Do Internal Auditors and Management Accountants Have Different Ethical Philosophies

Examines whether internal auditors and management accountants have different personal ethical philosophies. Also examines the possible presence of intervening variables such as personal (i.e. age, gender, experience, education, professional certification and salary) or environmental factors (i.e. industry and corporate ethical environment). Data were obtained from questionnaires returned by 474 internal auditors (47.4 per cent response rate) and 558 management accountants (37.2 per cent response rate) located in the southeastern United States. The results indicate that significant differences exist between the ethical philosophies of internal auditors and management accountants. Of the other factors tested, only corporate ethical environment was found to be related to the ethical philosophies of the respondents.