Managerial Values and Corporate Codes of Ethics

An analysis of 119 corporation conduct codes suggests that top executives of American corporations only weakly shared the concern for social responsibility so often voiced by business leaders in the mid-1970s, when most of the codes were written. The documents give more attention to unethical conduct likely to decrease a firm's profits than to similar conduct that might increase profits. Familiarity with changing societal values is evident, but …