The Influence of Tone at the Top, Tune in the Middle, and Self-concept Maintenance on Financial Reporting Decisions

Abstract

Financial reporting decisions are influenced by environmental and individual factors. One environmental factor is the example set by management. Research has shown that the tone at the top is related to financial reporting decisions. However, this does not take into consideration that ethical cues from an employee's supervisor might also be relevant. On an individual basis, people who make unethical financial reporting decisions do not appear to be bad or evil people. So, why do these seemingly “good” people make these decisions? The theory of self-concept maintenance (Mazar et al., 2008) posits that individuals balance the desire to gain by behaving unethically with the desire to maintain a positive self-image by behaving ethically. How one balances these is based on one's ability to rationalize an action as honest, with decisions seen as having an ethical component being more difficult to rationalize. Findings indicate that having one person in a leadership position demonstrate a commitment to ethical behavior is related to more ethical financial reporting decisions, whether that person is at the top or closer to the middle. Additionally, a strong tone at the top is related to perceiving a situation is an ethical dilemma while a strong tune in the middle is not. Last, the authors find that a stronger perception that a situation is an ethical dilemma is associated with more ethical financial reporting decisions when the tune in the middle is controlled for, but not when the tone at the top is controlled for.

Citation

Felo, A.J. and Solieri, S.A. (2023), "The Influence of Tone at the Top, Tune in the Middle, and Self-concept Maintenance on Financial Reporting Decisions", Shawver, T.J. (Ed.) Research on Professional Responsibility and Ethics in Accounting (Research on Professional Responsibility and Ethics in Accounting, Vol. 25), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 25-50. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1574-076520230000025002