The Moral duty of accounting professionals to implement the sustainable development goals: the case of Sri Lanka

This study examined how the moral duty of Sri Lankan accounting professionals contributes to implementing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), notably SDG 3—good health and well-being and SDG 4—quality education. Kohlberg’s theory of cognitive moral reasoning and development was used to identify the moral motivations of accounting professionals, their level of moral reasoning and the challenges to performance of their moral duty to implement SDGs 3 and 4.  Between November 2020 and April 2021, 40 Moral Judgment Interviews (MJIs) and 33 semi-structured interviews were conducted with strategic-level accounting professionals. All participants were members of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka and held diverse positions in public and private sector health and education organisations. An adapted SDG self-assessment tool was used prior to each MJI to determine the participants’ understanding of SDGs 3 & 4 and their applicability to their organisations. Interviews were audio recorded and transcribed, and the data were analysed using Standard Issue Scoring (SIS) and thematic analysis in NVivo 12.  The findings indicate four main ways in which SDGs 3 and 4 motivate Sri Lankan accounting professionals to think beyond conventional wealth maximisation: moral duty, social and environmental obligations, value creation, and stimulus. Accounting professionals’ level of moral reasoning was identified as transitional stage 3/4 of Kohlberg’s theory. Most participants were motivated by community-centred moral motivations (level 2), mainly based on mutual interpersonal expectations, relationships, and conformity (stage 3). Principle-based moral motivations (level 3) also significantly influenced their sense of moral duty.  Sri Lankan accounting professionals faced personal and institutional challenges to the fulfilment of their moral duty to implement SDGs 3 and 4. Negotiation skills, authority and the attitudes of individual accounting professionals were the three dominant personal challenges. Ineffective organisational arrangements, inefficient policy instruments and a weak work environment for change were the three major categories of institutional challenges. The findings align with Kohlberg’s theory, in that they show moral development determines the quality of the logic employed in decision-making and corroborate its consistent structural orientation aspect (structuralism). The present research contributes to the accounting literature by revealing the enablers of and barriers to accounting professionals performing their moral duty to implement measures to achieve SDGs 3 and 4. In particular, the findings provide empirical support for the redefinition of the scope of accounting to include the concept of moral practice. In terms of social implications, if accounting professionals execute their moral duty at the conventional level, their developed moral behaviour enhances the trust and thereby the mental health of their peers, subordinates, and superiors. These healthy human relationships improve individual productivity, which in turn increases organisational performance and moral image in the SDG context. The enhanced moral image of organisations leads to improved relationships with their internal and external stakeholders. In terms of economic implications, the improved morality and moral duty will facilitate a smoother functioning of the Si Lankan economy whereby the cost of regulation and compliance is reduced, and greatly needed improvements in productivity are initiated. This research highlights the importance of enabling accounting professionals to exercise their moral duty—beyond their professional duty—to work towards a sustainably developed world.