Corporate Codes of Ethics and the Bending of Moral Space

Organization http://org.sagepub.com/ Corporate Codes of Ethics and the Bending of Moral Space
Tommy Jensen, Johan Sandström and Sven Helin
Organization 2009 16: 529
DOI: 10.1177/1350508409104507
The online version of this article can be found at: http://org.sagepub.com/content/16/4/529 Published by: http://www.sagepublications.com Additional services and information for Organization can be found at:
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Volume 16(4): 529–545
ISSN 1350–5084
Copyright © The Author(s), 2009.
Reprints and permissions: http://www.sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav Corporate Codes of Ethics and the Bending of Moral Space
Tommy Jensen
Umeå School of Business, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden

Johan Sandström
Swedish Business School, Örebro University, Örebro, Sweden

Sven Helin
Swedish Business School, Örebro University, Örebro, Sweden

Abstract. What happens when corporate codes of ethics (CCEs) ‘go to work’, and how do they influence moral practice? Even though previous research has posed these or similar questions, the role and the effect of the
CCE are still dubious. In this article, it is argued that this is predominantly because previous research is fixed in a position in which CCEs are passive artefacts with no capability of bending space, and in which agency and morality are limited to the human sphere only. An approach to the study and understanding of CCEs in which the travel of the CCE is made the focus of the research is therefore developed. The code comes alive in a heterogeneous materiality, travelling as a result of a wide range of

Citations: http://org.sagepub.com/content/16/4/529.refs.html >> Version of Record - Jun 16, 2009 What is This? Downloaded from org.sagepub.com at Bradford College on October 10, 2013 Copyright © The Author(s), 2009. ethics (CCEs). According to Schwartz (2001: 248), a corporate code can be defined as a ‘written, distinct and formal document which consists of their corporate responsibility work (Kaptein, 2004). However, CCEs are not a recent fad in the business community, but rather have a long history, reminding us ‘that the established, capitalist system of economic than the cash nexus’ (Willmott, 1998: 82). In previous research on CCEs, as reported elsewhere (Helin and Sandström, 2007), the golden question has been whether or not these a rhetorical device? Some studies identify positive effects on moral practice (Boo and Koh, 2001; Kaptein and Wempe, 1998; Stohs and Brannick, 1999), whereas others see the code as playing a mere symbolic role (Adams et al., 2001), as mere window-dressing (McKendall et al., 2002), constituting an important symbolic artefact (Stevens, 2004) inconclusive regarding the effect on moral practice (Schwartz, 2001, 2004), and has yet to take into account the capability of the CCE to influence Previous research has also given scarce attention to what actually happens when a code is used. The code is cornered as ‘a vehicle for bringing ethical norms’ (Cassell et al., 1997), ‘an instituted form’ (Nicholson, 1994), or ‘an ethical artefact’ (Dillard and Yuthas, 2002). In general, it is understood and treated as a passive artefact that people in the organization pay attention to or not, depending on their different rationales and reasons Theory (ANT), especially its ‘and after’ (Callon, 1998; Law, 2004; Law and 530 Hassard, 1999; Law and Mol, 2002) and from writers dealing with morality and organization (Bauman, 1989; Jones, 2003; McMahon, 1995; Roberts, 2003; ten Bos, 2003).