Code of Ethics and Business

Conduct
Lesson 4
HISTORY and DEVELOPMENT
HISTORY
• American Ethical Codes – CREEDS OR CREDOS
 AFFIRMATIVE ACTION – Affirmative action in the United States is a
set of laws, policies, guidelines and administrative practices
"intended to end and correct the effects of a specific form of
discrimination.
 What is acceptable and what is not
POLICY DOCUMENTS defining responsibilities of the organization
to stakeholders and articulating the conduct expected of employees.
(Kaptein and Wempe, 2002)
Note codes contain open
guidelines describing desirable
behaviors and closed guidelines
prohibiting certain behaviors.
(Nijhof et al 2003)

Instruments to enhance social

responsibility (Kaptein, 2004)
Sauser’s Types of Organizational Culture with
respect to moral thought and action in business
DEFIANCE - ‘Achieve economic success at any cost; just don’t get
caught’ would be the theme of an organization embracing a culture
of defiance. Denial of guilt would be expected if illegal or unethical
behaviors of members of such an organization were detected and
made public.

COMPLIANCE - Their leaders and members may not agree with the
legal and ethical standards they are forced to operate within, but
they would take actions designed to meet (at least minimally) their
legal and ethical obligations.
 NEGLECT - Failure to know or understand the laws and ethical
codes regulating the business, failure adequately to communicate
those standards, failure to detect and/or punish wrongdoers within
the firm, or even certain blindness within the culture that leads to
unintentional moral failure.

CHARACTER - This is the organizational culture whose leaders and

members, according to Sims (2005), …are truly committed to ethical
conduct and make ethical behavior a fundamental component of
their every action.
AYALA CORPORATION
CORE VALUES
 INTEGRITY
INNOVATION AND STRATEGY
EMPOWERING LEADERSHIP
PRIDE IN EXECUTION
COMMITMENT TO NATIONAL
DEVELOPMENT