Integrity is about completeness, wholeness, trustworthiness and reliability.
In the business world, integrity is central to ethical decision-making and goes beyond risk management and compliance. Building trust is an organic process.
Business law structures are designed to enable as well as protect. Compliance and risk management are essential elements of legal frameworks, but a successful business will go far beyond the bare minimum. Positive engagement with the transparency and accountability provisions of business regulation demonstrates an openness to collaboration and cooperation.
ACCA believes that lawmakers should formulate frameworks in which business success makes a net positive contribution to society’s prosperity. A sustainable organisation is one committed to minimising environmental impact while putting social justice and social responsibility at the heart of strategy. But to influence how the business is perceived, those commitments must be measured against a reliable and trusted framework, and the results clearly communicated.
For a business to prosper it must enjoy the trust of its stakeholders. Public trust in business relies on sound decision making, which flourishes in an environment of transparency and accountability, and this is enabled by a good business law framework. Engagement with trusted frameworks and standards allows business to operate ethically in an environment where mutual confidence in a shared goal drives effective and efficient collaborations.
‘Focused on public interest, and backed by ethics, business and finance expertise developed through lifelong learning and [the] connectivity of the profession’s networks, professional accountants are central to creating, protecting and communicating value for organisations and society. The profession can be that source of trust society is calling for’.[1]
[1] ACCA (2020), ‘Accountants, Purpose and Sustainable Organisations’ [website article], 22 May <https://www.accaglobal.com/my/en/professional-insights/pro-accountants-the-future/Accountants_Purpose_Sustainable-Organisations.html>, accessed 28 September 2020.