Abstract
The current economic crisis coupled with corporate scandals may have impacted the
future leadership of newly staffed accountants. As a result, it may be of some benefit to see if the
ethical perceptions among newly staffed accountants were affected by the unethical decisionmaking of some key corporate leaders. The purpose of this study therefore, was to explore the
ethical perceptions among newly staffed accountants in light of the unethical behaviors of some
corporate leaders. This study explores the stages of the theory of moral development by
Lawrence Kohlberg using Victor and Cullen’s Ethical Climate Questionnaire (ECQ).
Approximately 75 newly staffed accountants were surveyed. Findings suggest that newly staffed
accountants surveyed in this paper can be used to improve both academia and corporate training.