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Chartered Accountants Worldwide has called on businesses to instill in their operations a culture of ‘moral courage’, as social media and the 24-hour scrutiny of the digital age strengthen the link between ethics and value creation.
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Accountants call for 'moral courage'
28 September 2015
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The international organisation has released a report, Critical Success Factors for Tomorrow’s Business Leaders, covering issues that range from geopolitical tensions to the need for tax simplification and drawing on research that surveyed chartered accountants leading UK businesses.
From this, ethics emerged as one of the main factors shaping the future of doing business.
The report shows that the moral values of organisations are becoming more important to millennials, who want to do business with brands they trust.
The report also notes there is a tension between highly regulated environments which drive a culture of compliance and embedding an ethical environment. In the report, a quoted source says “our businesses are not sustainable if we’re depending on regulation to make us ethical. Ethics is about the soul of an organisation. It’s not a matter of compliance and it starts in the boardroom.”
Pat Costello, chairman of Chartered Accountants Worldwide said the digital age means that everyone is under scrutiny, all of the time, and issues can escalate through social media "like wildfire".
"The right decisions need to be taken in real time – it’s no longer enough to rely on the traditional hierarchies. This means we need to foster a culture where people are trained to know what the right thing to do is when a challenge presents itself. A culture of ethics certainly starts in the boardroom, but it can’t stop there.”
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The report also examines geopolitical tensions including international conflict and the potential for Britain leaving the European Union, the effects of new technology, skill shortages, and the need for simplification of the tax system.
Lee White, chief executive of Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand, said business leaders cannot just manage what is in front of them; they need to be able to see through the complexity to what will be important in the future as well.
"This means understanding the strategic implications of global issues, whether that is the recent fall in oil prices, conflict in the Middle East, or what is trending on Twitter," he said.
"Chartered accountants are trained to be strategic business leaders, which is why they are well-placed to see the knock-on effects that social change can have on the bottom line. It takes a lot of courage to drive change, but it is the only way to stay ahead.”
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