Reference no: EM132372558

Assignment - First 3 questions from Accounting. Last 3 questions from Nursing. Please read it carefully.

Question 1 - Accounting Theory and concepts

Please read the below statement And answer Question 150 words and reference.

Kohlberg believes that people develop their ability to make judgments upon moral matters in stages. He designed a model of cognitive development to possible decision making in business (Mintz 65) His model is divided into 3 levels or 6 stages. If we imagine an accounting professional faced with a moral dilemma in the workplace depending on what stage of moral development they are in they would chose different paths that would lead them to different resolutions to the same moral dilemma. An accountant who is faced with great punishment from his/her superiors for lack of morality would be in stage 1 and would likely follow the rules and procedures set out by management to resolve the dilemma to an ethical outcome. An accountant who reasons at stage 3 will likely take their client/customer with the greatest regard and will place the clients interest ahead of all else. The thought process of decision making is what cognitive dissonance can be defined as.

Very often there is difference between the organizational dissonance (the level of morality within a company) and the level of ethics in an individual working for that company. Burchard presents what she calls the Ethical Dissonance Cycle Model to illustrate the interaction between individual and organization based on the organizational ethical fit. She claims that there are 2 "perfect" fits where the individual's ethics will be high and the organization's ethics are high. This kind of fit can lead to a constructive end and make the organization highly effective, whereas a low-low type of fit which suggests low individual ethics paired with low organizational ethics can lead to destructive ends. High-low and low-high present a lack of person-organization fit. There is no ethical dissonance with a high-high or low-low fit as the individual's level of ethics aligns with the organization's.

Whistle blowing is unlikely to occur in situations or fits where the individual's level of ethics aligns with the organization's. In the cases of high-high or low-low fit whistle blowing is highly unlikely. In a situation where the person's level of ethics is low and the organization's is high whistle blowing is probably not very likely as an unethical person would not have anything to report within an organization which acts ethically. The most likely fit where whistle blowing may occur is where the individual's ethics level is high and the organization's is low. A company who forces its employees to act unethically and immorally is most likely to be reported to authorities outside of the company of its wrongdoings. An individual who has high regard for ethics will not stand injustice; unethical behaviors; immoral actions; disregard for rules, policies and procedures.

Needless to say, whistle blowing should be the last step that an accountant should consider when trying to correct an injustice within a corporation's ranks. Before blowing the whistle an accounting professional should first try and follow the chain of command to report what they believe is wrong. If that leads nowhere then they should consider going outside the company to report the wrongdoing.

Still, the accountant should take her concerns up the chain of command before even considering whistle blowing and then, consider it, only when nothing has been done to correct the matter and a reasonable period of time has transpired. Whistle blowing under such circumstances reflects stage 5 decision-making where the accountant places the public interest ahead of all else.

References: Mintz, Steven, Roselyn Morris. Ethical Obligations and Decision-Making in Accounting: Text and Cases, 4th Edition. McGraw-Hill Learning Solutions, 02/2016. VitalBook file.

Question below for the above statement.

1) Which one of the four options is the most important and why?

Question 2 - Accounting Theory and concepts

Please respond the below statement starting "I agree or don't agree". Need 200 words and reference.

Professor Greenfield and classmates,

This week we are asked to consider the impact of cognitive and ethical dissonance on the accountant as a whistle-blower on corporate misconduct.

Leon Festinger (1957) noted that there is an inconsistency between how an individual believes they should behave relative to how they decide they should behave. He terms this inconsistency or difference as "cognitive dissonance" where the individual feels the need to reconcile the conflicting beliefs and restore balance. Life is filled with decisions, and decisions (as a general rule) arouse dissonance (McLeod, 2018). Psychotherapists, Tompkins and Lawley felt that this could, under certain circumstances, cause the individual to modify their beliefs rather than modify their behavior. To achieve this inner peace or harmony in beliefs, Festinger (1957) cites three ways to reduce cognitive dissonance:

1. Change one or more of the attitudes, behavior, or beliefs so as to make the relationship between the two elements a consonant one;

2. Acquire new information that outweighs the dissonant beliefs; or

3. Reduce the importance of the cognitions (beliefs, attitudes)

Organizational culture can modify an individual's intentions and decision making. MaryJo Burchard asserts that not enough importance is place on the she terms the "ethical person-organizational fit" in establishing an ethical business culture. Her Ethical Dissonance Cycle theory (Burchard, 2011) is based on the person-organizational dynamic (PO) at various stages within the contractual relationship of the individual and the organization. A person comes into an organization with their individual ethics and moral values, while the organization imposes its ethical culture upon the individual's behavior. Burchard defines four ethical fit scenarios.

High-High - High organizational ethics, with High individual ethics.

High-Low - High organizational ethics, with Low individual ethics.

Low-High - Low organizational ethics, with High individual ethics.

Low-Low - Low organizational ethics, with Low individual ethics.

In the case of the High-High and Low-Low ethical fit scenarios, there is no ethical dissonance. Burchard posits that "Whether the ethical shortfall is on the part of the individual or the organization, it triggers a cycle of socialization that will attempt to resolve the dissonance" (Burchard, 2011). There is a negative impact upon the organization from the mismatch of PO fit. "When ethical congruence does not exist [between subordinates and supervisors], trust cannot exist; and when trust is lacking, work productivity influenced by this relationship diminishes" (Ralston & Pearson, 2010). The individual's perception of ethical behavior and their process for resolving ethical dissonance is not static and may change if their self-perception is altered, their concept of the organization is altered, or something occurs out of the ordinary to challenge their code of conduct (Burchard, 2011).

According to Steven Mintz, "Creating and sustaining a strong ethical culture is the key to creating an organization that supports people making good ethical decisions and behaving ethically every day" (Mintz, 2016). Reporting corporate misconduct requires an ethical action and would progress through Rest's model of ethical decision making. Accountants with high individual ethics would in identifying an ethical dilemma, feel compelled to resolve ethical organizational dissonance by blowing the whistle on corporate misdeeds. Failure to report misconduct could in time compromise the accountant's ethical behavior. Researchers found that individuals that remained in unethical environments became socialized to conform to the organizations low ethical norms and adopt unethical behavior themselves.

References -

Burchard, M. (2011). Ethical Dissonance and Response to Destructive Leadership: A Proposed Model. Emerging Leadership Journeys, 4(1), 154-176. Regent University. Retrieved from

Festinger, L. (1957). A Theory of cognitive dissonance. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.

McLeod, S. (2018). Cognitive Dissonance. SimplyPsychology.

Mintz, S.M., & Morris, R.E. (2017). Ethical Obligations and Decision-Making in Accounting: Text and Cases, Fourth Edition. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education

Mintz, S.M. (2016, June 16). Ethical Dissonance in Business. Workplace Ethics Advice [online].

Question 3 - Accounting Theory and concepts

Please respond the below statement starting "I agree or don't agree". 200 words and reference.

Burchard proposed the Ethical Dissonance Cycle Model, by which we can identify how the ethical person-organization fit (Mintz & Morris, 2016, p. 117). There are four possible fit: high organizational ethics, high individual ethics (High-High), low organizational ethics, low individual ethics (Low-Low), high organizational ethics, low individual ethics (High-Low), and low organizational ethics, high individual ethics (Low-High) (Mintz & Morris, 2016, p. 117). The first two occurs when both the employee and employer own similar ethical perspectives. The last two are the instances when both parties have ethical dissonances.

An employee with low ethics will have no issue working at the corporate with low organizational ethics and conduct unethical behaviors. The same employee, however, may face the consequences if he/she performs unethical practices while working at the company with high organizational ethics. Perhaps, being exposed to high corporate ethics could help to shape the individual's moral character to be better (Mintz & Morris, 2016, p. 128).

On the other hand, an employee with high ethics who works at the company with high organizational ethics would be most likely to report when he/she sees unethical misconduct. The same employee who works at low corporate ethics, may or may not blow the whistle, depends on the situation that she/he is in.

Below are a few possible situations that could hinder a moral employee from doing what is right:

• The individual may feel he/she is new & raising a concern would not make a difference, as reflected through the Phar-Mor case (Mintz & Morris, 2016, p. 106-108). John Anderson was a new employee and a fresh graduate with not much experience. He knew that the company was doing fraudulent reporting. But considering that his background, he wasn't sure how to rectify the situation since his supervisors were unethical. However, when Cherelstein, a CPA, was hired to be the company's controller, Anderson informed Cherelstein about the falsified numbers and the two sets of books (Mintz & Morris, 2016, p. 107).
• A moral accountant could be involved in fraudulent activities because of the pressures from supervisors. Betty Vinson, a mid-level manager at Worldcom, is an example of a good person who gave in to her supervisor's unethical request (Mintz & Morris, 2016, p.5).
• An employee may fear of retaliation if he/she raises issues of ethical matter, mainly if the misconducts are performed by the top management (Mintz & Morris, 2016, p. 117).

To execute ethical actions, someone needs to possess a moral character. The individual would need to "overcome indifference and opposition, resist distractions, cope with fatigue, and develop tactics and strategies for reaching their goals" (Mintz & Morris, 2016, p. 71).

Reference: Mintz, S. M. & Morris, R. E. (2016). Ethical Obligations and Decision Making in Accounting: Fourth Edition. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education

Question 4 - RN BSN - SUB: pathophysiology and Nursing Management

Dietary and Lifestyle Changes - 125 words and reference.

Dietary and lifestyle changes can be very beneficial in reducing or eliminating heart disease. What are some of these changes, and how do the reverse the disease process?

Question 5 - RN BSN - SUB: pathophysiology and Nursing Management

125 words and reference.

Integrating Health Promotion and Prevention into Our Practice

With the aging of the population, the shift in the burden of disease toward chronic conditions has accelerated. The most prevalent preventable causes of death are now obesity and smoking, which result in delayed but progressive disease. This epidemiologic evolution demands a focus on health promotion and prevention. How can nurses support this shift to health promotion in every day practice?

Fani Marvasti, F., & Stafford, R. S. (2012). From sick care to health care--reengineering prevention into the U.S. system. The New England journal of medicine, 367(10), 889-891. doi:10.1056/NEJMp1206230

Question 6 - RN BSN - SUB: pathophysiology and Nursing Management

100 words and reference.

There are many possible causes of shortness of breath, some of which are serious and require emergency medical care. Less serious cases can be treated at home. Lifestyle changes to help keep shortness of breath at bay include:

• quitting smoking and avoiding tobacco smoke
• avoiding exposure to pollutants, allergens, and environmental toxins
• losing weight if you're obese or overweight
• avoiding exertion at high elevations
• staying healthy by eating well, getting enough sleep, and seeing a doctor for any underlying medical issues
• following the recommended treatment plan for any underlying illness such as asthma, COPD, or bronchitis

What are some teaching points you use when discharging patients from the hospital?

Attachment:- Assignment File.rar