Hostname: page-component-857557d7f7-9f75d Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-11-24T17:27:52.565Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Influence of Collegiate and Corporate Codes of Conduct on Ethics-Related Behavior in the Workplace

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 January 2015

Donald L. McCabe ,
Linda Klebe Trevino  and
Kenneth D. Butterfield
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Codes of conduct are viewed here as a community's attempt to communicate its expectations and standards of ethical behavior. Many organizations are implementing codes, but empirical support for the relationship between such codes and employee conduct is lacking. We investigated the long term effects of a collegiate honor code experience as well as the effects of corporate ethics codes on unethical behavior in the workplace by surveying alumni from an honor code and a non-honor code college who now work in business. We found that self-reported unethical behavior was lower for respondents who work in an organization with a corporate code of conduct and was inversely associated with corporate code implementation strength and embeddedness. Self-reported unethical behavior was also influenced by the interaction of a collegiate honor code experience and corporate code implementation strength.

Information

Type
Articles
Information
Business Ethics Quarterly , Volume 6 , Issue 4 , October 1996 , pp. 461 - 476
Copyright
Copyright © Society for Business Ethics 1996

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Abelson, R. P. (1976). “Script Processing in Attitude Formation and Decision-Making.” In Carroll, J. S. & Payne, J. W. (eds.), Cognition and Social Behavior (Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates), pp. 33–45.Google Scholar
Akaah, I. P. (1992). “Social Inclusion as a Marketing Ethics Correlate.” Journal of Business Ethics, vol. 11(8), pp. 599–608.Google Scholar
Alwin, D. F., Cohen, R. L., and Newcomb, T. M. (1991). Political Attitudes Over the Life Span: The Bennington Women After Fifty Years (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press).Google Scholar
Bargh, J. A. (1984). “Automatic and Conscious Processing of Social Information.” In Wyer, R. S. and Srull, T. K. (eds.), Handbook of Social Cognition, Vol. 3 (Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates), pp. 1–44.Google Scholar
Berenbeim, R. E. (1988). Corporate Ethics (New York: The Conference Board, Inc.).Google Scholar
Bower, G. H., Black, J. B., and Turner, T. J. (1979). “Scripts in Memory for Text.” Cognitive Psychology, vol. 11, pp. 177–220.Google Scholar
Bowers, W. J. (1964). Student Dishonesty and Its Control in College (New York: Bureau of Applied Social Research, Columbia University).Google Scholar
Byrne, J. A. (1988, Feb. 15). “Businesses are Signing up for Ethics 101. Business Week, pp. 56–57.Google Scholar
Cantor, N., and Mischel, W. (1979). “Prototypes in Person Perception. In Berkowitz, L. (ed.), Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, Vol. 12 (New York: Academic Press), pp. 4–47.Google Scholar
Colby, A., and Damon, W. (1992). Some Do Care (New York: The Free Press).Google Scholar
Crowne, D. P., and Marlowe, D. (1960). “A New Scale of Social Desirability Independent of Psychotherapy.” Journal of Consulting Psychology, vol. 24, pp. 349–54.Google Scholar
Feldman, J. M. (1981). “Beyond Attribution Theory: Cognitive Processes in Performance Appraisal.” Journal of Applied Psychology, vol. 66(2), pp. 127–48.Google Scholar
Feldman, K. A., and Newcomb, T. M. (1969). The Impact of College on Students (San Francisco: Josey-Bass).Google Scholar
Fiske, S. T., and Taylor, S. E. (1984). Social Cognition (New York: Random House).Google Scholar
Gioia, D. A. (1992). “Pinto Fires and Personal Ethics: A Script Analysis of Missed Opportunities.” Journal of Business Ethics, vol. 11, pp. 379–89.Google Scholar
Gioia, D. A., and Manz, C. C. (1985). “Linking Cognition and Behavior: A Script Processing Interpretation of Vicarious Learning.” Academy of Management Review, vol. 10(3), pp. 527–39.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gioia, D. A., and Poole, P. P. (1984). “Scripts in Organizational Behavior.” Academy of Management Review, vol. 9(3), pp. 449–59.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hegarty, W. J., and Sims, H. P. Jr., (1979). “Organizational Philosophy, Policies & Objectives Related to Unethical Decision Behavior: A Laboratory Experiment.” Journal of Applied Psychology, vol. 64, pp. 331–38.Google Scholar
Ignelzi, M. G. (1990). “Ethical Education in a College Environment: The Just Community Approach. NASPA Journal, vol. 27(3), pp. 192–98.Google Scholar
Kohlberg, L. (1980). “High School Democracy and Educating for a Just Society.” In Mosher, R. L. (ed.), Moral Education: A First Generation of Research and Development (New York: Praeger), pp. 20–57.Google Scholar
Mathews, C. M. (1987). “Codes of Ethics: Organizational Behavior and Misbehavior.” In Frederick, W. F. (ed.) Research in Corporate Social Performance and Policy, Vol. 9 (Greenwich, CT: JAI Press), pp. 107–30.Google Scholar
McCabe, D. L., and Trevino, L. K. (1993). “Academic Dishonesty: Honor Codes and Other Contextual Influences.” Journal of Higher Education, vol. 64(5), pp. 522–38.Google Scholar
Melendez, B. (1985). Honor Code Study (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University).Google Scholar
Murray, T. J. (1987, September). “Ethics Programs: Just a Pretty Face? Business Month, pp. 30–32.Google Scholar
Newcomb, T. M. (1943). Personality and Social Change (New York: Dryden Press).Google Scholar
Paulhus, D. (1990). “Measurement and Control of Response Bias.” In Robinson, J. P., Shaver, P. R., and Wrightsman, L. (eds.). Measures of Social-Psychological Attitudes (New York: Academic Press), pp. 17–59.Google Scholar
Power, F. C., Higgins, A., and Kohlberg, L. (1989). Lawrence Kohlberg's Approach to Moral Education (New York: Columbia University Press).Google Scholar
Randall, D. M., and Fernandes, M. F. (1991). “The Social Desirability Response Bias in Ethics Research.” Journal of Business Ethics, vol. 10, pp. 805–17.Google Scholar
Rest, J. R. (1993). “Research on Moral Judgment in College Students.” In Garrod, A. (ed.) Approaches to Moral Development: New Research and Emerging Themes (New York: Teachers College Press, Columbia University) pp. 201–14.Google Scholar
Rest, J. R., and Deemer, D. (1986). “Life Experiences and Developmental Pathways.” In Rest, J. R. (ed.) Moral Development: Advances in Research and Theory (New York: Praeger), pp. 28–58.Google Scholar
Rest, J. R. & Thoma, S. J. (1986). “Educational Programs and Interventions.” In Rest, J. R. (ed.) Moral Development: Advances in research and Theory (New York: Praeger), pp. 38–58.Google Scholar
Sanford, N. (1964). “Freshman Personality: A Stage in Human Development.” In Nevitt, Sanford (ed.) College and Character (New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.), pp. pp. 86–90.Google Scholar
Solomon, R. C. (1992a). Ethics and Excellence (Oxford: Oxford University Press).Google Scholar
Solomon, R. C. (1992b). “Corporate Roles, Personal Virtues: An Aristotelean Approach to Business Ethics.” Business Ethics Quarterly, vol. 2(3), pp. 317–39.Google Scholar
Taylor, S. E. & Crocker, J. (1981). “Schematic Bases of Social Information Processing.” In Higgins, E. T., Herman, C. P. & Zanna, M. P. (eds.) Social Cognition, Vol. 1 (Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates), pp. 89–133.Google Scholar
Tomlinson, P. (1974). “Some Perspectives from Academic Psychology.” In Collier, G., Tomlinson, P., and Wilson, J. (eds.). Values and Moral Development in Higher Education (New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.), pp.27–39.Google Scholar
Trevino, L. K. (1990). “A Cultural Perspective on Changing and Developing Organizational Ethics.” Research in Organizational Change and Development, vol. 4, pp. 195–230.Google Scholar
Trevino, L. K., and McCabe, D. (1994). “Meta-Learning About Business Ethics: Building Honorable Business School Communities.” Journal of Business Ethics, vol. 13, pp. 405–16.Google Scholar
Weeks, W. A. & Nantel, J. (1992). “Corporate Codes of Ethics and Sales Force Behavior: A Case Study.” Journal of Business Ethics, vol. 11, pp. 753–60.Google Scholar
Weick, K. (1979). The Social Psychology of Organizing. (Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley).Google Scholar