Ethical Dilemmas and Sustainability in Business Environment

This report discusses ethical dilemmas and sustainability in the business environment, providing solutions to overcome the issues faced. It covers false accounting, data privacy, and sustainability accounting.

ESSAY

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3
PART A...........................................................................................................................................3
ETHICAL DILEMMAS RELATED ISSUES AND SOLUTIONS............................................3
PART B............................................................................................................................................5
SUSTAINABILITY RELATED ISSUES AND SOLUTIONS..................................................5
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
Ethical dilemmas and sustainability are two major aspects that the world is working upon
in the current times in particular. These aspects are considered to be very relevant when it comes
to the business environment in particular too. Therefore, this particular report discusses regarding
these two aspects. The report is divided into two parts and the first part of the report gives
description regarding the two major ethical dilemmas faced by the business sector in the current
times and further the report will also recommend the most suitable solutions regarding the
mentioned ethical dilemmas in particular. The next part of the report gives description regarding
the sustainability issues faced by the business sector in the current times and the solutions related
to those issues in particular.
MAIN BODY
PART A
ETHICAL DILEMMAS RELATED ISSUES AND SOLUTIONS.
Ethical dilemmas or ethical issues in particular refer to the situations which occur due to
the moral conflicts that must specifically be addressed in particular (Reid. And eta.l., 2018).
There are many such issues that are faced by the companies in particular in the current times.
And specially in the accounting field of the company, as it is more prone because it is related to
all the financial and confidential transactions done by the company in particular. The two major
ethical dilemmas are mentioned in the further paragraphs and the solutions regarding each of
them are mentioned below too.
One of the major and most relevant ethical dilemma that is faced by the accounting
department of a company is false accounting (Guragai. and et.al., 2017). False accounting
basically refers to recording of the transactions in a manner that is incorrect in particular. This is
one major issue because by this the company gives a false impression of the performance and the
working of the company and mainly the profits generated by the company to the stakeholders of
the company and mainly the external stakeholders. For an instance, a company's financial year
ends at December 31 and the company signs a particular contract generally on the date of
December 1 which are the usually of a year long length (Jarrett., 2016). The accounting
principles state that the company should only record the revenues of one single month only for
the specific financial year and the remaining revenue will be recorded in the next year's records.
But the accounting department records the entire amount in one single month for the purpose of

boosting the revenue, this will enhance the performance review of the company but is not true
and the stakeholders are misguided.
For the solution of this particular issue, the overall books of accounts that are specified by
the company need to be reviewed by a body that is not partial and works mainly for the
customers and the individuals in the market. Also, laws regarding taking strict actions for any of
the companies performing such activities will harm the interests of the company majorly. Hence,
the company should perform self- reviewing mainly for the purpose of protecting the self-
interests of the company by protecting the interests of the market they are operating within. The
organizations also require to have accounting professional that are fully educated on the topics of
ethics and know about the consequences of doing so. Also, many companies establish the
whistle- blower hotlines for the purpose of encouraging the employees for demonstrating the
aspects of integrity as well as honesty within the workplace.
Another major issue that is faced within the accounting department of the companies or
the organizations is the data privacy or confidentiality in particular (Schwartz., 2019). The data
that is attained by the company from the side of the consumers or the buyers or the investors is
confidential. Hence, the company should fully take care of that data not being out and being
easily accessible to anyone. Also, the company in particular should not use the data that is
provided on the basis or the grounds of trust by the company in a manner that is faulty. The
breaches of the privacy hinders the levels of trust and also runs the risks of mainly dilution of the
security. It also shows disrespect towards the laws and the legislations as well as violation of the
ethical principles too. Also, improvisations and inclination of the overall market towards a more
digital perspective has increased the risks of confidentiality of the data or the information
(Petrescu. and Krishen., 2018). The data that is provided is given due to trust and reliability
towards the company. But that data can be used in many ways. For example, the bank details are
given by the customers at the time of doing online payment and those details in particular reach
to the company, if the company is conducting malpractices, then the company can use that
specific data provided by the customer to take the amount from their bank accounts. Also, by
using the contact details, many other practices that might harm the customer in particular might
be conducted by the company.
For solving this specific issue or dilemma in particular, one of the major things that the
company should specifically take care about is the employees they have employed. The

background and the authenticating of their backgrounds is necessary. Also, in the companies too
training regarding the importance of ethics and the laws that are implemented in particular if
ethics are not been followed needs to be given. This will educate the employees in the
accounting departments of the company which will further warn them if they were thinking
about doing something against the ethics. Also, the companies should implement the legislations
and guidelines within the organizational structure and take strict actions if they are not followed
in particular. Also, these guidelines should be communicated by the management to all the
employees in particular. This will help the employees to be within the boundaries, and they will
also work as per the ethics. The technologies related to security of the big data should also be
implemented within the companies so the information or the data that is provided by the
customers to the company is not even seen by the employees working within the company, rather
it is all computerized and is kept confidential in that way.
PART B
SUSTAINABILITY RELATED ISSUES AND SOLUTIONS.
Sustainability accounting is one major necessity for the companies that are working in the
current market place in particular (Thiele., 2016). It is basically a practice in which the company
take care of the measurement, analysis and the reporting of the environmental as well as the
social impacts of the company in particular. This depends on the position that is held within the
company, all the stakeholders of the organization or the company might have diverse interests
related to the sustainability aspect in particular.
One major issue that is faced in regard to the sustainability aspect within a business or an
organization in particular is the increase in the usage of the technologies. It is one major need or
requirement of companies to use the technologically advanced equipments within their
organization (Tiwari. and Khan., 2020). Mainly to keep up with the changing business
environment of the world and to decrease the dependency of the work on the human resources
and increasing the dependency on the technological resources in particular. But this is harming
the overall environment in two major ways. Firstly, the use of technology more is enhancing the
usage of electricity too, which is leading to depletion of the environmental conditions and also
increase in the rates of the electricity too. And next, by the usage of more and more technology
the human resource requirements of the companies is decreasing, which is further harming the
social aspects of the environment in particular (De Villiers. and Maroun., 2017). It is necessary

to protect the health as well as the safety of the human resources that are particularly present in
the environment.
One major solution is to implement laws that are related to the human rights principles.
The laws and the legislations are required to be strict and are also very necessary as they will
incline the management of the companies to focus more the rights and the efficiency of the
human resources. The human resources that are present within the market are also required to be
given efficient training so that they can provide the best work and performance by aligning with
the technology used within the particular organization. Also, the customers present in the market
should be educated regarding the impact of enhanced technological use on the environment, so
that they will be more inclined towards the companies that are not totally dependent on the
technological resources in particular. Also, due to this the companies or the organizations will
also work in accordance to the requirements or the needs of the customers in particular. Which
will lead to increase in the levels of human resources within the organizations and decrease I the
levels of technological resources, due to which the ecological and the environmental conditions
will also be impacted in a manner that is considered to be positive in particular.
Another issue that is faced in the aspect of sustainability within the organization or the
company in particular is focusing upon the control of the organization and the aspects that the
organization particularly depends upon (Munoz. Zhao. and Yang., 2017). The company does not
mainly focus upon the aspects such as the products of the company, the services of the company
and the operations of the company in particular. Also, it should focus on the aspects which the
company is dependent upon, the energy, the suppliers, the partners as well as the resources used
by the company. Many companies working within the business environment do not work by
keeping in mind the specific issues like the climate crises, the plastic pollution, the loss of the
species and the inequality in particular (Ascani. Ciccola. and Chiucchi., 2021). These cause a
major sustainable downfall in the environment as well. Therefore, it is necessary for companies
to work in accordance with the needs of the environment in the present or the current times. And
this can be done by many ways.
There are many ways through which the company can be more inclined towards the
aspect of sustainability. This is mainly by focusing on taking the most appropriate and the most
suitable decisions based on the sustainable requirements of the environment that the company is
working within. One major thing which the company should focus on is the suppliers of the

company, which basically means the company should only deal which suppliers that provide raw
materials that are sustainable as well as the extraction of those raw materials should also be
sustainable in particular. Also, the government should implement strict laws so that the company
and the employees of the company will be inclined towards a more sustainable world in
particular. Also, one of the major aspects that should be considered to implement a more
sustainable world in particular is to work for the environment. This will be done if the customers
will be more interested in the consumption of goods and services that come from a company that
focuses on the sustainable approaches too. This will also motivate the company in doing so as
per the demands of the customers or the consumers that are present within the market or the
industry that the company is working within in particular.
CONCLUSION
The report above discusses regarding the issues of ethical dilemmas and the issues of
sustainability in the business environment in particular. Also, the report gives a brief description
and recommendation regarding the solutions that should be implemented by companies or by
organizations for the purpose of overcoming the issues that are faced. The above report give a
complete analysis in a manner that is understandable and is also relevant in terms of the issues
faced in either of the sectors of the society mentioned above.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Ascani, I., Ciccola, R. and Chiucchi, M.S., 2021. A structured literature review about the role of
management accountants in sustainability accounting and
reporting. Sustainability. 13(4). p.2357.
De Villiers, C. and Maroun, W. eds., 2017. Sustainability accounting and integrated reporting.
Routledge.
Guragai, B. and et.al., 2017. Accounting information systems and ethics research: Review,
synthesis, and the future. Journal of Information Systems. 31(2). pp.65-81.
Jarrett, J.E., 2016. The problems of accounting reporting false information and
estimation. Intellectual Property Rights S. 1. p.007.
Munoz, E., Zhao, L. and Yang, D.C., 2017. Issues in sustainability accounting
reporting. Accounting and Finance Research. 6(3). pp.1-64.
Petrescu, M. and Krishen, A.S., 2018. Analyzing the analytics: data privacy concerns. Journal of
Marketing Analytics. 6(2). pp.41-43.
Reid, A.M. And eta.l., 2018. Ethical dilemmas and reflexivity in qualitative
research. Perspectives on medical education. 7(2). pp.69-75.
Schwartz, P.M., 2019. Global data privacy: The EU way. NYUL Rev. 94. p.771.
Thiele, L.P., 2016. Sustainability. John Wiley & Sons.
Tiwari, K. and Khan, M.S., 2020. Sustainability accounting and reporting in the industry
4.0. Journal of cleaner production. 258. p.120783.