Contemporary issues in accounting
1. BACKGROUND Accounting scandals are an ongoing problem for the profession. They undermine public trust, can damage the economy and impact individuals (e.g. via financial loss or job loss). Notwithstanding the damage resulting from events like the Global Financial Crisis, accountants continue to be implicated in corporate scandals around the world. These situations highlight the need for professional ethics. This assignment directly considers the interplay between accounting scandals and professional ethics and will allow you to link these ideas back to other concepts you have learned during the course of your study. 2. TASK Your task is to select and research one of the high profile corporate scandals from the list provided below and to prepare a report in relation to your selected case (see over page for formatting and content details). ==You may select one of the following corporate scandals as the basis of your report: Caterpillar (2017) BT Group (2017) Fannie Mae (2004) In your report you are asked to consider the following points: Describe what happened in your selected company, including any consequences (e.g. political, social, economic, etc.) and identify the ethical issues in the case (hint: you will need to locate an appropriate ethical framework to assist you with this task). Identify the stakeholders relevant to your chosen case. Apply one or more of the theories discussed in the ACCT 5015 course to explain why the situation may have occurred. == What evidence is there in support of your selected theoretical approach? How do you think the situation might have been prevented? (Hint: your theoretical analysis will help you answer this question as will articles and studies available from the wider academic literature.) 3. What lessons do you believe your selected corporate scandal contains for the accounting profession? Please note this is a research assignment. Thus you are expected to use a variety of academic, professional and media-based sources to inform your analysis. For those students aiming for a high distinction around one reference per hundred words would be expected. Your submission in relation to this assessment should take the form of a formal report. Thus, the final file should include: A cover or title page; An executive summary; A table of contents; A formal introduction; Main section broken down into numbered sections and sub-sections; Conclusion with recommendations if appropriate; Reference list; Appendices (if relevant). Your report should be no more than 4,000 words in length excluding the cover page, executive summary, table of contents, reference list and appendices. A +/- 10% margin will apply to the word count requirement beyond which penalties will be applied at a rate of 10% of the total possible mark for this assignment for every 10%, or part thereof, that the submission is above or below the maximum or minimum word count.
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