An Analysis of Corporate Ethical Code Studies: "Where Do We Go From Here? " Bets)/Stevens

ABSTRACT. The dramatic increase in the number of corporate ethical codes over the past 20 years has been attributed to the Watergate scandal and the!aoreign Corrupt Practices Act. Ethical codes differ somewhat from profes-sional codes and mission statements; yet the terms are frequendy 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 b havior. More research on ethical codes is rmeded m answer some of these questions. Incidents urrounding Watergate and passage of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in 1977 have been credited to the tremendous growth and popularity of corporate thical codes. Following the 1975 Water-gate scandal, a number of corporations were impli-cated in illegal or questionable acts and calls for government regulation received increased support. Smarting from criticism and low public opinion, a number of corporations wrote codes of ethics to betoken a new, more moral image and to redefine their values. This increase in codes, noted by Cressey an