ACCT19083 Final Assignment

ACCT19083 Final Assignment
Term 2, 2017
Student ID:..................................... Student name..............................................................
Marker’s overall comments: The markers may include
any final comments here.
Overall Mark (Total) out of 40:
0

Part A Question 1: Did Buddy, Troy and Betty give informed consent to making
the requested accounting adjustments? Explain your answer. You should also
explain the concept of "informed consent" before answering the question.
The best way to defined informed consent is the explicit permission which is provided by a person, to
a particular thing, after they evaluate the facts and the possibilities or the result of such undertaken action.
In other words, after taking into consideration all the relevant facts, the results and the particular action,
the consent given to go forward with the task is known as informed consent. The informed consent is based
on the ethics which a person upholds as these ethics help in evaluating the position which the person is
faced with (Brown, 2011).
The WorldCom case study shows that informed consent had been given by Buddy, Troy and Betty.
This can be stated because they were accounting experts who had particularly learned the law and
standards which they had to follow. Also, they were well aware that by undertaking the tweaking of
accounting books, they would be breaching numerous laws and codes, apart from their personal ethics.
Their knowledge of financial statement, given through the different professional bodies, and the regulatory
requirements which every company has to follow was well known to them, which shows that they not only
had the knowledge about the financial transaction which were asked to be tweaked were wrong (Cooper,
2010). Also, there apprehensions about going forward with this act, shows that they knew that the
consequences of such actions were grave and that they could be severely punished for indulging in such
activities. It does not matter that they were hesitant, as they still went forward with the entire transaction,
even when they knew it was a wrong thing to do, both legally and ethically. Hence, it becomes very clear
that there had been an informed consent of the three individuals when they agreed to the requests of Scott
for tweaking the accounting books, where millions were wrongly depicted.
References:
Brown, B. (2011).
Informed Consent: The U.S. Medical Education System Explained. USA: BookBaby.
Cooper, C. (2010).
Extraordinary Circumstances: The Journey of a Corporate Whistleblower. West Sussex:
John Wiley & Sons.
Marker’s Comments: The marker will provide feedback here. Mark (5):
0

Exceeds Expectations
(High Distinction) 85-100%
Exceeds Expectations
(Distinction) 75 - 84%
Meets Expectations
(Credit) 65 – 74%
Meets Expectations
(Pass) 50 – 64%
Below Expectations
(Fail) below 50%
Demonstrates a balanced and very
high level of detailed knowledge of
core concepts by providing a very
high level of analysis. Utilises
current, appropriate and credible
sources.
Demonstrates a balanced and high
level of knowledge of core
concepts by providing a high level
of analysis. Utilises mostly current,
appropriate and credible sources.
Demonstrates a good level of
knowledge of some of the core
concepts by providing some level
of analysis. Utilises some current,
appropriate and credible sources.
Demonstrates limited knowledge of
core concepts by providing a
limited level of analysis. Utilises
few current, appropriate and
credible sources.
Demonstrates little, if any,
knowledge of the core concepts
with extremely limited, if any,
analysis. Utilises little, if any,
current, appropriate and credible
sources.
Quality of writing at a very high
standard. Paragraphs are
coherently connected to each
other. Correct grammar, spelling
and punctuation.
Quality of writing is of a high
standard. Paragraphs are mostly
well structured. Few grammar,
spelling and punctuation mistakes.
Quality of writing is of a good
standard. Few grammar, spelling
and punctuation mistakes.
Some problems with sentence
structure and presentation
Frequent grammar, punctuation
and spelling mistakes. Use of
inappropriate language.
Quality of writing is at a very poor
standard so barely
understandable. Many spelling
mistakes. Little or no evidence of
proof reading.
The assessment presents a
detailed and focused summary of
the ideas presented; drawing clear
and well thought-out conclusions.
The assessment presents a fairly
detailed and focused summary of
the ideas presented; drawing fairly
clear and well thought-out
conclusions.
The assessment presents a
somewhat detailed and focused
summary of the ideas presented;
providing some evidence of
conclusions.
The assessment provides limited
detail with no clear summary of the
ideas presented; drawing limited
conclusions.
The assessment fails to provide
any clear evidence of the ideas
presented; drawing no clear
conclusions.