Codes of conduct are a conspicuous feature of modern business organization, but doubts have been raised regarding their efficacy in ensuring high standards of behavior. Although some of the issues involved have been discussed at some length in the business ethics literature, the amount of systematic empirical evidence on the impact of codes is very limited. This paper seeks to make a contribution to that body of knowledge by studying the policies and procedures of a sample of banks which have (...) signed a statement on banking and the environment promulgated by the United Nations Development Programme. Although some differences are found when compared with a sample of banks which did not sign the Statement, they are not extensive. The implications of the findings, for codes of conduct and for future empirical studies, are then discussed. (shrink)

This study examines how our personal values influence our judgment of the morality of some workplace behaviours. Sixty-nine undergraduates were asked to rank order separately Rokeach''s instrumental and terminal values in terms of their importance as guiding principles in their life. Subjects then read four scenarios, each of which described ethically questionable behaviour of the sort that might be encountered in business. They were then asked to rate whether or not the behaviour of the person described in the scenario was (...) ethical, and whether or not they had any intentions to rectify the situation. People with different value hierarchies perceived the targeted behaviours differently. For example, subjects who valued honesty perceived the behaviour as more immoral than subjects who did not value honesty. While the ranking of the instrumental valuehonesty was the best predictor of people''s judgments about the morality of the behaviour, their ranking of the instrumental valueambition was the best predictor of their behavioural intentions. (shrink)

This paper compares the results of large-scale U.S. and U.K. surveys designed to identify managers' major ethical concerns and to investigate how firms are formulating and communicating ethics policies responsive to these concerns.Our findings indicate some important differences between U.S. and U.K. firms in perceptions of what are important ethical issues, in the means used to communicate ethics policies, and in the issues addressed in ethics policies and employee training. U.K. companies tend to be more likely to communicate ethics policies (...) through senior executives, whereas U.S. companies tend to rely more on their Human Resources and Legal Departments. U.S. firms consider most ethical issues to be more important than do their U.K. counterparts, and are especially concerned with employee behavior which may harm the firm. In contrast, the issues which U.K. managers consider more important tend to be concerned with external corporate stakeholders rather than employees. (shrink)

The international economy is changing at a rapid rate. The alteration and reduction of both geographical and political borders, coupled with the growing interdependence of socially, politically, economically, and legally diverse countries, have caused multinational corporate entities to revise various policies. These revisions include revisions in marketing strategies, strategic alliances, product and service strategies and, perhaps most importantly as it affects all strategies, a MNC's approach to ethical systems. The truly global company must come to grips with the legal and (...) moral atmosphere in which it operates. The concept of moral rights, those transcending legal or political rights, drives us to review four international codes of conduct and to attempt to develop one international uniform code that might be applicable to any business, in any country or culture. (shrink)

The dramatic increase in the number of corporate ethical codes over the past 20 years has been attributed to the Watergate scandal and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Ethical codes differ somewhat from profesional codes and mission statements; yet the terms are frequently interchanged and often confused in the literature. Ethical code studies are reviewed in terms of how codes are communicated to employees and whether implications for violating codes are discussed. Most studies use content analysis to determine subjects in (...) codes. Little information is available about how codes are communicated, whether they are accepted and used by employees, and whether they affect employee/corporate behavior. More research on ethical codes is needed to answer some of these questions. (shrink)

In recent years the institutionalisation of ethics as a means of enhancing the ethical nature of business operations has received widespread empirical coverage. To date, however, few studies have been conducted in the Australian business context. This paper examines the institutionalisation of ethics by a sample of companies based in Perth, Western Australia. In particular, company representatives were asked if their company was institutionalising ethics, why this initiative was undertaken, how this was taking place and what specific issues were being (...) addressed in the institutionalisation process. The results suggest that perceptions of external parties were the primary motivation for ethics institutionalisation efforts although there was also considerable focus on trying to internalise ethical values. In terms of how ethics were being institutionalised the responding companies were more likely to have conducted ethics training programs than to have written Codes of Conduct and in general it appears that few companies were developing comprehensive formal ethics programs. The primary issue covered by these institutionalisation efforts was the observance of laws. (shrink)

Business ethics has emerged in recent years as a field of significant scholarly endeavour. Particularly well documented is the existence of ethical conflict at work and the reported inseparability of business decisions and moral consequences. However, to date, the majority of studies have been conducted in the American business context.This paper examines the concept of ethical conflict as experienced by employees in the Australian context. According to a sample of Western Australian managers, ethical conflicts at work do occur — with (...) relative frequency. Of considerable concern is the high incidence of cases where the demands of superiors are deemed to be the cause of this conflict. This finding is particularly disturbing as superiors are also the primary influence on employee ethical decision making. It would see that the ethics role models are also the instigators of unethical behaviour. (shrink)

The contention that organizational culture influences ethical decision making is not disputable. However, the extent to which it influences ethical decision making in the workplace is a topic for scholarly debate and investigation. There are scholars who argue that, though corporate values are a powerful force in explaining the behavior of individuals and groups within organizations, these values are unperceived, unspoken, and taken for granted. However, there are others who argue that the formalization of corporate values facilitates job and role (...) clarity and is the key to influencing employee behavior. The purpose of this study is to examine the extent of the influence of organizational codes of ethics. The findings suggest that, depending upon the particular situation, corporate culture and ethics may mitigate individual personal moral convictions about right and wrong. (shrink)

This paper primarily reports the findings of content analyses of seventy-five codes of ethics ofFinancial Post 500 corporations. The contents of each code were comprehensively evaluated along sixty-one criteria according to four levels. It was found that the focus of these codes was the protection of the firm. While some of them refer to issues of social responsibility, they are principally concerned with conduct against the firm.

Given the multiplicity of codes designed to regulate different stakeholders in terms of promoting good corporate governance, this paper examines areas of conflicts among the various codes and the associated implications for corporate governance practices and regulatory compliances by public-listed Nigerian firms. Using the conflict-signalling theory for developing the conceptual framework, this study examines the proliferation of codes in Nigeria, through a mixed method approach to provide an exploratory account of the implications of corporate governance regulatory multiplicity. Evidence suggests the (...) presence of conflict among the various codes which contributes to reduced compliance by firms and ineffective enforceability by regulatory agencies, which both impede good corporate governance in Nigeria. The findings advance conflict-signalling theory as an important framework for understanding the implications of the conflicts arising from the multiplicity of codes. (shrink)

A survey was conducted of the perceived correlates of illegal abuses in the electronics industry. Human resource directors of thirty-one firms responded to a questionnaire which assessed their perceptions of the degree to which illegal behavior was caused by (1) deficiencies in the moral character of employees (2) the clarity of expectations and standards describing illegal behavior and (3) the presence of reinforcements and punishments contingent on these behaviors. All three variables were related to the frequency of abuses in three (...) areas of organizational crime (e.g. administrative, labor, environment) and three areas of personal crime (theft, falsifying records kickbacks) as reported by the directors and/or indicated by archival records. The implications of these findings are discussed in terms of how organizations may reduce illegal activity. (shrink)

There is a growing need to increase our understanding of ethical decision making in U.S. based organizations. The authors examine the complexity of creating uniform ethical standards even when the meaning of ethical behavior is being debated. The nature of these controversies are considered, and three important dimensions for ethical decision making are discussed: leaders with integrity and a strong sense of social responsibility, organization cultures that foster dialogue and dissent, and organizations that are willing to reflect on and learn (...) from their actions. Leaders with integrity demonstrate consistency between vision and action that promotes trust, regularly concern themselves with developing moral standards, and are proactive agents of change in an increasingly complex world. Organizational cultures that support dialogue suspend judgments and increase their capacity to think together towards new levels of understanding. Ethical concepts evolve in these organizational cultures, and actions are informed and responsible. Organizations that reflect on their actions engage in double loop learning so that the time taken to reflect on the past and present leads to a more judicious and ethical future. In essence, the authors point to organizational guidelines for ethical decision making that lead to an increase in members' capacity to think and act ethically. (shrink)

All organizations have ethics programs which consist of both explicit and implicit parts. This paper defines corporate ethics programs and identifies a number of their components. Corporate ethics programs'' structural and behavioral dimensions are proposed which may allow further examination of such program components and their impacts. Finally, fifteen propositions are suggested which describe the influence of founder values, competitive pressures, leadership, and organizational problems on corporate ethics programs and the manageability of such programs.

Beyond the adoption of codes of ethics for moderating behaviours within an organization, there is need for change in the dynamism of ethics management in construction companies. This change is necessitated due to inability of ethical codes to function by its mere existence without proper integration into organization’s web. This study aims at identifying supporting factors for code integration and the resultant factors as well as the relationship between the two sets of factors. Questionnaire survey was used to gather data (...) from practitioners in Hong Kong construction organizations. Using Relative Importance Index and correlation analysis, findings revealed that commitment of managing director to ethics, communicating codes with employees and managers acting as role models ranked highest among the input factors, whereas building public trust, enhanced organization’s reputation and increased protection against lawsuits ranked highest among the resultant factors. There were great numbers of significant positive correlations between the input factors and the resultant factors with the exception of consistence of codes with international standards and increased company’s profitability which exhibited negative correlation. The highest significant positive correlation coefficient existed between training about the importance of ethics and subjective and inconsistent management standards are minimized which points to the importance of ethics training in establishing ethical standards. The findings can help construction practitioners to improve organizational ethical standard and be more result-focused in managing ethics. (shrink)

This paper considers future directions of empirical research in business ethics and presents a series of recommendations. Greater emphasis should be placed on the normative basis of empirical studies, behavior (rather than attitudes) should be established as the key dependent variable, theoretical models of ethical decision making should be tested, and empirical studies need to focus on theory-building. Extensions of methodology and the unit of analysis are proposed together with recommendations concerning the need for replication and validity, and building links (...) to managerial and public policy applications. (shrink)

Business codes are a widely used management instrument. Research into the effectiveness of business codes has, however, produced conflicting results. The main reasons for the divergent findings are: varying definitions of key terms; deficiencies in the empirical data and methodologies used; and a lack of theory. In this paper, we propose an integrated research model and suggest directions for future research.

This paper compares the findings of content analyses of the corporate codes of ethics of Canada's largest corporations in 1992 and 2003. For both years, a modified version of a technique used in several other studies was used to determine and categorize the contents of the codes. It was found, inter alia, that, in 2003, as in 1992, more of the codes were concerned with conduct against the firm than with conduct on behalf of the firm. Among the changes from (...) 1992 to 2003 were a significant increase in the frequency of mention of environmental affairs, legal responsibility as the basis of codes and enforcement/compliance procedures. (shrink)

Despite an extensive amount of research studying the influence of significant others on an individual's ethical behavior, researchers have not examined this variable in the context of organizational group boundaries. This study tests actual and perceptual sharing and variation in ethical reasoning and moral intent within and across functional groups in an organization. Integrating theory on ethical behavior, group dynamics, and culture, it is proposed that organizational structure affects cognitive structure. Departmental boundaries create stronger social ties within the group as (...) well as intergroup biases between the groups. Thus individuals will be more likely to share in ethical reasoning and moral intent with members of their own functional group (in-group) than with members of other functional groups (out-group). Additionally, they will perceive that they are more likely to share in ethical reasoning and moral intent with in-group members than with out-group members. Responding to two versions of two ethical scenarios, respondents contrasted their own ethical behavior to their expected ethical behavior of in-group and out-group members. Empirical results confirmed the hypotheses. Organizational group boundaries create actual as well as perceptual sharing and variation in ethical reasoning and moral intent. Furthermore, when comparing perceptual sharing to actual sharing, results show that individuals understate their sharing of ethical reasoning and moral intent with out-group members and overstate their sharing with in-group members. As organizational boundaries can create actual and perceived differences between groups that could lead to inter-group conflict, suggestions for management focus on removing or blurring inter-group boundaries. (shrink)

This paper examines the status of Corporate Ethical Policies (CEP) in large companies in Argentina, Brazil and Spain, with a special emphasis on Corporate Ethics Statements (CES), documents that define the firms’ philosophy, values and norms of conduct. It is based on a survey of the 500 largest companies in these nations. The findings reveal many similarities between these countries. Among other things, it emerges that most companies give consideration to ethics in business and have adopted some kind of formal (...) or informal ethical policies. Regardless of whether or not they have a CES, companies agree that ethical conduct must be taken into account when selecting, appraising and promoting personnel as an important ethical policy. There is a growing tendency to draw up formal corporate ethics documents. These documents are perceived, first and foremost, as supporting the development of corporate culture. Most respondents believe that primary responsibility for ethical issues in the company rests with the CEO. Finally, the findings indicate that most companies that devote more resources to communicating and implementing CESs have two or more formal ethics documents. The main differences between the countries included in the study concern the emphasis given to specific aspects, such as avoiding misconduct or taking ethical criteria into account when selecting personnel. The emphasis is greatest in countries where corruption seems most prevalent. (shrink)

Communicating ethical values is a serious issue for a number of organizations. While ethical codes are useful, they cannot exist alone. Organizations must make certain codes reflect the ideals of individuals in the organization and the ethical expectations must be clearly communicated. This study examined the sources (people) and channels (ways messages were received) that affected how employees learned about ethics. Results showed that training and orientation programs were affirmed as sources of learning along with teaching others. Codes and handbooks (...) were also identified as ways employees learned about ethics in their organization. Ethical issues were discussed more frequently with fellow employees than with supervisors suggesting that managers could be more proactive about discussing ethics with employees. (shrink)

A business code of ethics is widely regarded as an important instrument to curb unethical behavior in the workplace. However, little is empirically known about the factors that determine the impact of a code on unethical behavior. Besides the existence of a code, this article studies five determining factors: the content of the code, the frequency of communication activities surrounding the code, the quality of the communication activities, and the embedment of the code in the organization by senior management as (...) well as local management. The full model explains 32% of observed unethical behavior while the explanatory value of a code alone is very modest. The study shows when codes are effective, and even when they become counter effective. (shrink)

Abstract This study was designed to investigate the factors affecting ethical practices of public relations professionals in public relations firms. In particular, the following organizational ethics factors were examined: (1) presence of ethics code, (2) top management support for ethical practice, (3) ethical climate, and (4) perception of the association between career success and ethical practice. Analysis revealed that the presence of an ethics code along with top management support and a non-egoistic ethical climate within public relations firms significantly influenced (...) public relations professionals' ethical practices. Content Type Journal Article Category Original Paper Pages 1-19 DOI 10.1007/s13520-011-0013-1 Authors Eyun-Jung Ki, Department of Advertising and Public Relations, College of Communication and Information Sciences, The University of Alabama, Box 870172, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487-0172, USA Junghyuk Lee, Division of Communication Arts, Kwangwoon University, Seoul, South Korea Hong-Lim Choi, School of Communication, Sun Moon University, 100, Kalsan-ri, Tangjeong-myeon, Asan-si, Chungnam 336-708, South Korea Journal Asian Journal of Business Ethics Online ISSN 2210-6731 Print ISSN 2210-6723. (shrink)

Gallup Polls have reported on the perceived ethics of various professions in the US since 1976. Clergymen and pharmacists were consistently identified as two of the most ethical professionals in the 1980''s and 1990''s. Business executives have not fared well in these polls and have not been rated among the top ten most ethical professions in any of the years the poll was taken. Ethical codes have not done much to belay the perception that the US business executive is not (...) very ethical. Whether the Sarbanes-Oxley Act will impact the ethical behavior of business executives remains to be seen. (shrink)

Though written corporate codes of ethics have been touted as a panacea for the embarrassments and uncertainties of the past two decades, the absence of clear evaluation procedures severely compromises their usefulness. An ethnographic study comparing development processes and compliance outcomes in large health care facilities and energy companies shows that neither of the two industries has encountered much success with a codes of ethics program. Companies that distribute copies of their code of ethics seldom ensure the process is completed (...) or that employees understand the purpose of the document, and staff responsible for the code give it a low priority relative to their overall responsibilities. Contrary to expectations, health care facilities are no more likely to develop or implement codes of ethics effectively than are energy companies. More extensive research is needed in order to generate the data necessary for the development of realistic standards for the evaluation of codes of ethics. (shrink)

Due to the economic globalization which is characterized with business scandals, scholars and practitioners are increasingly engaged with the implementation of codes of ethics as a regulatory mechanism for stimulating ethical behaviours within an organization. The aim of this study is to examine various organizational practices regarding the effective implementation of codes of ethics within construction contracting companies. Views on ethics management in construction organizations together with the recommendations for improvement were gleaned through 19 semi-structured interviews, involving construction practitioners from (...) various construction companies in Hong Kong. The findings suggested some practices for effective implementation of codes of ethics in order to diffuse ethical behaviours in an organizational setting which include; introduction of effective reward schemes, arrangement of ethics training for employees, and leadership responsiveness to reported wrongdoings. Since most of the construction companies in Hong Kong have codes of ethics, emphasis is made on the practical implementation of codes within the organizations. Hence, implications were drawn from the recommended measures to guide construction companies and policy makers. (shrink)