Business Sustainability, Corporate Governance, and Organizational Ethics

CHAPTER 28The Institutionalization of the Ethical Corporation

1. Introduction

In the previous chapter, we stressed the centrality of establishing of a corporate culture that signaled to insiders and outsiders where the company stood on ethics. The previous chapter indicated that this was a tall order, fraught with resistance and conflict. Now we suggest that the construction of even the best corporate culture, while necessary, is not sufficient. This chapter asserts that for a corporation to become an ethical actor, it must institutionalize ethical beliefs. After a brief introduction to the process of institutionalization, the bulk of the chapter concerns the establishment and management of an ethics program. This will involve the orchestration of many groups within and outside the corporation. Part of this will be ideas pertaining to how predictable ethics problems should be handled. This will tend to be an expansive inquiry, perhaps surprising the reader in what we consider to be within the big tent of ethics.

Learning Objectives

• Identify the steps necessary to create a proper ethics program.
• Learn how to properly maintain an ethics program.
• Identify and consider the differences in ethics that may vary by nation or region.
• Identify unexpected places in which ethics should find a strong foothold.
• Identify the limitations to ethical institutionalization.
• Become familiar with the Securities and Exchange Commission rules and regulations relating to ethics.
• Provide an overview ...