Effective Corporate Codes of Ethics: Perceptions of Code Users

The study examines employee, managerial, and ethics officer perceptions regarding their companies’ codes of ethics. The study moves beyond examining the mere existence of a code of ethics to consider the role that code content and code process (i.e. creation, implementation, and administration) migh...

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Détails bibliographiques
Auteur principal: Schwartz, Mark S. (Auteur)
Type de support: Électronique Article
Langue:Anglais
Vérifier la disponibilité: HBZ Gateway
Interlibrary Loan:Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany)
Publié: 2004
Dans: Journal of business ethics
Année: 2004, Volume: 55, Numéro: 4, Pages: 321-341
Sujets non-standardisés:B Ethics
B Codes
B Effectiveness
B Content
B Process
B Behavior
Accès en ligne: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Description
Résumé:The study examines employee, managerial, and ethics officer perceptions regarding their companies’ codes of ethics. The study moves beyond examining the mere existence of a code of ethics to consider the role that code content and code process (i.e. creation, implementation, and administration) might play with respect to the effectiveness of codes in influencing behavior. Fifty-seven in-depth, semi-structured interviews of employees, managers, and ethics officers were conducted at four large Canadian companies. The factors viewed by respondents to be important with respect to code effectiveness include: provisions of examples; readability; tone; relevance; realism; senior management support; training; reinforcement; living up to standards; reporting requirement; anonymous phone line; communicating violations; and enforcement. The factors found to be potentially important include: justification for provisions; employee involvement; and sign-off requirements. Factors found not to be important include: objectives for the code; prior distribution; testing; and relating one’s performance review to compliance with the code.
ISSN:1573-0697
Contient:Enthalten in: Journal of business ethics
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1007/s10551-004-2169-2