess professional codes of ethics for accountants and identify when the fundamental principles are being challenged.
• Discuss sustainability related issues within society, organisations, and the accounting and finance professions.

Key Skills:

• Written Communication
• Digital Literacy - using online discussion and developing internet etiquette
• Ethical development - awareness of own level of development

• Learning will be based on knowledge transfer and application of knowledge from workshops, directed study and independent study. Investigation of cases and real world organisations will underpin the workshops to encourage students to develop awareness of cultural and contextual differences.
• Workshop activities, discussion boards, portfolio building and assessment will ensure students can apply their knowledge within the accounting context.
• The formative assessment will provide feedback to students regarding their understanding of ethical frameworks and allow them to reflect on their own ethical development.
• The summative assignment is a portfolio of small tasks which will give students the opportunity to propose alternative solutions to an ethical dilemma whilst encouraging the development of the reflective practitioner. This will include work in the discussion fora allowing students to address a number of different ethical issues.

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