in Small Business
Issue No. 1 - July/August 2001
South Australians Want Ethical Business Leaders
Releasing results of an Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia (ICAA) national survey, Regional Manager SA—NT, Mr Mark Jones said respondents were asked which of seven attributes they valued most highly.
- Ethical and morally fair in business dealings topped the list, with 30.5% of respondents regarding this quality as the most important
- Being conscious of providing good service to customers — 19.4%
- Being an innovative and strategic thinker — 16.7%
- Good communication skills — 16.2%
- Being good at working in a team — 11.8%
- Being good at the technical side of their job — 7.1%.
- Having a good understanding of computers and the Internet — 4.7%.
“South Australians rated customer service higher than those in NSW, Victoria and Western Australia. They also rated innovation higher than any of the other states,” said Mr Jones.
The survey also asked respondents to rate the importance of each attribute, as ‘very important’, ‘somewhat important’, ‘not particularly important’ or ‘don’t know’. Overwhelmingly, the South Australian survey participants regarded each attribute to be either very important or somewhat important. The results were:
- Having good communication skills — 100%
- Having a good understanding of computers and the internet — 99.6%
- Being an innovative and strategic thinker — 97.9%
- Providing good service to customers — 97.8%
- Being good at working in a team — 97.4%
- Being ethical and morally fair in their business dealings — 96.0%
- Being good at the technical side of their job — 91.1%.
The survey results coincide with the launch of the ICAA’s new post—graduate program, which broadens the training of chartered accountants to include more emphasis on ethics, communication skills, strategic thinking, teamwork and other aspects of business leadership.
“Participants in ou...
