Abstract
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.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Adam A. and D. Rachman-Moore: 2004, The methods used to implement and ethical code of conduct and employee attitudes. Journal of Business Ethics, 54:225–44
Adams J., A. Tashchian and T. Shore: 2001, Codes of ethics as signals for ethical behavior. Journal of Business Ethics, 29:199–211
Akaah I. and E. Riordan: 1989, Judgments of marketing professionals about ethical issues in marketing research: A replication and extension. Journal of Marketing Research, 26:112–20
Allen J. and D. Davis: 1993, Assessing some determinant effects of ethical consulting behavior: The case of personal and professional values. The Journal of Business Ethics, 12:449–58
Ashkanasy N., S. Falkus and V. J. Callan: 2000, Predictors of ethical code use and ethical tolerance in the public sector. Journal of Business Ethics, 25:237–53
Badaracco J. and A. Webb: 1995, Business ethics: A view from the trenches. California Management Review, 37:2, 8–28
Barnett, T., D. Cochran and S. Taylor: 1993, The Internal disclosure policies of private-sector employers: An initial look at their relationship to employee whistleblowing. Journal of Business Ethics 12 127–137
Beets S. and L. Killough: 1990, The effectiveness of a complaint-based ethics. Journal of Business Ethics, 9:115–126
Beneish M. and R. Chatov: 1993, Corporate codes of conduct: Economic determinants and legal implications for independent auditors. Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, 12:3–35
Benson G.: 1989, Codes of ethics. Journal of Business Ethics, 8:305–19
Bowie N.: 1990, Business codes of ethics: Window-dressing or legitimate alternative to government regulation?. In: Hoffman W., Moore J. (Eds) Business Ethics: Readings and cases in corporate morality. New York, McGraw-Hill, pp. 505–09
Bowman J.: 1981, The management of ethics: Codes of conduct in organizations. Public Personnel Management Journal, 10:59–64
Brenner S. and E. Molander: 1977, Is the ethics of business changing? Harvard Business Review, 55: 57–71
Brief A., J. Dukerich, P. Brown and J. Brett: 1996, Whats wrong with the Treadway Commission report? Experimental Analyses of the Effects of Personal Values and Codes of Conduct on Fraudulent Financial Reporting. Journal of Business Ethics, 15:183–98
Brooks L.: 1989, Corporate codes of ethics. Journal of Business Ethics, 8:117–29
Bruce W.: 1994, Ethical people are productive people. Public Productivity and Management Review, 17:241–52
Cabral-Cardoso C.: 2004, Ethical misconduct in the business school: A case of plagiarism that turned bitter. Journal of Business Ethics, 49:75–89
Callan V.: 1992, Predicting ethical values and training needs in ethics. Journal of Business Ethics, 11:761–69
Cassell C., P. Johnson and K. Smith: 1997, Opening the black box: Corporate codes of ethics in their organizational context. Journal of Business Ethics, 10:10–24
Chonko L. and S. Hunt: 1985, Ethics and marketing management: An empirical examination. Journal of Business Research, 13:339–59
Chonko L., T. Wotruba and T. Loe: 2003, Ethics code familiarity and usefulness: Views on idealist and relativist managers under varying conditions of turbulence. Journal of Business Ethics, 42:237–52
Clark M.: 1980, Corporate codes of ethics: A key to economic freedom. Management Review, 69: 60–62
Clark M. and S. Leonard: 1998, Can corporate codes of ethics influence behavior? Journal of Business Ethics, 17:619–30
Clarkson M. and M. Deck: 1992, Effective codes of ethics: A stakeholder approach. Toronto, The Clarkson Centre for Business Ethics
Claver E., J. Llopis and J. Gascó: 2002, A corporate culture pattern to manage business ethics. International Journal of Value-Based Management, 15:151–163
Cooper, N.:1990,‘Foreword’, in Developing a Code of Business Ethics (Institute of Business Ethics, London)
Coughlan R.: 2005, Codes, values and justifications in the ethical decision-making process. Journal of Business Ethics, 59:45–53
Cowton C. and P. Thomspon 2000, Do codes make a difference? The case of bank lending and the environment. Journal of Business Ethics, 24:165–78
Cressey D. and C. Moore 1983, Managerial values and corporate codes of ethics. California Management Review, 25:4, 53–77
Diller J.: 1999, A social conscience in the global marketplace? Labor dimensions of codes of conduct, social labeling and investor initiatives. International Labor Organization, 138:2, 99–129
Dobel J.: 1993, The Realpolitik of ethics codes: An implementation approach to public ethics. In: Frederickson H. (Ed) Ethics and Public Administration. New York, Sharpe, pp 158–71
Dobson J.: 2005, Monkey business: A neo-Darwinist approach to ethics codes. Financial Analysts Journal, 61:, 59–64
Doig A. and J. Wilson: 1998, The effectiveness of codes of conduct. Business Ethics: A European Review, 7:140–49
Dubinsky A., M. Jolson, R. Michaels, M. Kotabe, and C. Un Lim: 1992, Ethical perceptions of field sales personnel: An empirical assessment. Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, 12:4, 9–21
Embse T. von der, M. Desai and S. Desai: 2004, How well are corporate ethics codes and policies applied in the trenches? Information Management & Computer Security, 12:146–53
Encyclopedia Britannica (1974) The Encyclopedia Britannica: A dictionary of arts, sciences, literature and general information, 15. Encyclopedia Britannica Inc., Edinburgh
Ethics Resource Center: 1980, Implementation and Enforcement: Codes of Ethics in Corporations and Associations. (Princeton, Opinion Research Corporation)
Ethics Resource Center: 1990, Creating a Workable Company Code of Ethics. (Washington, ERC)
Ethics Resource Center: 1994, Ethics in American Business: Policies, Programs and Perceptions. (Washington, ERC)
Falkenberg L. and I. Herremans: 1995, Ethical behavior in organizations: Directed by the formal or informal systems? Journal of Business Ethics, 14:133–43
Farrell B., D. Cobbin and H. Farrell: 2002, Can codes of ethics really produce consistent behavior. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 17:468–90
Ferrell O. and J. Fraedrich: 1994, Business Ethics: Ethical decision making and cases. Boston: Houghton Mifflin
Ferrell O., M. Hartline and S. McDaniel: 1998a Codes of ethics among corporate research departments, marketing research firms and data subcontractors: An examination of a three-communities metaphor. Journal of Business Ethics, 17:503–16
Ferrell O., D. LeClair and L. Ferrell: 1998b The federal sentencing guidelines for organizations: A framework for ethical compliance. Journal of Business Ethics, 17:1573–97
Ferrell O. and S. Skinner: 1988, Ethical behavior and bureaucratic structure in marketing research organizations. Journal of Marketing Research, 25:103–09
Finegan J. and C. Theriault: 1997, The relationship between personal values and the perception of the corporations code of ethics. Journal of Applied Psychology, 28:708–24
Ford R., B. Gray and R. Landrum: 1982, Do organizational codes of conduct really affect employees behavior? Management Review, 71: 53–55
Frederick W.: 1991, The moral authority of transnational codes. Journal of Business Ethics, 10: 165–77
Gaumnitz B. and J. Lere: 2002, Contents of codes of ethics of professional business organizations in the United States. Journal of Business Ethics, 35:35–49
Gaumnitz B. and J. Lere: 2004, A classification scheme for codes of business ethics. Journal of Business Ethics, 49:329–35
Grundstein-Amado R.: 2001, A strategy for formulation and implementation of codes of ethics in public service organizations. Journal of Public Administration, 24:461–78
Harker D. and M. Harker: 2000, The role of codes of conduct in the advertising self-regulatory framework. Journal of Macromarketing, 20:155–66
Harmon H., G. Brown and K. Hammond: 1994, Replication of Sujans attributional analysis of salespeoples motivation to work smarter versus harder. Psychological Reports, 75:987–92
Hyman M., R. Skipper and R. Tansey: 1990, Ethical codes Are not enough. Business Horizons, 33: 15–22
Healy M. and J. Iles: 2002, The establishment and enforcement of codes. Journal of Business Ethics, 39:117–124
Heermance E.: (1924) Codes of Ethics: A handbook. Burlington, Free Press
Hegarty W. and H. Sims: 1979, Organizational philosophy, policies, and objectives related to unethical decision behavior: A laboratory experiment. Journal of Applied Psychology, 64:331–38
Hess D., R. McWhorter and T. Fort: 2006, The 2004 amendments to the federal sentencing guidelines and their implicit call for a symbiotic integration of business ethics. Fordham Journal of Corporate & Financial Law, 11:725–64
Higgs-Kleyn N. and D. Kapelianis: 1999, The role of professional codes in regarding ethical conduct. Journal of Business Ethics, 19:363–74
Hume E., E. Larkins and G. Iyer: 1999, On compliance with ethical standards in tax return preparation. Journal of Business Ethics, 18:229–38
Hunt S., L. Chonko and J. Wilcox: 1984, Ethical problems of marketing researchers. Journal of Marketing Research, 21:309–24
Kaptein M.: 2004, Business codes of multinational firms: What do they say? Journal of Business Ethics, 50:13–31
Kaptein M. and J. Wempe: 1998, Twelve Gordian knots when developing a code of conduct. Journal of Business Ethics, 17:853–69
Kitson A.: 1996, Taking the pulse: Ethics and the British Cooperative Bank. Journal of Business Ethics, 15:1021–31
Kohut G. and S. Corriher: 1994, The relationship of age, gender, experience and awareness of written ethics policies to business decision making. SAM Advanced Management Journal, 59:1, 32–9
Kolk A., R. Tulder and C. Welters: 1999, International codes of conduct and corporate social responsibility: can transnational corporations regulate themselves? Transnational Corporation, 8:143–80
Kolk A. and R. Tulder: 2002, Child labor and multinational conduct: A comparison of international business and stakeholder codes. Journal of Business Ethics, 36:291–301
KPMG Forensic 2005: Integrity Survey 2005–2006. KPMG LLP US
Kram K., P. Yeager and G. Reed: 1989, Decisions and Dilemmas: The Ethical Dimension in the Corporate Context. In: Post J. (Ed) Research in Corporate Social Performance and Policy 11 (Greenwich: JAI Press), pp.␣21–54
Letang J.: 1992, A Kantian approach to codes of ethics. Journal of Business Ethics, 11:737–44
Laczniak G. and E. Inderrieden: 1987, The influence of stated organizational concern upon ethical decision making. The Journal of Business Ethics, 6:297–307
Ladd J.: 1985, The quest for a code of professional ethics. In: Johnson D. Snapper J. (Eds) Ethical issues in the use of computers. Belmont, Wadsworth, pp 37–38
Langlois C. and B. Schlegelmilch: 1990, ‚Do corporate codes of ethics reflect national character? Evidence from Europe and the United States. Journal of International Business Studies, 21:519–539
Ledford G., J. Wendenhof and J. Strahley: 1995, Realizing a corporate philosophy. Organizational Dynamics, 23(3): 4–19
Lere J. and B. Gaumnitz: 2003, The impact of codes of ethics on decision making: Some insights from information economics. Journal of Business Ethics, 48:365–79
Logsdon J. and D. Wood: 2005, Global business citizenship and voluntary codes of ethical conduct. Journal of Business Ethics, 59:55–67
Manley W.: 1991, Executives Handbook of Model Business Conduct Codes. New York: Prentice-Hall
Marnburg E.: 2000, The behavioral effects of corporate ethical codes: Empirical findings and discussion. Business Ethics: A European Review, 9:200–10
Mathews C.: 1987, Codes of Ethics: Organizational Behavior and Misbehavior. In: Frederick W. (Ed) Research in Corporate Social Performance and Policy 9 (Greenwich, JAI Press), pp. 107–30
McCabe D., L. Treviño and K. Butterfield: 1996, The influence of collegiate and corporate codes of conduct on ethics-related behavior in the workplace. Business Ethics Quarterly, 6:461–76
McClintock B.: 1999, The multinational corporation and social justice: Experiments in supranational governance. Review of Social Economy, 57:502–22
McCoy C.: 1985, Management of Values. Boston, Pitman
McKendall M., B. DeMarr and C. Jones-Rikkers 2002, Ethical compliance programs and corporate illegality: Testing the assumptions of the corporate sentencing guidelines. Journal of Business Ethics, 37:367–83
Mezher T., D. Jamali and C. Zreik: 2002, The role of financial institutions in the sustainable development of Lebanon. Sustainable Development, 10:69–78
Mitchell T., D. Daniels, H. Hopper, J. George-Falvy and G. Ferris: 1996, Perceived correlates of illegal behavior in organizations. Journal of Business Ethics, 15:439–55
Molander E.: 1987, A paradigm for design, promulgation and enforcement of ethical codes. Journal of Business Ethics, 6:619–31
Montoya I. and A. Richard: 1994, A comparative study of codes of ethics in health care facilities and energy companies. Journal of Business Ethics, 13:713–17
Murphy P.: 1988, Implementing business ethics. Journal of Business Ethics, 7:907–15
Murphy P.: 1995, Corporate ethics statements: Current status and future prospects. Journal of Business Ethics, 14:727–40
Murphy P.: 2005, Developing, communicating and promoting corporate ethics statements: A longitudinal analysis. Journal of Business Ethics, 62:183–189
Murphy P., J. Smith and J. Daley: 1992, Executive attitudes, organizational size and ethical issues: Perspectives on a service industry. Journal of Business Ethics, 11:11–19
Myers R.: 2003, Ensuring ethical effectiveness. Journal of Accountancy, 19:2, 28–33
Nakano C.: 1997, A survey study on Japanese managers views of business ethics. Journal of Business Ethics, 16:1737–51
Nakano C: 1999, Attempting to institutionalize ethics: Case studies from Japan. Journal of Business Ethics, 18:335–43
Ofallon M. and K. Butterfield: 2005, A review of the empirical ethical decision-making literature: 1996–2003. Journal of Business Ethics, 59:375–413
Ottoson G.: 1988, A model for ethical decision making, Ethikos, 2:8–11
Paine L.: 1994, Managing for organizational integrity. Harvard Business Review, 72:106–17
Pearce J. and F. David: 1987, Corporate mission statements: The bottom line. Academy of Management Executive, 1:109–16
Peppas S.: 2003, Attitudes toward codes of ethics: The effects of corporate misconduct. Management Research News, 26:6, 77–89
Peterson D.: 2002, The relationship between unethical behavior and the dimensions of the Ethical Climate Questionnaire. Journal of Business Ethics, 41:313–26
Pierce M. and J. Henry: 1996, Computer ethics: The role of personal, informal, and formal codes. Journal of Business Ethics, 15:425–37
Pierce M. and J. Henry: 2000, Judgments about computer ethics: Do individual, co-worker, and company judgments differ? Journal of Business Ethics, 28:307–22
Pitt H. and K. Groskaufmanis: 1990, Minimizing corporate civil and criminal liability: A second look at corporate codes of conduct. Georgetown Law Journal, 78:1559–654
Raiborn C. and D. Payne: 1990, Corporate codes of conduct: A collective conscience and continuum. Journal of Business Ethics, 9:879–89
Rezaee Z., R. Elmore and J. Szendi: 2001, Ethical behavior in higher educational institutions: The role of the code of conduct. Journal of Business Ethics, 30:171–83
Rich A., C. Smith and P. Mihalek: 1990, Are corporate codes of conduct effective? Management Accounting, 72:3, 34–35
Robin D., M. Giallourakis, F. David and T. Moritz: 1990, A different look at codes of ethics. In Madsen P. Shafritz J. (Eds) Essentials of Business Ethics. New York, Penguin, pp 212–28
Rodríguez-Garavito C.: 2005, Global governance and labor rights: Codes of conduct and anti-sweatshop struggles in global apparel factories in Mexico and Guatemala. Politics & Society, 33:203–33
Ryan L.: 1994, Ethical codes in British companies. Business Ethics: A European Review, 3:54–64
Sajhau J.: 1998, Business Ethics in the Textile, Clothing and Footwear Industries: Codes of conduct. Geneva, ILO
Sanderson G. and I. Varner: 1984, Whats wrong with corporate codes of conduct? Management Accounting, 66:28–35
Schlegelmilch B. and J. Houston: 1989, Corporate codes of ethics in large U.K. companies An empirical investigation of use, content and attitudes. European Journal of Marketing, 23(6):7–24
Schwartz M.: 2001, The nature of the relationship between corporate codes of ethics and behavior. Journal of Business Ethics, 32:247–62
Schwartz M.: 2004, Effective corporate codes of ethics: Perceptions of code users. Journal of Business Ethics, 55:323–43
Sen A.: 1997, Economics, business principles and moral sentiments. Business Ethics Quarterly, 7(3):5–15
Sethi P.: 2002, Standards for corporate conduct in the international arena: Challenges and opportunities for multinational corporations. Business and Society Review, 107:20–40
Sikkink K.: 1986, Codes of conduct for transnational corporations: The case of the WHO/UNICEF Code. International Organization, 40:815–40
Sims R.: 1991, The institutionalization of organizational ethics. Journal of Business Ethics, 10:493–506
Sims R. and J. Brinkmann: 2003, Enron ethics (Or: culture matters more than codes). Journal of Business Ethics, 45:243–56
Sims R. and T. Keon: 1999, Determinants of ethical decision making: The relationship of the perceived organizational environment. Journal of Business Ethics, 19:393–401
Singh J.: 2006, Ethics programs in Canadas largest corporations. Business and Society Review, 111:119–36
Singhapakdi A. and S. Vitell: 1990, Marketing ethics: Factors influencing perceptions of ethical problems and alternatives. Journal of Macromarketing, 10:4–18
Snell R. and N. Herndon: 2000, An evaluation of Hong Kongs corporate code of ethics initiative. Asia Pacific Journal of Management, 17:493–518
Somers M.: 2001, Ethical codes of conduct and organizational context: A study of the relationship between codes of conduct, employee behavior and organizational values. Journal of Business Ethics, 30:185–95
Stead E., D. Worrell and J. Garner-Stead: 1990, An integrative model for understanding and managing ethical behavior in business organizations. Journal of Business Ethics, 9:233–42
Stevens B.: 1999, Communicating ethical values: A study of employee perceptions. Journal of Business Ethics, 20:113–20
Stevens B.: 2004, The ethics of the US business executive: A study of perceptions. Journal of Business Ethics, 54:163–71
Stevens J., H. Steensma, D. Harrison and P. Cochran: 2005, Symbolic or substantive document? The influence of ethics codes on financial executives decisions. Strategic Management Journal, 26:181–95
Stohs J. and T. Brannick: 1999, Code and conduct: Predictors of Irish managers ethical reasoning. Journal of Business Ethics, 22:311–26
Touche Ross: 1988, Ethics in American Business (Touche Ross, Detroit)
Treviño L., K. Butterfield and D. McCabe 1998, The ethical context in organizations: Influences on employee attitudes and behaviors. Business Ethics Quarterly, 8:447–76
Treviño L., G. Weaver, D. Gibson and B. Toffler: 1999, Managing ethics and legal compliance: What works and what hurts. California Management Review, 41:131–51
Treviño L. and G. Weaver: 2003, Managing Ethics in Business Organizations: Social scientific perspectives. Stanford: Stanford University Press
Valentine S. and T. Barnett: 2002, Ethics codes and sales professionals perceptions of their organizations ethical values. Journal of Business, 40:191–200
Valentine S. and T. Barnett: 2004, Ethics codes awareness, perceived ethical values, and organizational commitment. Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, 23:359–67
Valentine S. and G. Fleischman: 2002, Ethics codes and professionals tolerance of social diversity. Journal of Business Ethics, 40:301–12
Velasquez M.: 2005, Business Ethics: Concepts and cases. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall
Waddock S., C. Bodwell and S. Graves: 2002, Responsibility: The new business imperative. Academy of Management Executive, 16:132–47
Warren R.: 1993, Codes of ethics: Bricks without straw. Business Ethics: A European Review, 2:185–91
Weaver G.: 1993, Corporate codes of ethics: Purpose, process and content issues. Business and Society, 32:44–58
Weaver G.: 1995, Does ethics code design matter? Effects of ethics code rationales and sanctions on recipients justice perceptions and content recall. Journal of Business Ethics, 14:367–85
Weaver K. and O Ferrell: 1977, The Impact of Corporate Policy in Reported Ethical Beliefs and Behavior of Marketing Practitioners. In: Greenberg B. Bellenger D. (Eds), Contemporary Marketing Thought, AMA Proceedings (Chicago, AMA), pp. 477–81
Weaver G., L. Treviño and P. Cochran: 1999, Integrated and decoupled corporate social performance: Manager commitments, external pressures, and corporate ethics practices. Academy of Management Journal, 42:539–52
Weber J.: 1993, Institutionalizing ethics into business organizations: A model and research agenda. Business Ethics Quarterly, 3:419–36
Webley S.: 1988, Company Philosophies and Codes of Business Ethics: A guide to their drafting and use. London: Institute of Business Ethics
Weeks W. and J. Nantel: 1992, Corporate codes of ethics and sales force behavior: A case study. Journal of Business Ethics, 11:753–61
Weller S.: 1988, The effectiveness of corporate codes of ethics. Journal of Business Ethics, 7:389–396
White B. and B. Montgomery: 1980, Corporate codes of conduct. California Management Review, 23:80–87
Wood G. and M. Rimmer: 2003, Codes of ethics: What are they really and what should they be? International Journal of Value-Based Management, 16:181–95
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Muel Kaptein is Professor of Business Ethics and Integrity Management at the Department of Business-Society Management at RSM Erasmus University. His research interests include the management of ethics, the measurement of ethics and the ethics of management. He has published papers in the Journal of Business Ethics, Business & Society, Organization Studies, Academy of Management Review, Business & Society Review, Corporate Governance, Policing, Public Integrity, and European Management Journal. He is the author of the books Ethics Management (Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1998),The Balanced Company (Oxford University Press, 2002), and The Six Principles of Managing with Integrity (Spiro Press, 2005). Muel is also director at KPMG Integrity, where he assisted more than 40 companies in developing their business code.
Mark S. Schwartz is Assistant Professor of Goverance, Law and Ethics at the Atkinson School of Administrative Studies at York University (Toronto). His research interests include corporate ethics programs, ethical leadership, and corporate social responsibility. He has published papers in the Journal of Business Ethics, Business & Society, Business Ethics Quarterly, Professional Ethics, and the Journal of Management History, and is a co-author of the textbook Business Ethics: Readings and Cases in Corporate Morality (McGraw Hill). He is also a Research Fellow of the Center of Business Ethics (Bentley College) and the Business Ethics Center of Jerusalem (Jerusalem College of Technology).
Rights and permissions
Open Access This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial License ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0 ), which permits any noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and source are credited.
About this article
Cite this article
Kaptein, M., Schwartz, M.S. The Effectiveness of Business Codes: A Critical Examination of Existing Studies and the Development of an Integrated Research Model. J Bus Ethics 77, 111–127 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-006-9305-0
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-006-9305-0