Management Ethics and Corporate Policy: A Cross‐cultural Comparison

This paper reports the results of a cross‐cultural empirical study that investigated differences in the clarity of corporate attitudes towards ethical ‘grey areas’ and their influences on managers’ ethical decision making. The study encompassed managers in France, Germany, Britain, Spain and the USA working in over 200 companies operating in these countries. Comparisons are made at both individual manager level and at corporate level. At the former level significant differences are found among nationalities of managers themselves. For the latter, differences are found among companies according to the nationality of their home country rather than the host country. Despite identifying national differences in areas of gift giving and receiving, loyalty to company, loyalty to one's group, and reporting others’ violations of corporate policy, the study presents evidence that clarity of corporate policy has little influence on managers’ reported ethical decision making. The perceived behaviour of managers’ colleagues is far more important in predicting attitudes towards decision making of managers across the nationalities surveyed. This has implications for the efficacy of the growing popularity of corporate codes across Europe. Companies should place more emphasis on intervening in peer dynamics rather than trying to legislate for managers’ ethical conduct.