The Relationship Between Personal Values and the Perception of the Corporation's Code of Ethics

Most major corporations have instituted codes of ethics to encourage ethical behavior. However, recent studies suggest that these codes are not always effective. One reason that the codes might be ineffective is because the values represented in the code do not correspond with the employee's personal values. The more the code represents values that the individual agrees with, the more positively the employee may view the document. In turn, when the code is viewed positively, transgressions of the code will be viewed negatively. In the present study, employees of a large petrochemical company responded to a survey which solicited their personal values, their perception of the company's values, and their perception of the values behind the organization's code of ethics. In line with the hypothesis, the more similar the values of the code were to the person's values, the more favorable was the evaluation of the code. Similarly the more favorable the evaluation, the more violations of the code were perceived as immoral.