Czech & Slovak Republic & Hungary - September 2007
ACCA members and other stakeholders attended the Professionalism and Ethics business meeting in Prague, Czech Republic on 5 September 2007. The aim of the event was to celebrate the launch of the new ACCA Qualification and to stress the importance of professionalism and ethics in business.
Moyra Kedslie, ACCA council member, opened the seminar with a presentation on professionalism in the accountancy profession. She also introduced the new ACCA Qualification, having been closely involved in developing it. An emphasis on professionalism and ethics is integrated in 11 of the 16 papers in the new syllabus and ACCA also introduced a dedicated paper – Professional Accountant – which covers key areas of governance, internal control and compliance, risk and ethics and professional values. She closed her address with: ‘ACCA will continue to strive for higher standards and help build a global accounting professional. In other words, we seek to ensure that each ACCA member makes “a good accountant” – and also “an accountant that’s good’.
Petr Kavalir, a senior consultant and partner at corporate governance consulting company CG Partners, talked in his address about the importance of business ethics and company cultures. He spoke about the need to ensure that ethics is embedded within company culture and that companies are also aligned with public and investor’s opinion. It is essential to build a strong, flexible and resilient culture that is driven by company values; to have a code of ethics is not enough.
Michael Al-Nassir, a partner and country manager at executive search company Pedersen & Partners, spoke about ethics in business and leadership. He also spoke about evolution of business ethics in the Czech Republic during 1989 to 2007. In the early 1990s business ethics was in decline due to insufficient legal reforms. In the late 1990s some improvements took place due to an increased pressure from international and local circles. In the mid 2000s there is a continuing improvement in business ethics, despite limited public sector reforms. He also touched on how business ethics can contribute to making an ‘attractive employer’.
The last key speaker, Vlastimil Hokr, a partner at BDO Ceska republika, explained BDO’s approach to professionalism and ethics. He talked about the IFAC’s code of ethics and rules of professional behaviour – acceptance of the responsibility to act in the public interest and not to satisfy the needs of an individual client or employer.
Just before lunch Jarka Toutonghi introduced a non-profit organisation based in Prague – Institute for Organisational Culture and Ethics Development. The Institute strives to increase awareness of the importance of the role of culture, ethics and professionalism in businesses across local and global markets.
The Institute helps organisations and individuals to strengthen ethical principles and encourage high standards of business conduct based on professional ethical values.