Your 2023 ethics scorecard: reflecting on business ethics

CPD Campus presents the second in our three-part series on your 2023 ethics scorecard – reflecting on business ethics. The South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA) defines “business ethics” as the ethical principles and values applied by the organisation to decision-making, conduct, and the relationship between the organisation, its stakeholders and society.

In this learning intervention, we provide you with the opportunity to reflect about the views, morals and beliefs, principles, and standards according to which your business, employer and/or clients operate, and the impacts that working for, or being involved with, a business with low (or no) business ethical standards has on yourself and society at large.

It sounds so simple to ‘reject doing business with entities that conduct themselves unethically’, but how realistic is it really to assume that a professional person will relentlessly uphold ethical standards in rejecting business with the very (unethical) clients/customers that put food on the table? Is it not sufficient to ensure “my side is kept squeaky clean” and leave the accountability to the conscience of the one who is in the wrong?

Also note: SAICA members are required to undertake mandatory annual reflection about ethics, in the categories of personal, business, and professional ethics, as per SAICA’s Circular 02/2021. Members of the Independent Regulatory Board for Auditors (IRBA) are required to undertake at least three hours’ professional development (CPD) in ethics.

Attending this three-part ethics series, will help you address your professional development requirements by these professional bodies in ethics. In attending this session, you will be developing the following professional competencies:

• Main competency group: Professional values and attitudes
• Sub-competency group: Ethics
• Specific competency/ies: Business ethics