Codes of Ethics, Ethical Behavior, and Organizational Culture from the Managerial Approach

Abstract

This qualitative case study explored managerial perceptions regarding codes of ethics, ethical behavior, and the relationship of these concepts to organizational culture in a Colombian bank ZOX (pseudonym), in a South-American environment. The data-collection phase contained a purposive sample of ten ZOX senior managers, by including four one-on-one interviews, a focus-group interview, and company documents. The findings include the facts that codes of ethics are mandatory and they demand that the individual has his/her own values; ethical behavior follows general principles and values as ethical guides of duty regardless of the consequences; and the organizational culture is influenced by the leaders' ethical behavior. The findings also serve to trace and describe empirically and theoretically the components of a multi-dimensional approach of an ethical organizational culture. A suggestion for further research might be the testing of this multi-dimensional approach in other settings and going deeper into the relationship among its components.

Codes of Ethics, Ethical Behavior, and Organizational Culture from the Managerial Approach

“…Therefore, this study sought to have a better understanding of managers' perceptions regarding codes of ethics, ethical behavior, and the relationship of these concepts to organizational culture by giving common and new meanings for those managers and policy makers who have the goal of building an ethical organizational culture (Villegas, 2014). For reasons of confidentiality, the bank is referred to throughout this study as "ZOX."…”