The Effectiveness of Business Codes: A Critical Examination of Existing Studies and the Development of an Integrated Research Model

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. 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).     

Peter Drucker's Weimar Experience: Moral Managementas a Perception of the Past

The writer discussed Drucker's ongoing denial of the relevance of business ethics in a paper presented to the Third Annual International Vincentian Conference. Later, in a paper presented to the Sixth Annual International Vincentian Conference, the writer argued that Collingwood's methodology would facilitate the advancement of an historical thesis which might explain the origins of Drucker's antipathy for business ethics. This latter aim is explored in the current paper. The paper asserts that it was Drucker's experiences of Weimar society and of the Weimar economy that led Drucker to seek a new socio-economic reality. This latter reality Drucker sought through management. The paper thus describes how the past led Drucker to seek management as, following Drucker, "a means to a bigger end"; and yet, simultaneously, not as an end in itself.     

The sourcing of technological knowledge: distributed innovation processes and dynamic change

This paper outlines the knowledge and technology sourcing practices of a range of key firms and organisations across the UK based on primary research, and analyses the key factors related to managing the technological knowledge boundaries of the firm. In particular, the paper considers the dynamic dimension considerations to such issues. As such it outlines important differences between short and long time horizons, before analysing in more detail some of the implications for firms of technological change over the long term. The paper seeks to highlight the importance of the time dimension in helping to explain why and how firms source technological knowledge externally and how they align their sourcing activities to their strategies associated with developing current and future capabilities.     

Shorter reviews

Crush, Jonathan and James Wilmot (eds.) Crossing boundaries: mine migrancy in a democratic South Africa Smith, Michael Peter (ed.) Marginal spaces: comparative urban and community research, volume 5 Harrington, J.W. and B. Wharf Industrial location: principles, practice and policy King, Desmond Separate and unequal. Black Americans and the US Federal government     

What has foreign exchange market intervention since the Plaza Agreement accomplished?

We review the conduct and scale of official intervention by monetary authorities in the U.S.A., Japan, and West Germany since the Plaza Agreement. Relative to trading volume and the stock of internatonally traded assets denominated in foreign currencies, intervention is small-scale and sporadic, hence at best limited to transitory effects. It does not appear to reduce volatility of daily exchange rates. Monetary authorities gamble that they will not suffer losses on their foreign currency holdings. Evidence in favor of sterilized foreign exchange market intervention as a way of conveying information to the private sector is far from convincing. Since changes in relative monetary growth rates are sufficient to alter bilateral exchange rates, monetary authorities can achieve their exchange rate preferences with domestic monetary policy, but at the cost of possible distortionary effects on monetary growth rates, domestic interest rates, and international capital flows.     

The "Ethics" of Ethical Investing

There appears to be an implicit assumption by those connected with the ethical investment movement (e.g., ethical investment firms, individual investors, social investment organizations, academia, and the media), that ethical investment is in fact ethical. This paper will attempt to challenge the notion that the ethical mutual fund industry, as currently taking place, is acting in an ethical manner. Ethical issues such as the transparency of the funds and advertising are discussed. Ethical mutual fund screens such as tobacco, alcohol, gambling, and the military are preliminarily examined to better determine whether they can actually be defined as "ethical" screens as opposed to merely social, political, or religious screens. A code of ethics for ethical investment is constructed by which ethical mutual fund firms can be audited for ethical compliance.     

'Invisible' resource: women for boards

Despite the increased appearance of women on corporate boards in recent years, only 1.8% of the directors of the top 1,300 boards are women. Almost without exception, these women have been highly "visible" for their achievements in government, education, and nonprofit circles. But there are hundreds of other high achievers who are not so visible. The problem for chairmen and nominating committees is two-fold: (1) identifying and selecting the best of this "unknown" but talented pool of candidates and (2) defining and communicating their expectations from women.     

DICTIONARY OF SCOTTISH BUSINESS BIOGRAPHY

A nthony S laven and S ydney C heckland (eds.) Dictionary of Scottish Business Biography (1860–1960), Volume I. The Staple Industries.     

Privatization: Reflections on the Eastern European experience

Opinions expressed in this paper are strictly personal.