Unethical Practices and Behavior

Unethical practices and behavior in accounting is wrong but there are some people that do it anyway just because they think they can. I can think of a few situations that may lead to dishonesty in the workplace. One would be managers or supervisors that are paid on commission rather than hourly wage, the manager may think of only him/her and negate that of its shareholders. This may cause the inflating of the profit so that his/her commission is higher. Whether we like it or not, when it comes to money it can make people greedy and dishonest.

Companies with a strong ethical identity seem to keep their stakeholders satisfied, if that certain company is performing unethical practices, it would really hurt the company financially.

In some ways I think the Sarbanes-Oxley Act has made a difference in the ethical behavior of companies regarding their financial accounting because it imposes harsh regulations. Although regulations do not prevent the actual fraud, it does allow the fraud to become more easily caught. I just think that if a company wants to commit unethical behavior for their own benefit, they will try to find a way to get away with it. It's sad but that's how some people are.