Date of Award
Summer 8-22-2026
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Ph.D. in Business
Organizational Unit
Daniels College of Business
First Advisor
Nathan Waddoups
Second Advisor
Macy Knutson
Third Advisor
George Ruch
Copyright Statement / License for Reuse
All Rights Reserved.
Keywords
Accounting ethics, Ethical decision making, Ethical leadership, Tone at the top
Abstract
This dissertation examines how senior executives' ethical leadership shapes accountants' responses to ethically questionable tasks. While prior research emphasizes "tone at the top," few studies compare the relative influence of the CEO and CFO directly. Drawing on social learning theory, vicarious learning, and social identity theory, this study predicts that consistent ethical leadership from both executives will reduce accountants' willingness to engage in ethically questionable tasks, with the CFO expected to exert greater influence than the CEO due to functional alignment and organizational proximity. Using a between-participants experimental design, CEO and CFO ethical leadership were manipulated across four conditions. Accounting professionals in private industry evaluated whether to book an unsupported journal entry. Contrary to expectations, results revealed a significant interaction between CEO and CFO ethical leadership: consistent strong ethical leadership was associated with a higher likelihood of engaging in the ethically questionable task. Supplemental analyses indicate this effect stems from how participants interpreted the task's ethical nature—aligned ethical leadership reduced perceptions of the task as unethical, increasing compliance.
Copyright Date
8-2026
Publication Statement
Copyright is held by the author. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.
Rights Holder
Dawn Marie Reed
Provenance
Received from ProQuest
File Format
application/pdf
Language
English (eng)
Extent
91 pgs
File Size
1.8 MB
Recommended Citation
Reed, Dawn Marie, "Ethical Tone at the Top: Comparing CEO and CFO Influence on Accountants’ Ethical Decision Making" (2026). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 2800.
https://digitalcommons.du.edu/etd/2800
Included in
Accounting Commons, Business Law, Public Responsibility, and Ethics Commons, Leadership Commons