<p>Decisions are made daily in businesses and individuals do encounter situations where they are faced with ethical issues. The subject is how one evaluates whether an act is ethical or unethical. This research article discusses real life ethical dilemmas that could be faced in accounting or business environment and applicability of various theories of ethics that were taught in accounting theory course in the undergraduate accounting program. The researcher employs a number of case studies highlighting the stories related to ethics that have been experienced in the past working life. Teleological and deontological theories are being used to explain how one could identify that a particular act is ethical or unethical. The work of accountants requires them to maintain high level of ethics to ensure integrity of the profession.  </p>

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to identify and gain recent insights into the extent to which skills expectation gap exists from the perspective of employers in a Pacific Island country, including the competencies perceived essential within the work context of accountants and the support provided by employers to accounting graduates to address the skills expectation gap. Design/methodology/approach Using the expectation–performance gap framework developed by Bui and Porter (2010), this study collects and analyses data via semi-structured interviews with employers at chartered accounting firms, large- and medium-sized commercial and industrial firms in Fiji. Findings Majority of the employers indicated that graduates from the Fijian universities are adequately prepared and have acquired the necessary attributes to perform at the workplace. However, employers expect universities to do a little more in terms of developing confidence and improving ability to apply theoretical knowledge to practice. The findings also outline that the institutional-, social- and student-related constraints directly affect the quality of graduates, which are not in control of academics. Research limitations/implications It is noted that graduate capabilities are developed over two different learning environments. This study focused on how universities prepared graduates to perform at the workplace from the perspective of employers. This serves as a basis for future research to investigate effectiveness of trainings provided by employers to graduates to enable them into becoming successful accounting professionals. Originality/value This study adds clarifications to the debate on academic–practice gap by providing recent insights into the extent to which graduates demonstrate capabilities to perform in the accounting profession, the prevailing issues with graduate capabilities and the employers’ contribution towards strengthening graduate capabilities.

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Since the late 1950s, numerous studies pointed out that the theory-practice gap in accounting is widening, expressing strong doubt on the survivability of tertiary accounting education. The objective of this study is to add clarifications by providing recent insights into the expectations of accounting graduates at the workplace and the emphasis placed by universities in developing graduate capabilities. Using an interpretive research approach, this study collects data from semi-structured interviews with accounting employers and early career graduates from diverse industry settings in Fiji. Document analysis of the undergraduate accounting curricula at the Fijian universities is undertaken to gauge expectation of accounting academics. The results from this study suggest that the accounting education programmes have been very responsive in trying to prepare students for changing workplace needs. While both employers and graduates acknowledged the significance of technical knowledge and non-technical skills, there is a gradual shift in demand for non-technical skills. This study used a purposive sampling technique to select the participants and as such the findings cannot be generalised. However, the findings and conclusions provide contextual arguments that tertiary accounting education do provide adequate workplace support to the students and all stakeholders need to recognise that graduate capabilities are developed over two different learning environments.

Since the late 1950s, numerous studies pointed out that the theory-practice gap in accounting is widening, expressing strong doubt on the survivability of tertiary accounting education. The objective of this study is to add clarifications by providing recent insights into the expectations of accounting graduates at the workplace and the emphasis placed by universities in developing graduate capabilities. Using an interpretive research approach, this study collects data from semi-structured interviews with accounting employers and early career graduates from diverse industry settings in Fiji. Document analysis of the undergraduate accounting curricula at the Fijian universities is undertaken to gauge expectation of accounting academics. The results from this study suggest that the accounting education programmes have been very responsive in trying to prepare students for changing workplace needs. While both employers and graduates acknowledged the significance of technical knowledge and non-technical skills, there is a gradual shift in demand for non-technical skills. This study used a purposive sampling technique to select the participants and as such the findings cannot be generalised. However, the findings and conclusions provide contextual arguments that tertiary accounting education do provide adequate workplace support to the students and all stakeholders need to recognise that graduate capabilities are developed over two different learning environments.