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ACCA Strategic Professional · Strategic Business Leader · Professionalism, ethical codes and the public interest

Priya, a chartered accountant, is finance manager at Kestrel Plc. The managing director asks her to approve a supplier invoice she knows relates to a personal holiday villa, and hints that her bonus depends on cooperation. Which fundamental ethical principle is most directly threatened, and through which type of threat?

Integrity is threatened through intimidation. Priya is being pressed to approve an expense she knows is personal, which is dishonest, and the implied threat to her bonus is pressure intended to make her comply. Other principles and threat types do not fit the facts as precisely.

  1. AConfidentiality, through a familiarity threat
  2. BIntegrity, through an intimidation threatCorrect
  3. CProfessional competence, through a self-review threat
  4. DObjectivity, through an advocacy threat

Explanation

Approving a known personal expense as a business cost would breach straightforward honesty, so integrity is at stake. The hint that her bonus depends on cooperation is pressure applied to influence her, which is intimidation. Objectivity and advocacy are less direct, since she is not promoting a position for a client.

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