IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/intman/v27y2021i1s107542532100003x.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Do cultural differences impact ethical issues? Exploring the relationship between national culture and quality of code of ethics

Author

Listed:
  • Vitolla, Filippo
  • Raimo, Nicola
  • Rubino, Michele
  • Garegnani, Giovanni Maria

Abstract

In recent years, attention to sustainability and corporate ethics has grown considerably. This highlights ethical codes as tools to promote ethical and honest actions and create greater motivation among employees. Ethical codes help implement organisational control by allowing companies to represent both belief and boundary systems. Despite the global relevance of ethics, the drafting processes, and the contents of ethical codes differ considerably between countries. This circumstance makes interesting the analysis of the influence of national culture on the quality of the code of ethics, still little explored in the literature. This study aims to fill this gap by analysing the impact of Hofstede's dimensions, as an expression of national culture, on quality of the code of ethics, from an organisational control perspective. Our analysis, of 191 international companies belonging to 29 different countries and five continents, shows that the quality of the ethical codes is related to five of Hofstede's six dimensions. This study enriches the literature by extending the field of antecedents of the quality of the code of ethics, which before this research included analyses only on internal determinants.

Suggested Citation

  • Vitolla, Filippo & Raimo, Nicola & Rubino, Michele & Garegnani, Giovanni Maria, 2021. "Do cultural differences impact ethical issues? Exploring the relationship between national culture and quality of code of ethics," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 27(1).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:intman:v:27:y:2021:i:1:s107542532100003x
    DOI: 10.1016/j.intman.2021.100823
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S107542532100003X
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.intman.2021.100823?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kaptein, Muel & Wempe, Johan, 2002. "The Balanced Company: A Theory of Corporate Integrity," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199255511.
    2. Robin, Donald & Giallourakis, Michael & David, Fred R. & Moritz, Thomas E., 1989. "A different look at codes of ethics," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 32(1), pages 66-73.
    3. Widener, Sally K., 2007. "An empirical analysis of the levers of control framework," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 32(7-8), pages 757-788.
    4. Siano, Alfonso & Vollero, Agostino & Conte, Francesca & Amabile, Sara, 2017. "“More than words”: Expanding the taxonomy of greenwashing after the Volkswagen scandal," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 27-37.
    5. Schein, Edgar H., 1983. "The role of the founder in the creation of organizational culture," Working papers 1407-83., Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Sloan School of Management.
    6. Torbjörn Tagesson & Veronica Blank & Pernilla Broberg & Sven‐Olof Collin, 2009. "What explains the extent and content of social and environmental disclosures on corporate websites: a study of social and environmental reporting in Swedish listed corporations," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 16(6), pages 352-364, November.
    7. Kwok Leung & Rabi S Bhagat & Nancy R Buchan & Miriam Erez & Cristina B Gibson, 2005. "Culture and international business: recent advances and their implications for future research," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 36(4), pages 357-378, July.
    8. Hoje Jo & Maretno Harjoto, 2012. "The Causal Effect of Corporate Governance on Corporate Social Responsibility," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 106(1), pages 53-72, March.
    9. Curtis Clements & John Neill & O. Stovall, 2009. "The Impact of Cultural Differences on the Convergence of International Accounting Codes of Ethics," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 90(3), pages 383-391, December.
    10. William G. Ouchi, 1979. "A Conceptual Framework for the Design of Organizational Control Mechanisms," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 25(9), pages 833-848, September.
    11. Imhoff, Eugene Jr., 1992. "The relation between perceived accounting quality and economic characteristics of the firm," Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, Elsevier, vol. 11(2), pages 97-118.
    12. Muel Kaptein & Mark Schwartz, 2008. "The Effectiveness of Business Codes: A Critical Examination of Existing Studies and the Development of an Integrated Research Model," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 77(2), pages 111-127, January.
    13. Muel Kaptein, 2011. "Toward Effective Codes: Testing the Relationship with Unethical Behavior," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 99(2), pages 233-251, March.
    14. Singh, Jang & Carasco, Emily & Svensson, Goran & Wood, Greg & Callaghan, Michael, 2005. "A comparative study of the contents of corporate codes of ethics in Australia, Canada and Sweden," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 40(1), pages 91-109, February.
    15. Alfred M. Jaeger & B. R. Baliga, 1985. "Control systems and strategic adaptation: Lessons from the Japanese experience," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 6(2), pages 115-134, April.
    16. Harris, Lloyd C. & Ogbonna, Emmanuel, 2011. "Antecedents and consequences of management-espoused organizational cultural control," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 64(5), pages 437-445, May.
    17. Hofstede, G., 2006. "What did GLOBE really measure? Researchers' minds versus respondents' minds," Other publications TiSEM 53fc2049-e658-4cff-a440-4, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    18. Silvia Romero & Belen Fernandez-Feijoo, 2013. "Effect of Hofstede’s Cultural Differences in Corporate Social Responsibility Disclosure," International Journal of Information Systems and Social Change (IJISSC), IGI Global, vol. 4(1), pages 68-84, January.
    19. Wallace, R. S. Olusegun & Naser, Kamal, 1995. "Firm-specific determinants of the comprehensiveness of mandatory disclosure in the corporate annual reports of firms listed on the stock exchange of Hong Kong," Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, Elsevier, vol. 14(4), pages 311-368.
    20. Janet Adams & Armen Tashchian & Ted Shore, 2001. "Codes of Ethics as Signals for Ethical Behavior," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 29(3), pages 199-211, February.
    21. Bearden, William O. & Money, R. Bruce & Nevins, Jennifer L., 2006. "Multidimensional versus unidimensional measures in assessing national culture values: The Hofstede VSM 94 example," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 59(2), pages 195-203, February.
    22. Filippo Vitolla & Nicola Raimo & Michele Rubino & Antonello Garzoni, 2019. "The impact of national culture on integrated reporting quality. A stakeholder theory approach," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(8), pages 1558-1571, December.
    23. Bert Scholtens & Lammertjan Dam, 2007. "Cultural Values and International Differences in Business Ethics," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 75(3), pages 273-284, October.
    24. Patrick Erwin, 2011. "Corporate Codes of Conduct: The Effects of Code Content and Quality on Ethical Performance," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 99(4), pages 535-548, April.
    25. Ennio Lugli & Ulpiana Kocollari & Chiara Nigrisoli, 2009. "The Codes of Ethics of S&P/MIB Italian Companies: An Investigation of Their Contents and the Main Factors that Influence Their Adoption," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 84(1), pages 33-45, January.
    26. Flamholtz, Eric G. & Das, T. K. & Tsui, Anne S., 1985. "Toward an integrative framework of organizational control," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 10(1), pages 35-50, January.
    27. Sven Helin & Johan Sandström, 2007. "An Inquiry into the Study of Corporate Codes of Ethics," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 75(3), pages 253-271, October.
    28. Mark S. Schwartz, 2002. "A Code of Ethics for Corporate Code of Ethics," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 41(1), pages 27-43, November.
    29. Catherine C Langlois & Bodo B Shlegemilch, 1990. "Do Corporate Codes of Ethics Reflect National Character? Evidence from Europe and the United States," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 21(4), pages 519-539, December.
    30. Ronald Hill & Justine Rapp, 2014. "Codes of Ethical Conduct: A Bottom-Up Approach," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 123(4), pages 621-630, September.
    31. Manuel Branco & Lúcia Rodrigues, 2008. "Factors Influencing Social Responsibility Disclosure by Portuguese Companies," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 83(4), pages 685-701, December.
    32. Rubino, Michele & Vitolla, Filippo & Raimo, Nicola & Garzoni, Antonello, 2019. "Cultura nazionale e livello di digitalizzazione delle imprese europee: evidenze empiriche," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, pages 581-593.
    33. Betsy Stevens, 2008. "Corporate Ethical Codes: Effective Instruments For Influencing Behavior," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 78(4), pages 601-609, April.
    34. Geert Hofstede, 2006. "What did GLOBE really measure? Researchers’ minds versus respondents’ minds," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 37(6), pages 882-896, November.
    35. Jang Singh, 2011. "Determinants of the Effectiveness of Corporate Codes of Ethics: An Empirical Study," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 101(3), pages 385-395, July.
    36. Raimo, Nicola & Zito, Marianna & Caragnano, Alessandra, 2019. "Does national culture affect integrated reporting quality? A focus on GLOBE dimensions," EconStor Conference Papers 199012, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
    37. Stephan Vachon, 2010. "International operations and sustainable development: Should national culture matter?," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 18(6), pages 350-361, November/.
    38. Mayer, David M. & Kuenzi, Maribeth & Greenbaum, Rebecca & Bardes, Mary & Salvador, Rommel (Bombie), 2009. "How low does ethical leadership flow? Test of a trickle-down model," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 108(1), pages 1-13, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Shin, Jiyoung & Moon, Jon Jungbien & Kang, Jingoo, 2023. "Where does ESG pay? The role of national culture in moderating the relationship between ESG performance and financial performance," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 32(3).
    2. Wei, Shihao & Su, Zhongfeng & Ahlstrom, David & Wu, Zhan, 2023. "State fragility and informal entrepreneurship: The moderating effects of human capital under varying temporal orientations," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 29(1).
    3. Siti Amalia & Dadang Lesmana & Yanzil Azizil Yudaruddin & Rizky Yudaruddin, 2022. "The Impact of Board Structure on Voluntary Environmental and Energy Disclosure in an Emerging Market," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 12(4), pages 430-438, July.
    4. Isabel-María García-Sánchez & Nicola Raimo & Filippo Vitolla, 2021. "Are Environmentally Innovative Companies Inclined towards Integrated Environmental Disclosure Policies?," Administrative Sciences, MDPI, vol. 11(1), pages 1-19, March.
    5. Jaime F. Lavin & Alejandro A. Montecinos-Pearce, 2022. "Heterogeneous Firms and Benefits of ESG Disclosure: Cost of Debt Financing in an Emerging Market," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(23), pages 1-21, November.
    6. Angelo Rosa & Angela Rella & Filippo Vitolla & Nicola Raimo, 2022. "Le determinanti della trasparenza informativa nella sanità pubblica. Un?analisi empirica nelle strutture ospedaliere i," MECOSAN, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2022(122), pages 29-43.
    7. Gangi, Francesco & Mustilli, Mario & Varrone, Nicola & Graziano, Domenico, 2023. "Target firms’ characteristics and the effects of sovereign wealth funds’ investments: Does cultural context of SWFs matter?," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    8. Nicola Raimo & Michele Rubino & Paolo Esposito & Filippo Vitolla, 2023. "Measuring quality of popular annual financial reports: Features of the rewarded US reporting municipalities," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(1), pages 17-27, January.
    9. Nicola Raimo & Alessandra Caragnano & Marianna Zito & Filippo Vitolla & Massimo Mariani, 2021. "Extending the benefits of ESG disclosure: The effect on the cost of debt financing," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 28(4), pages 1412-1421, July.
    10. Zhang, Dongyang, 2022. "Green financial system regulation shock and greenwashing behaviors: Evidence from Chinese firms," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).
    11. Vitiana L'Abate & Filippo Vitolla & Paolo Esposito & Nicola Raimo, 2023. "The drivers of sustainability disclosure practices in the airport industry: A legitimacy theory perspective," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(4), pages 1903-1916, July.
    12. Thamir Al Barrak & Kaouther Chebbi & Abdullah A. Aljughaiman & Mohammed Albarrak, 2023. "Exploring the Interplay between Sustainability and Debt Costs in an Emerging Market: Does Financial Distress Matter?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-19, June.
    13. Benedetta Esposito & Nicola Raimo & Ornella Malandrino & Filippo Vitolla, 2023. "Circular economy disclosure and integrated reporting: The role of corporate governance mechanisms," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(8), pages 5403-5419, December.
    14. Jinyu Chen & Yan Yang & Ran Liu & Yuan Geng & Xiaohang Ren, 2023. "Green bond issuance and corporate ESG performance: the perspective of internal attention and external supervision," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 10(1), pages 1-12, December.
    15. Tat-Dat Bui & Hania Aminah & Ching-Hsin Wang & Ming-Lang Tseng & Mohammad Iranmanesh & Ming K. Lim, 2022. "Developing a Food and Beverage Corporate Sustainability Performance Structure in Indonesia: Enhancing the Leadership Role and Tenet Value from an Ethical Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-24, March.
    16. Isabel-María García-Sánchez & Nicola Raimo & Víctor Amor-Esteban & Filippo Vitolla, 2023. "Board committees and non-financial information assurance services," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 27(1), pages 1-42, March.
    17. Jaime F. Lavin & Alejandro A. Montecinos-Pearce, 2021. "ESG Disclosure in an Emerging Market: An Empirical Analysis of the Influence of Board Characteristics and Ownership Structure," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(19), pages 1-20, September.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Giovanni Garegnani & Emilia Merlotti & Angeloantonio Russo, 2015. "Scoring Firms’ Codes of Ethics: An Explorative Study of Quality Drivers," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 126(4), pages 541-557, February.
    2. Lauren Kleynjans & Marek Hudon, 2016. "A Study of Codes of Ethics for Mexican Microfinance Institutions," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 134(3), pages 397-412, March.
    3. Maira Babri & Bruce Davidson & Sven Helin, 2021. "An Updated Inquiry into the Study of Corporate Codes of Ethics: 2005–2016," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 168(1), pages 71-108, January.
    4. Kaptein, S.P., 2009. "From Symbolic to Substantive Documents: When Business Codes of Ethics Impact Unethical Behavior in the Workplace," ERIM Report Series Research in Management ERS-2009-021-ORG, Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM), ERIM is the joint research institute of the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University and the Erasmus School of Economics (ESE) at Erasmus University Rotterdam.
    5. Virginia Bodolica & Martin Spraggon, 2015. "An Examination into the Disclosure, Structure, and Contents of Ethical Codes in Publicly Listed Acquiring Firms," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 126(3), pages 459-472, February.
    6. Muel Kaptein, 2011. "Toward Effective Codes: Testing the Relationship with Unethical Behavior," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 99(2), pages 233-251, March.
    7. Els Waegeneer & Jeroen Sompele & Annick Willem, 2016. "Ethical Codes in Sports Organizations: Classification Framework, Content Analysis, and the Influence of Content on Code Effectiveness," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 136(3), pages 587-598, July.
    8. Stephanie Kelley, 2022. "Employee Perceptions of the Effective Adoption of AI Principles," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 178(4), pages 871-893, July.
    9. Bram Constandt & Els Waegeneer & Annick Willem, 2019. "Ethical Code Effectiveness in Football Clubs: A Longitudinal Analysis," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 156(3), pages 621-634, May.
    10. Laurence Romani & Betina Szkudlarek, 2014. "The Struggles of the Interculturalists: Professional Ethical Identity and Early Stages of Codes of Ethics Development," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 119(2), pages 173-191, January.
    11. Filippo Vitolla & Nicola Raimo & Michele Rubino & Antonello Garzoni, 2019. "The impact of national culture on integrated reporting quality. A stakeholder theory approach," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(8), pages 1558-1571, December.
    12. Filippo Vitolla & Nicola Raimo & Michele Rubino, 2020. "Gli effetti della cultura nazionale sulla qualit? della disclosure del capitale intellettuale nel contesto dell?Integrated Reporting," MANAGEMENT CONTROL, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2020(1), pages 137-160.
    13. Luis Rodriguez-Dominguez & Isabel Gallego-Alvarez & Isabel Garcia-Sanchez, 2009. "Corporate Governance and Codes of Ethics," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 90(2), pages 187-202, December.
    14. Isabel-María García-Sánchez & Luis Rodríguez-Domínguez & Isabel Gallego-Álvarez, 2013. "CEO qualities and codes of ethics," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 35(2), pages 295-312, April.
    15. Jana Kozáková & Mária Urbánová & Radovan Savov, 2021. "Factors Influencing the Extent of the Ethical Codes: Evidence from Slovakia," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 14(1), pages 1-18, January.
    16. Filippo Vitolla & Nicola Raimo & Michele Rubino & Antonello Garzoni, 2019. "How pressure from stakeholders affects integrated reporting quality," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 26(6), pages 1591-1606, November.
    17. Calderón Reyes & Ferrero Ignacio & Redin Dulce M., 2013. "Ethical codes and corporate responsibility of the most admired companies of the world: Toward a third generation ethics?," Business and Politics, De Gruyter, vol. 14(4), pages 1-24, January.
    18. Ingo Winkler, 2011. "The Representation of Social Actors in Corporate Codes of Ethics. How Code Language Positions Internal Actors," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 101(4), pages 653-665, July.
    19. Giorgio Gotti & Tony Kang & Michael C. Wolfe & Yong Keun Yoo, 2023. "Corporate codes of ethics and cash holdings: International evidence," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 63(3), pages 3387-3418, September.
    20. Ruiz Lozano, Mercedes & Araque Padilla, Rafael, 2013. "¿Son los códigos éticos un instrumento para proteger al stakeholder consumidor? Un estudio de los sectores financiero, energético y de telefonía españoles," Revista de Contabilidad - Spanish Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 16(2), pages 159-168.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:intman:v:27:y:2021:i:1:s107542532100003x. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/601266/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.