Financial Reporting SLP: Stakeholder Analysis and Ethics

Financial Reporting
Here is a video by Ed Freeman discussing stakeholders and stakeholder theory: http://www(dot)youtube(dot)com/watch?v=bIRUaLcvPe8
In this Module 4 SLP assignment, you will further the understanding of the ethical issue that you have identified in Module 3 https://www(dot)dropbox(dot)com/s/rkl317o085jh7vl/ETH301%20module%203%20Case.doc?dl=0. One way of better understanding a business decision or ethical issue is to identify the values of the stakeholders who are involved in the decision.
You also learned something about “stakeholders” and “stakeholder theory” in the Module 4 Background page.
Once you have identified the stakeholders you may want to interview them (a few representatives are fine if you have identified stakeholder groups) if you can, to see what they think about the issue and decision. Your own views might change once you’ve heard from the stakeholders. If you are not able to interview them, put yourself in their position and consider what their views might be based on their values.
Please write a 2- to 3-page paper, not including cover page and reference page, explaining who the stakeholders are for this business decision and ethical issue and explaining their views on the issue and decision.
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Module 4 Background page
The issue of transparency in financial reporting has several facets or dimensions. First of all, there is both a positive and negative aspect. On the positive side are the questions of what to report, to whom to report, and when to report. The negative aspect recognizes deception and outright fraud in reporting practices as well as the issue of insider trading.
The intent of financial reporting is to convey information to a company’s investors and other stakeholders about the company’s financial condition and its past, current, and prospective future operations—at various levels of detail depending on the particular interests of these stakeholders. The obvious standards for the positive side of this task relate to truthfulness and significance in terms of actions that might be taken by these stakeholders as a result of what is reported and when. In the case of publicly held corporations, some of the requirements meet standards that are spelled out in regulations set and enforced by the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission and established by national and international accounting organizations—in the United States, for example, by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants' “Generally Accepted Accounting Principles” (GAAP). The Internal Revenue Service requires non-profit organizations with more than $25,000 in annual revenue to file a 990 form reporting financial and related data. Beyond those requirements, the standards regarding reporting what, when, and to whom are largely a matter of custom, stakeholder request, and organizational initiative.
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Required Reading
Presentations: Ethical business: Reasoning from principles. https://www(dot)dropbox(dot)com/s/ek8yizmhat0mgc6/Ethical%20Business%20Reasoning%20from%20Principles.doc?dl=0
Focus on the sections devoted to deontological ethics and stakeholder analysis.
Federwisch, A. (2006). Ethical issues in the financial services industry. Markkula Center for Applied Ethics, Santa Clara University (October). Retrieved March 31, 2014, from http://www(dot)scu(dot)edu/ethics/practicing/focusareas/business/financial-services.html
Financial Reporting Manual. (2014). U.S. Securities Exchange Commission Division of Corporate Finance. Retrieved May 16, 2014, at http://www(dot)sec(dot)gov/divisions/corpfin/cffinancialreportingmanual.shtml
Sherman, F. (2014). Ethical issues among stakeholders in Google. Houston Chronicle. Retrieved May 29, 2014, at http://smallbusiness(dot)chron(dot)com/ethical-issues-among-stakeholders-google-30716.html
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