Role of Ethical Issues in Accounting on Business Performance of Hotel Companies in Australia

Running head: RESEARCH PROPOSAL
Research Proposal
Name of the student
Name of the university
Author note

1RESEARCH PROPOSAL
Abstract
The report had proposed to examine the role of ethical issues in accounting on business
performance of hotel companies in Australia. The report had developed effective objective,
research question and hypothesis. Past literature has been clearly evaluated. Triple bottom
and sustainability have been discussed in detail where the study will aim to identify the
different measures and indicators needed to quantify social impact. The impact of these
factors on accounting and business would be evaluated by using mixed method. The
methodology for conducting the study had also been proposed and is expected to draw
relevant conclusion.

2RESEARCH PROPOSAL
Table of Contents
1.0 Introduction..........................................................................................................................3
1.1 Research Problem.............................................................................................................3
1.2 Background of the study..................................................................................................3
1.3 Objective of the research..................................................................................................4
1.4 Research question.............................................................................................................4
1.5 Research hypothesis.........................................................................................................4
2.0 Literature review..................................................................................................................4
2.1 Introduction......................................................................................................................4
2.2 Business ethics, sustainability and triple bottom line......................................................5
2.3 Modern accounting...........................................................................................................6
2.4 Literature gap...................................................................................................................6
3.0 Research methodology.........................................................................................................6
3.1 Research philosophy........................................................................................................7
3.2 Research approach...........................................................................................................7
3.3 Research design................................................................................................................7
3.4 Data collection and Analysis............................................................................................7
3.5 Sampling..........................................................................................................................8
3.6 Reliability and Validity....................................................................................................8
3.7 Ethical consideration........................................................................................................8
4.0 References..........................................................................................................................10

3RESEARCH PROPOSAL
Title: To Evaluate the Role of Accounting Issues in Hotel Industry
1.0 Introduction
This report will propose to perform a research where the role of accounting issues in
Hotel industry will be evaluated. Management accounting is one of the key areas of
operations and decision making for managers in the hotel industry. It provides specialised
information about the performance of each department along with effectiveness of the
resource allocation. Globalization has increased the competitiveness in the market and the
companies in the hospitality industry have been facing immense competition as hospitality
industry is one of the major contributors to economic growth in Australia. Accounting has
been changing in the past few years where it is has been easier to keep record and track of
data after the incorporation of information technology in accounting. Companies can use
accounting as a means of improving their overall operation but there are certain and issues
that modern organizations face while developing sustainable business practices and this study
will critically evaluate these factors to provide solutions for the hotel industry in Australia.
1.1 Research Problem
Business sustainability and sustainability practices are major concerns for the
organizations due to the increase in carbon emission and scarcity of resources. Hotel industry
is one of the fastest growing sector and role of management accounting has been immense in
enhancing the performance of the industry. Hotel industry is driven by products and services
both at the same time and it is essential to evaluate the quality of the services regularly to
keep the consumers satisfied. Management accounting has changed significantly in the past
decade due to the incorporation of online accounting systems where companies are able to
easily convert data and financial statements into knowledge and meaningful information.
However, the majority of the peer reviewed journals have not been able to throw light on the
fact that whether the companies in the hospitality industry in Australia are using triple bottom
line for developing sustainable practices. The incorporation of a triple bottom line and
implementation of ethical practices to act as a responsible corporate citizen is the need of the
hour. Ethical aspect of accounting would be dealt with in this research to critically examine
the accounting challenges faced the organizations.
1.2 Background of the study
The changes in the modern organizational setting and societal changes have made the
organizations in different sector accountable for the impact of business on sustainability. The
importance of accounting has increased significantly and companies use triple bottom as a
measure of identifying their contribution to the society and the environment. However, it is
quite difficult to quantify the positive contribution and record it into a sustainability report.
The basic accounting issues internal accounting and auditing has been removed mostly due to
the use of software, the chances of error is almost zero (Bavik, 2016). Ethical issues in
accounting arises from different factors and conflict of interest is one of the major issues and
accessibility of data. The overall accounting data and financial statements are stored in online
accounting systems. Security and accessibility of the data creates ethical dilemma among the
stakeholders to understand the level of accessibility to be provided to the employees (Beck,
Kim and Schmidgall, 2016). Financial statement reflects upon the performance of the
organization in terms of profitability and contribution of the society. It is easy to manipulate
data to show performances and mislead the stakeholders. This happens quite often due to the
immense pressure that the companies are put through due to the intensity of the competition
in the global market.