www.ccsenet.org/ass Asian Social Science Vol. 7, No. 8; August 2011
180 ISSN 1911-2017 E-ISSN 1911-2025
• ‘… in your audit report, you say, we have an auditor. The accounts of the company are prepared in
accordance with the approved auditing standards in Malaysia. So the approved auditing standards in Malaysia
include complying with ethical standards, quality control, and auditing standards’.
Another form of ethical means that translates into inclusive governance practices, as voiced by respondent (no.6),
is through quarterly reporting. This is a monitoring assessment that can keep the agent of governance systems
vigilant of their conformance and performance. The social view of respondent no. 6 is that quarterly reporting is
substantial but not the only means of check and balance strategy in promoting ethical governance.
Process
The ethics process is defined as the proper procedure and process of administrative activities and practices in
companies. The majority of the participants consider a formalized communication process as one form of
administrative process that is ethics.
The respondents believe in communicating ethical values to all levels of management. Ethical programmes
should be set up in order to communicate desirable governance practices. How is this done? One particular
respondent shared his experience; every new recruit to the company spends their first week in an orientation
programme where the code of business practice is explained. The objective of the programme is to ensure that
new recruits understand the practices of business conduct in the company and respect the expectation of the
company towards ethical behaviour. In order to bind their responsibility, accountability and duties, the recruits
have to sign a code of business practice in their first week of employment.
Another form of communicating ethics shared by the respondents is by disclosing information related to
unethical cases to the staff. The respondent states that disclosing through a newsletter a number of cases and the
penalties involved is an inclusive way of increasing awareness, while simultaneously instilling caution in the
staff.