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K-State Today

December 20, 2013

Accounting professor's research to be published in Journal of Business Ethics

Submitted by Olivia Blanco

Amy Hageman, assistant professor in the department of accounting in the College of Business Administration, recently had a paper accepted for publication by the Journal of Business Ethics, a top business journal.

Hageman worked with authors Donna Bobek from the University of Central Florida and Robin Radtke from Clemson University in writing the paper "The Influence of Roles and Organizational Fit on Accounting Professionals' Perceptions of their Firm's Ethical Environment."

Hageman's research efforts were supported by a 2012 College of Business Administration summer research grant.

"The college's summer research grants have been very beneficial in furthering my research agenda," Hageman said. "The support provided by this summer research grant has enabled me to achieve these outcomes."

The college supports faculty research by providing them with a number of grants, such as the summer research grant. Grant amounts vary per year, and faculty members must apply to receive them.

Hageman's paper describes the ethical environment of public accounting firms and their importance for promoting ethical behavior.

The authors tested their research using a questionnaire that was completed by 139 accounting professionals employed at certified public accounting firms.

Their paper is one of the first research studies to empirically test potential reasons why firm leaders and non-leaders can have contrasting perspectives of the firm's ethical environment. Their research suggests that non-leaders may view the firm's ethical environment as similar to non-leaders when they have a role in shaping and maintaining the ethical environment of their firm. Results also showed that firm leaders had stronger perceptions of their firms' ethical environment when they felt a stronger responsibility to serve the public interest and had received mentoring.

"The amount and quality of Amy's research is outstanding and she is a rising star in accounting education today," said Dan Deines, interim department head of accounting. "We are proud of her accomplishments and appreciate the value she is adding to the department."

Hageman's paper will be published in the Journal of Business Ethics' special issue on accounting ethics and tone at the top.

Hageman is the recipient of the College of Business Administration's 2013 Kansas State Bank Teaching Excellence Award.