Browsing by Author "Onumah, R.M."
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Item The effects of personal and organisational attributes on ethical attitudes of professional accountants: evidence from Ghana(Emerald Publishing Limited, 2022) Onumah, R.M.; Simpson, S.N.Y.; Kwarteng, A.Purpose – This paper aims to examine the effects of personal attributes (greed and desire for personal gains, behaviour of peers and superiors, personal values, family influences and pressures, religious background, ego strength, etc.), organisational attributes (company policies, codes of conduct and visionary leadership, etc). and themoderating role of ethical codes of conduct on the ethical attitudes of professional accountants. Design/methodology/approach – The study uses data from a survey of 340 professional accountants in Ghana, using the ordinary least square regression analysis to test hypothesized relationships. Findings – The results suggest that personal attributes collectively have positive and significant influence on ethical attitudes. Similarly, organisational attributes collectively have positive and significant influence on ethical attitudes. Moreover, ethical codes of conduct moderate the positive relationship between personal and organisational attributes and ethical attitudes of accountants. Originality/value – In the light of the social contingent theory, the findings imply that personal and organisational attributes, when interacted with professional code of conduct strengthens ethical attitudes of accountants. To the best of the knowledge, this is the first paper to have examined the moderating effect of professional code of conduct on ethical attitudes of accountants from a developing country context.Item Ethics and curriculum design of accounting programmes in a developing country: a qualitative insight(Accounting Education, 2021) Onumah, R.M.; Simpson, S.N.Y.; Kwarteng, A.The paper explores curriculum design and drivers of ethics in universities and professional accounting bodies in Ghana. Data were collected through individual face-to-face interviews. The study revealed that ethics in the curricula of universities and professional bodies are integrated within and across subjects and within all levels of programmes. Also, ethics is integrated using a combination of stand-alone, embedded and narrative approaches. Factors such as faculty initiative, industry demand, international benchmarking and modernisation are some of the drivers of ethics in the universities and the professional accounting bodies. Accounting educators need to understand the nature and drivers of ethics in the design of accounting curricula in order to improve the ethical practices of accounting graduates. The study is among the few that adopts an in-depth qualitative approach in highlighting the nature of ethics curriculum design for universities and professional bodies.Item Ethics in Accounting Education and Practice in Ghana(University of Ghana, 2019-07) Onumah, R.M.Reports of unethical attitudes involving members of the accounting profession have increased in recent times. The reported ethical infractions occurring globally have resulted in the collapse of corporate bodies in developed and developing economies. Accounting educators and professional accounting bodies have been partly blamed for their failure to adequately prepare graduates through education and training. Others have blamed the ethical failures on the personal attributes of ethics (PAE) of accountants and organisational attributes of ethics (OAE) in the working environment together with other factors. The objective of this study has been to investigate the effect of ethics education interventions, personal attributes of ethics and organisational attributes of ethics on ethical attitudes of accountants (EAA) using evidence from Ghana, a developing country in sub-Saharan Africa. The study further examines ethics curriculum design of university and professional accounting programmes in Ghana. The study employed quantitative and qualitative research approaches. The first three objectives were addressed quantitatively whilst the fourth objective adopted a qualitative approach using interviews to answer the research questions. The study surveyed 77 accounting instructors from universities and 340 professional accountants. Thirteen key administrators including deans, heads of accounting departments (HoADs), senior officials and council members of the Institute of Chartered Accountants, Ghana (ICAG) and of the National Accreditation Board (NAB) were further interviewed. The principal component analysis was used to generate scores in measuring the study variables. The ordinary least square (OLS) estimation was used in the analysis of quantitative data. The results of the study reveal a positive and significant relationship between ethics related courses (ERC), method of teaching ethics (MTE), method of ethics intervention (MEI) and objectives of ethics courses (OEC). The results also show a positive and significant relationship between experience gained on the job and ethical attitude. The study further reveals that individual PAE and OAE in themselves are not sufficient in influencing ethical attitudes; rather they collectively combine to positively and significantly influence EAA. Additionally, faculty initiatives, industry demand, international benchmarking and modernisation are the drivers of ethics in the curriculum of universities and professional accounting programmes in Ghana. Finally, it was observed that the design of ethics in the curriculum of accounting programmes in Ghana is motivated by the desire to preserve the economy, the desire the desire to avoid corruption and by the dynamism of the business environment, globalisation and sustainability. The study has implications for the adoption of ERC, MTE and MEI in the development of ethics curriculum. Besides, the type of institution is key in the desire to achieve objectives set for making ethics interventions.Item Pensions and retirement systems research: a retrospective assessment from 1910 to 2022 using bibliometric analysis(Emerald Publishing, 2023) Owusu, G.M.Y.; Onumah, R.M.; Essel-Donkor, A.E.Abstract Purpose – This study aims to present a bibliometric analysis of research on pensions and retirement systems over the past 100 years. The study examines the intellectual structure and mapping in the field of pension and retirement; uncovers growth and publication patterns; identifies thematic areas in the pension domain; provides analysis of gaps; and recommends direction for future research. Design/methodology/approach – The study sourced data from the Scopus database between 1910 and 2022 covering a 112-year period. Employing bibliometric techniques, a total of 6,661 papers were selected and analyzed using SPSS and VOSviewer software. Findings – Results from the cluster analysis suggest research in this domain has focused on five thematic areas namely pension plans, retirement systems, pension schemes, demographic, and socio-economic determinants of pension and retirement decisions. The authors show from the overlay visualization output how these themes have evolved within the period under review. The study further presents major developments, conclusions and suggestions for future research directions based on insights obtained from the research themes to enrich the field of pension and retirement planning. Research limitations/implications –The study is useful for informing researchers and practitioners on the state of the pension domain, and findings are useful avenues in developing the research field. Originality/value – The study adds to existing literature on pension and retirement by offering an analysis of the state of pension research over a century and highlighting areas for future research.Item What drives the attainment of goals of ethical education in higher institutions? The perception of professional accountants and accounting educators(Journal of Applied Research in Higher Education, 2023) Onumah, R.M.; Owusu, G.M.Y.Purpose This study examines the impact of ethics education interventions (EEI) on attaining ethical education goals in higher institutions. Design/methodology/approach The study utilizes a survey method, with questionnaires distributed to accounting instructors from universities and professional accountants in Ghana. The empirical analysis is based on 417 valid responses, and the hypothesized relationships are tested using ordinary least square (OLS) regression. Findings The results indicate that ethics-related courses (ERC), methods of teaching ethics (MTE) and methods of ethics interventions (MEI) have a positive and significant impact on achieving the objective set for EEI in accounting programs. Research limitations/implications This study provides valuable insights for accounting educators and professional body managers in developing accounting ethics curricula in universities and professional accounting institutions. Originality/value This study involves accounting educators and professionals and applies ethical theories of egoism, deontology and utilitarianism to demonstrate the role of ethical interventions in accounting programs in achieving set objectives from a developing country context.