The present economic climate has put management accountants’ abilities to stay independent in mind and spirit when contributing to a company’s decision-making processes to the test. To guarantee customer and public trust, ethical standards and adherence to norms imposed by governing authorities at the local, state, and federal levels are required. The purpose of this essay is to analyze governmental way of affecting managerial accounting, which ethical norms have been violated in this area over the past time, and how to prevent such cases.
In the case of my state, certain governing organizations are directly affecting the ethical norms in managerial accounting. State boards of accountancy, which work together through the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) and audit public companies are the examples of such organizations (Ken et al., 2021). Moreover, according to the latest NASBA’s annual report dated 2021, the overall overseeing functions of the organization were mainly stuttered due to the COVID-19 pandemic (Ken et al., 2021). This phenomenon is the forced transfer of most employees to a remote mode, including managers, whose job is mainly to coordinate the work of the groups under their care (Ken et al., 2021). Thus, it would be logical to conclude that at the moment, the central governing bodies are unable to fulfill their obligations and therefore are not compelling enough.
However, the NASBA is trying to continue its work, and its principles need to be reviewed. Apparently, the organization’s work consists of regular contacts with trade unions existing in different companies and organizing open forums where essential issues related to diversity and ethical issues are discussed (Ken et al., 2021). An example is the very structure of the organization’s annual reports, where each section has a statement from one of its departments responsible for common problems in the managerial accounting (Ken et al., 2021). As a result, the main methods of influence of NASBA and the accounting state boards are public disclosure of common ethical issues and creating a platform where solutions can be comprehensively discussed.
Regarding my analysis of a particular event, I decided to consider a recent case discussed in the media field which is coherent with managerial accounting. After a two-year inquiry, the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing filed a complaint against Activision Blizzard on July 20, 2021 (Thomas, 2022). According to Bloomberg Law the agency accused the corporation of encouraging a “‘frat guy’ culture” that targeted female employees (Thomas, 2022, para. 7). Even though women made up around 20% of Activision Blizzard’s workforce, they faced “continuous sexual harassment, uneven pay, and retribution” (Greenbaum, 2022, para. 4). One of the most significant revelations was the prevalence of “cube crawls,” in which male employees became inebriated, crawled their way across cubicles, and engaged in “inappropriate conduct with female colleagues,” (Zwiezen, 2022, para. 9). Majority of the male employees have also acknowledged committing jokes about rape and delegating tasks to their female counterparts in order to relax and play video games (Greenbaum, 2022, para. 4). Consequently, the presented information demonstrates the complete inability of managerial accounting to regulate such ethical issues as sexism and a toxic environment in the presented company.
Analyzing this situation, I concluded that in order to solve it, it was necessary to take several preventive measures. In particular, to integrate a special department dedicated exclusively to protecting the rights of minorities among workers, which include females. Moreover, an alternative method of solving the problem would be involving representatives of the prematurely, thus establishing an effective overseeing process. On the other hand, a reorganization of the HR department, which function is to protect workers’ rights, could also help avoid such an outcome, protecting hundreds of people from sexual harassment and other ethical issues. Although, none of the above-mentioned methods were implemented initially, thus such inaction concerning the gradually developing situation led to the failure of managerial accounting.
Conducting such an analysis and a general assessment of specific cases became possible due to my experience while completing this course during the term. The knowledge I gained have drastically changed my perception of ethical issues and allowed me to analyze various practices in managerial accounting from an alternative point of view. Moreover, understanding the origins of certain ethical issues that arise in management will increase my skills as a future professional in this field. On the other hand, I have also broadened my horizons regarding various social issues in the working culture and consider this a valuable experience. As a result, through this course, I comprehensively developed my understanding of managerial accounting, which is apparently a positive tendency.
As a result, the above analysis demonstrated the work of governing structures concerning managerial accounting, considered a specific ethical case and possible ways to prevent it. Moreover, my experience has directly affected the ability to comprehend information comprehensively, which is an essential skill that should be further developed. Such a skill is vital these days, where, due to the presence of COVID-19, the activities of organizations such as the NASBA are severely limited. Consequently, it means that hundreds of millions of employees worldwide are in possible danger. Based on the presented situation, future young professionals, including myself, should aim to prevent violations of ethical norms and contribute to the normalization of the work of organizations that have the same interest.
References
Greenbaum, A. (2022). Everything You Need To Know About The Activision Blizzard Scandal. Den of Geek. Web.
Zwiezen, Z. (2021). Everything That Has Happened Since The Activision Blizzard Lawsuit Was Filed. Kotaku. Web.
Thomas, S. (2022). Activision Fires More Employees Over Sexual Misconduct, WSJ Says. Bloomberg. Web.
Ken, L., Gray, A., & National Association of State Boards of Accountancy. NASBA annual report, 2021 (No. 10). National Association of State Boards of Accountancy. Web.