Uppfattning om gott och ont, vad som är rätt och fel, kan kraftigt skilja sig mellan olika individer. Hur en människa uppfattar och hanterar begreppet etik är unikt för varje enskild individ i samhället. Syftet med studien är att undersöka hur redovisare och revisorer ser på redovisningsetik och om de använder ett etiskt förhållningssätt och handlingssätt i sitt dagliga arbete. Vidare undersöker studien medias framställning av redovisningsrelaterade företagsskandaler, dess effekter och hur media påverkar involverade parter. Studien utgår från ett abduktivt forskningsperspektiv. Studien består av en medieanalys där fyra olika företagsskandaler analyseras utifrån sammanlagt tolv dagstidningsartiklar. Medieanalysen är komparativ eftersom en jämförelse mellan de olika artiklarna inom de fyra företagsskandalerna har skett i form av en innehållsanalys. Vidare innefattar studien även en innehållsanalys av fyra semistrukturerade intervjuer. Respondenterna består av yrkesaktiva redovisare och revisorer. Intervjuerna analyseras genom en kvalitativ ansats, där meningen i det som sägs är huvudfokus. En slutsats som studien drar är att etiska beslut är svåra att fatta, eftersom de ska följa lagar och förordningar samtidigt som de ska vara anpassade till individens, samhällets och företagets bästa. Vidare ser vi genom studien att medias framställning av företagsskandaler påverkar människors uppfattning av de inblandade företagen, branscherna och individerna i skandalen. Där de inblandade ofta står försvarslösa till den bild som media målar upp av dem. Av detta framkommer en slags dominoeffekt, där media påverkar samhällets bild av en individ, som i sin tur även påverkar samhällets bild av företaget som individen är kopplad till. Effekterna av medias framställning av företagsskandaler kan då bli kraftiga. Eftersom ett företag inte kan gå mot samhällets förväntningar. Om detta var fallet skulle de kunna förlora sitt “lov att verka” på marknaden. Ett förslag på vidare forskning är en jämförelse mellan hur en person ser på ett företag innan en skandal och efter att de har läst om skandalen. Ytterligare ett förslag på vidare forskning är att genomföra en studie med samma utformning men med ett större respondenter. Detta för att få en större bredd och därigenom också öka urvalet studien riktar in sig på. / Perception of what is deemed good and bad, what is right or wrong, can greatly differ between individuals. How a person perceives and manages the concept of ethics is unique to each individual in society. The purpose of the study is thus to investigate how accountants and auditors view accounting ethics and how they use an ethical approach in their daily work. Furthermore, the study examines the effects of media's presentation of accounting-related corporate scandals and how media affects the involved parties. The study is based on an abductive research method. The study consists of a media analysis of four corporate scandals that are analyzed based on a total of twelve news articles. The media analysis is conducted by a comparative content analysis where a comparison of the various articles within the four scandals is made. The study also includes a content analysis of four semi-structured interviews. The respondents who have been chosen for the interviews are professionally active accountants and auditors. These interviews are analyzed through a qualitative approach, where the meaning of the word is analyzed. A conclusion that the study draws is that ethical decisions are difficult to make, as they must comply with laws and regulations while at the same time being adapted to the individual's, society's and the company's best. Furthermore, through the study, we see that media portrayal of corporate scandals affects people's perceptions of companies, industries and individuals involved. Where those involved often stand defenseless to the image that the media portray. This results in a kind of domino effect, where the media affects society's image of an individual, which in turn also affect society's image of the company the individual are linked to. The effects of the media's presentation of corporate scandals can therefore be severe, since a company cannot go against society's expectations. If this were to be the case, they could lose their “license to operate” in the market. A proposal for further research is a comparison between preconceived opinions of individuals and the same peoples' thoughts after reviewing news articles about the corporate scandal. Another proposal for further research is to carry out a study of the same design with a larger number of accountants and auditors. The aim is to greater the width and thereby also increase the targeted selection of the study. Apart from this abstract this paper will be conducted in Swedish with the exception of a few quotes.

Media is something the public comes in contact with on a daily basis. Through numerous platforms, their overall goal is to spread information, messages, and pique interest. The power that the media has also means that they have a great influence on the public's perceptions and opinions about what is right and wrong. At the same time, social media has also become an increasingly common approach to spread information in a faster way than before.   This study aims to investigate how corporate scandals are portrayed by the media. Furthermore, this study aims to examine how the media's reporting of corporate scandals has changed over the years. The study has adopted a social constructivist research approach as the study touches on what is considered right and wrong from an ethical perspective. The study is a document study that examines three different corporate scandals based on 105 Swedish articles. Each corporate scandal has 35 articles designed in three tables. The 105 Swedish articles are news articles from various morning- and evening newspapers.  A conclusion drawn in the study is that only one of the articles refers to social media and that social media thus has a low impact on the media reporting of these scandals. This is partly due to the fact that two of the scandals investigated took place during a period where social media was not as developed as it is today, but the third is important to point out the reason why social media influence exists at the time of the scandal. Furthermore, it is also concluded that it is primarily the company management who were portrayed as the culprits by the media, and that the focus shifted from the organization in question. The absence of social media means that only traditional media sources controls the story of the corporate scandals.This is clearly shown among the articles as they focus on blaming the individuals behind the scandals in order to apply the idea of the guilty towards the innocent which piques a greater interest and thus generates more income  A proposal for further research includes examining articles internationally in order to determine how they may differ from Swedish media and also to be able to shed light on the factors behind the differences.  This study is written in swedish / Media är något allmänheten kommer i kontakt med dagligen. Via olika plattformar är deras övergripande mål primärt att sprida information, budskap, och väcka intresse. Denna makt som media behärskar innebär även att de har en stor påverkan på allmänhetens uppfattningar och åsikter kring vad som är rätt och fel. Samtidigt har även sociala medier blivit ett alltmer vanligare tillvägagångssätt för att sprida information på ett snabbare sätt än tidigare. Syftet med studien är att undersöka hur olika företagsskandaler framställs i media. Vidare syftar studien även till att undersöka hur medias rapportering av företagsskandaler förändrats genom åren. Studien har antagit en socialkonstruktivistiskt forskningsansats då studien berör vad som anses rätt och fel ur ett etiskt perspektiv. Studien är en dokumentstudie som undersöker tre olika företagsskandaler utifrån 105 svenska artiklar. Varje företagsskandal har 35 artiklar utformade i varsin tabell. De 105 svenska artiklarna är nyhetsartiklar från diverse morgon – och kvällstidningar.   En slutsats som dras i studien är sociala medier och dess påverkan på medias framställning av skandaler är svag eftersom endast en av de berörda artiklarna refererar till sociala medier.  Detta beror delvis på att två av de undersökta företagsskandalerna skedde under en period där sociala medier inte var lika utvecklat i den grad som den är idag, men den tredje är viktig att poängtera av den orsaken att sociala mediers påverkan existerade vid skandalens tidpunkt. Vidare dras även slutsatsen att det primärt är företagsledningen som framställs som de skyldiga av media, och att fokuset försvann från organisationen i fråga. Sociala mediers frånvaro bland rapporteringen innebär att enbart traditionell media styr narrativet av företagsskandalerna. Detta visas tydligt bland artiklarna då de fokuserar på att skuldbelägga individerna bakom skandalerna för att kunna applicera idén om de skyldiga gentemot de oskyldiga som väcker ett större intresse och därmed genererar fler intäkter.   Ett förslag på vidare forskning inkluderar att undersöka artiklar internationellt för att kunna avgöra skillnader gentemot svensk media och även kunna belysa de faktorer som ligger bakom skillnaderna.  Studien är skriven på svenska

Recent corporate reporting history is well–known for its corporate failures and questionable accountancy practices, many of which caused the profession to be frowned upon. However, the splodge on the accounting profession?s reputation goes deeper than its corporate reporting failures. The scientific foundation thereof is also being questioned in academic circles. Even though accounting scholars have been trying to formulate foundational accounting theories, it has been the accounting regulators that have been more successful in promoting their versions of what accounting theory should be, which place a question mark on the legitimacy of current day accounting theory. This thesis aims to delve deeper into the foundational philosophies of accounting and its impact on the practice of accounting. With the current accounting globalisation efforts, the profession?s stewardship function is becoming less prominent in its promulgated standards, which in turn brings the focus on the many questionable ethical practices found in the profession. Even though the regulatory bodies require their members to commit themselves to professional codes of conduct, which entails competency, integrity, objectivity and confidentiality, the 1st article in this thesis claims that ethical conduct is more than mere adherence to rules and regulations. It is also about the image of not only the profession, but also accounting research and education. Accounting is broadly practised, researched and taught within its so–called conceptual framework, of which a key objective is to guide and inform accounting practice. The conceptual framework became the basis upon which accounting theory is based. However, many accounting scholars are openly critical of presenting accounting theory as a set of practical guidelines. The 2nd article in the thesis concludes that, from an academic perspective, accounting theory should be based on three quintessential guidelines. The first of which is its primary purpose of reporting on the historic economic events, secondly the provision of useable and comparable information about these events and finally, the facilitation of business decisions based on relevant and reliable information. In the above mentioned business decisions, the concept of value is often taken for granted and many accounting techniques? effectiveness is judged on how well it approximates an item?s value. The 3rd article argues that the multiple purposes for which accounting information is used complicates the issue of value, as reported by accounting. Two key conflicting valuation perspectives are the so–called decision–usefulness and true income perspectives. The current drive towards fair value accounting, as opposed to historic cost accounting, cast doubts on the reliability and relevance of accounting information. Even though it may be argued that value–based techniques are more relevant because it is a better reflection of the current business conditions, the mere subjective nature thereof and the accountant?s objective valuation skills make the true relevance of this information questionable. Furthermore, mixed model valuations found in financial statements makes cross–company information unreliable. Accountancy research of the past four decades focussed on the concept of user decision–usefulness. The user is also pre–eminent in the globalisation of accounting standards of the FASB and the IASB, where users are specified as the equity investors, lenders and capital providers. The 4th article acknowledges that although these user categories are important consumers of the financial data, there are other users which are also impacted by the financial information and the company?s operational performances. There are also concerns over accounting?s key assumptions, such as its quantification and predictive abilities, which are fundamental to the decision–usefulness objective. Furthermore, there are questions around how the regulators decided what information is suppose to be useful and what type of utility is being sought. In summary, the focus on the vocational aspects of accountancy stands in contrast to claims of accounting as an academic discipline in the social sciences. The reality is that the practices of the profession will probably always play a central role in what is taught at university level, and the regulators, as the final authority on accounting standards, will probably remain dictatorial in promulgating their versions of accounting theory. Yet, accounting and its wide spread impact on society, makes it a key discipline within the economical and management sciences. It is therefore essential for the resurrection of accounting as a social scientific discipline that there is a return to foundational accounting research that will prepare (and enable) prospective practitioners and academics to question the status quo and push back on accounting practices that are threatening to extinguish the flame of accounting scholarship. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Accounting))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011.

Recent corporate reporting history is well–known for its corporate failures and questionable accountancy practices, many of which caused the profession to be frowned upon. However, the splodge on the accounting profession?s reputation goes deeper than its corporate reporting failures. The scientific foundation thereof is also being questioned in academic circles. Even though accounting scholars have been trying to formulate foundational accounting theories, it has been the accounting regulators that have been more successful in promoting their versions of what accounting theory should be, which place a question mark on the legitimacy of current day accounting theory. This thesis aims to delve deeper into the foundational philosophies of accounting and its impact on the practice of accounting. With the current accounting globalisation efforts, the profession?s stewardship function is becoming less prominent in its promulgated standards, which in turn brings the focus on the many questionable ethical practices found in the profession. Even though the regulatory bodies require their members to commit themselves to professional codes of conduct, which entails competency, integrity, objectivity and confidentiality, the 1st article in this thesis claims that ethical conduct is more than mere adherence to rules and regulations. It is also about the image of not only the profession, but also accounting research and education. Accounting is broadly practised, researched and taught within its so–called conceptual framework, of which a key objective is to guide and inform accounting practice. The conceptual framework became the basis upon which accounting theory is based. However, many accounting scholars are openly critical of presenting accounting theory as a set of practical guidelines. The 2nd article in the thesis concludes that, from an academic perspective, accounting theory should be based on three quintessential guidelines. The first of which is its primary purpose of reporting on the historic economic events, secondly the provision of useable and comparable information about these events and finally, the facilitation of business decisions based on relevant and reliable information. In the above mentioned business decisions, the concept of value is often taken for granted and many accounting techniques? effectiveness is judged on how well it approximates an item?s value. The 3rd article argues that the multiple purposes for which accounting information is used complicates the issue of value, as reported by accounting. Two key conflicting valuation perspectives are the so–called decision–usefulness and true income perspectives. The current drive towards fair value accounting, as opposed to historic cost accounting, cast doubts on the reliability and relevance of accounting information. Even though it may be argued that value–based techniques are more relevant because it is a better reflection of the current business conditions, the mere subjective nature thereof and the accountant?s objective valuation skills make the true relevance of this information questionable. Furthermore, mixed model valuations found in financial statements makes cross–company information unreliable. Accountancy research of the past four decades focussed on the concept of user decision–usefulness. The user is also pre–eminent in the globalisation of accounting standards of the FASB and the IASB, where users are specified as the equity investors, lenders and capital providers. The 4th article acknowledges that although these user categories are important consumers of the financial data, there are other users which are also impacted by the financial information and the company?s operational performances. There are also concerns over accounting?s key assumptions, such as its quantification and predictive abilities, which are fundamental to the decision–usefulness objective. Furthermore, there are questions around how the regulators decided what information is suppose to be useful and what type of utility is being sought. In summary, the focus on the vocational aspects of accountancy stands in contrast to claims of accounting as an academic discipline in the social sciences. The reality is that the practices of the profession will probably always play a central role in what is taught at university level, and the regulators, as the final authority on accounting standards, will probably remain dictatorial in promulgating their versions of accounting theory. Yet, accounting and its wide spread impact on society, makes it a key discipline within the economical and management sciences. It is therefore essential for the resurrection of accounting as a social scientific discipline that there is a return to foundational accounting research that will prepare (and enable) prospective practitioners and academics to question the status quo and push back on accounting practices that are threatening to extinguish the flame of accounting scholarship. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Accounting))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011.