Navigating Ethical Dilemmas at the Workplace: A Study of Indian Professional Management Accountants in Business

Abstract

The ethical behaviour (EB) of professional management accountants in business (PMAIBs) is critical due to their increasingly powerful roles in organizations amidst rising ethical challenges, yet it remains underexplored. This article contributes to accounting ethics literature by examining this understudied ‘real-action’ stage of Rest’s ethical decision-making (EDM) of an under-represented section of accountants, Indian PMAIBs, through narratives of their own experiences of workplace ethical dilemmas, using qualitative content analysis. The coding schemes, initially grounded in IESBA-code and ethics literature, were refined with insights from narratives. Based on 173 survey responses, the study found that 64% of respondents faced ethical dilemmas, most commonly in ‘preparation and presentation of information’. The successful resolution was ‘enabled’ by organizational-level policies and support and individual ‘virtues’ such as courage, justice, honesty and integrity. ‘Challenges’ stemmed from pressures (from superiors and peers) and cultural attitudes such as loyalty, obedience and conformity. The professional ethics code emerged as a critical ‘safeguard’. Moreover, the resolution steps of PMAIBs were aligned with IESBA-code guidance, though few escalated ethical issues externally. The findings support the virtue ethics and institutional theory, highlighting the need for a virtue-focused, culturally attuned ethics code and education, as well as stronger organizational safeguards.