The influence of workplace spirituality on motivations for earnings management: A study in Taiwans hospitality industry

Abstract

The paper attempts to examine the influences on motivations for earnings management from the perspectives of workplace spirituality in Taiwan’s hospitality industry. The findings suggest that workplace spirituality is a new perception of individuals toward their lives and selves under the influence of the workplace. Such influence further affects the individuals on the acknowledgement of self-group relationships, and the actions of individuals. Therefore, spiritual awareness shows a mediating effect between organizational spirituality and earnings management. Moreover, the mediating effect is greater than the direct effect of organizational spirituality on the motivations of earnings management. In addition, this paper proves that there are no significant variances in the awareness of workplace spirituality among people who have different religious beliefs. Most literatures address earnings management from the perspectives of audits or business ethics, and suggest that moral education is the best way to cope with this issue. However, a sole reliance on the awaking and realization of the individual ethics may not be sufficient to amend current chaotic situations regarding earnings management. In fact, earnings management, in essence, is highly relevant to the opportunistic behaviors of management.   Key words: Earnings management, workplace spirituality, motivations for earnings management.