Název: Italian corporate codes of ethics : the influence of national regulatory framework
Zdrojový dokument: Brno studies in English. 2020, roč. 46, č. 1, s. 5-20
Rozsah
5-20
-
ISSN0524-6881 (print)1805-0867 (online)
Trvalý odkaz (DOI): https://doi.org/10.5817/BSE2020-1-1
Trvalý odkaz (handle): https://hdl.handle.net/11222.digilib/142599
Type: Článek
Jazyk
Licence: CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 International
Upozornění: Tyto citace jsou generovány automaticky. Nemusí být zcela správně podle citačních pravidel.
Abstrakt(y)
In Italy, as elsewhere, codes of ethics are an integral part of the development of an ethical business behaviour and of a corporate identity and culture. In the present paper, ten codes of ethics adopted by ten large Italian companies active in different sectors are analysed within the theoretical framework of discourse analysis. The scope of this study is to understand whether the selected companies opt for a legalistic or a commitment-oriented code type. The analysis conducted on the collected corpus reveals the presence, or lack of thereof, of the typical traits of the two types both at a macro- and a micro-textual level, although a tendency to employ a hybrid code was detected.
Note
This article is an output of PRIN project (Progetti di Ricerca di Rilevante Interesse Nazionale) Prot. 2015TJ8ZA Knowledge Dissemination across media in English: continuity and change in discourse strategies, ideologies, and epistemologies.
Reference
[1] Adams, Janet S., Tashchian, Armen and Shore, Ted H. (2001) Codes of ethics as signals for ethical Behavior. Journal of Business Ethics 29 (3), 199–211. | DOI 10.1023/A:1026576421399
[2] Balmer, John M.T. (2001) Corporate Identity, Corporate branding and corporate marketing: seeing through the fog. European Journal of Marketing 35 (3–4), 248–291. | DOI 10.1108/03090560110694763
[3] Bazerman, Charles (2004) Intertextuality: how texts rely on other texts. In: Bazerman, Charles, and Prior, Paul (eds.) What Writing Does and How it Does it: An Introduction to Analyzing Texts and Textual Practices. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum, 83–96.
[4] Bhatia, Vijay K. (1991) A genre-based approach to ESP materials. World Englishes 10 (2), 153–166. | DOI 10.1111/j.1467-971X.1991.tb00148.x
[5] Bhatia, Vijay K. (1993) Analysing Genre: Language Use in Professional Settings. London: Longman.
[6] Bhatia, Vijay and Gotti, Maurizio (2006) Introduction. In: Bhatia, Vijay K. and Gotti, Maurizio (eds.) Explorations in specialized genres, Bern: Peter Lang.
[7] Campari (2018) Code of Ethics, retrieved from https://www.camparigroup.com. Accessed on 1 March 2019.
[8] Candlin, Christopher, Bhatia, Vijay J. and Jensen, Chris (2002) Developing legal writing materials for English second language learners: problems and perspectives, English for Specific Purposes 21 (4), 299–320. | DOI 10.1016/S0889-4906(01)00029-1
[9] Catenaccio, Paola and Garzone Giuliana E. (2017) Poster session held at the 82nd ABC Annual International Conference 2017, Dublin.
[10] Chua, Frances Cho-Kwai (2015) Discourse analysis of corporate codes of ethics (thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Accountancy). Manawatu, NZ: Massey University.
[11] Di Maggio, Paul and Powel, Walter (1991) The New Institutionalism in Organizational Analysis. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
[12] D'Orazio, Emilio (2003) Codici etici, cultura e responsabilità d'impresa. Notizie di POLITEIA XIX (72), 127–143.
[13] Dudley-Evans, Tony (1986) Genre analysis: an investigation of the introduction and discussion sections of MSc dissertations. In: Coulthard Malcom (ed.) Talking about Text. Birmingham: University of Birmingham, 128–145.
[14] Enel (n.d.) Code of Ethics, retrieved from https://www.enel.com. Accessed on 1 March 2019.
[15] Eni (2017) Code of Ethics, retrieved from https://www.eni.com. Accessed on 1 March 2019.
[16] Fairclough, Norman (2003) Analysing Discourse. Text Analysis for Social Research. London: Routledge.
[17] Fairfax, Lisa M. (2007) Easier said than done? A Corporate Law Theory for Actualizing Social Responsibility Rhetoric. Florida Law Review 59, 771–828.
[18] Farrell, Brian J. and Cobbin, Deirdre (2000) A content analysis of codes of ethics from fifty-seven national accounting organizations. Business Ethics: A European Review 9 (3), 180–190. | DOI 10.1111/1467-8608.00189
[19] Farrell, Helen, and Farrell, Brian J. (1998) The language of business codes of ethics: Implications of knowledge and power. Journal of Business Ethics 17 (6), 587–601.
[20] Garzone, Giuliana E. and Salvi, Rita (2007) Legal English (2nd Ed.), Milano: EGEA.
[21] Garzone, Giuliana E. (2015) Genre analysis. In: Tracy Karen, Ilie Cornelia and Sandel Todd (eds.) The International Encyclopedia of Social and Language Interaction, Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley.
[22] Generali (2012) Code of Conduct, retrieved from https://www.generali.com. Accessed on 1 March 2019.
[23] George, Geoffrey, Jones, Asheley and Harvey, Jack (2014) Analysis of language used with codes of ethical conduct. Journal of Academic and Business Ethics 8, 1–24.
[24] Giglioni, Cinzia (2014) Variation in apologetic strategies in annual company report: rhetorical functions of lexical-syntactical patterns. In: Evangelisti Allori, Paola, John A. Bateman and Vijay K. Bhatia (eds.) Evolution in Genre; Emergence, Variation, Multimodality. Bern: Peter Lang, 45–65.
[25] Giglioni, Cinzia (2019) Legalistic and commitment-oriented corporate codes of ethics: distinctive macro textual and lexico-syntactic traits. Ostrava Journal of English Philology 2, 5–21.
[26] Guillén Parra, Manuel, Méle, Domenec, and Murphy, Patrick E. (2002) European vs. American approaches to institutionalisation of business ethics: the Spanish case. Business Ethics. A European Review 11, 167–178.
[27] Gunnarsson, Britt-Louise (1984) Functional comprehensibility of legislative texts: experiments with Swedish act of Parliament. Text. Interdisciplinary Journal for the Study of Discourse 4 (1–3), 71–106.
[28] Holder-Webb, Lori and Cohen, Jeffrey (2012) The cut and paste society: isomorphism in codes of ethics. Journal of Business Ethics 107 (4), 485–509. | DOI 10.1007/s10551-011-1060-1
[29] Hyland, Ken (1992) Genre analysis: just another fad? Forum 30 (2), 1–17.
[30] Intesa Sanpaolo (2016) Code of Ethics, retrieved from https://www.group.intesasanpaolo.com. Accessed on March 2019.
[31] Johnstone, Barbara (2008) Discourse Analysis (2nd ed.). Malden, MA: Blackwell.
[32] Kaptein, Muel (2011) Toward effective codes: testing the relationship with unethical behavior. Journal of Business Ethics 99 (2), 233–251. | DOI 10.1007/s10551-010-0652-5
[33] Krippendorff, Klaus (2013) Content Analysis. An Introduction to its Methodology (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
[34] Kothari, C.R. (2004) Research Methodology. Methods and Techniques (2nd ed.). New Age International Publisher.
[35] Langois, Catherine C. and Schelegelmilch, Bodo B. (1990) Do corporate codes of ethics reflect national character? Evidence from Europe and the United States. Journal of International Business Studies 21 (4), 519–539. | DOI 10.1057/palgrave.jibs.8490340
[36] Legislative Decree n. 231/2001, enacted 8 June 2001.
[37] Leonardo (2017) Code of Ethics, retrieved from https://www.leonardocompany.com. Accessed on 1 March 2019.
[38] Long, Brad S. and Driscoll, Cathy (2008) Codes of ethics and the pursuit of organizational legitimacy: theoretical and empirical contributions. Journal of Business Ethics 77 (2), 173–189. | DOI 10.1007/s10551-006-9307-y
[39] Luxottica (n.d.) Code of Ethics, retrieved from https://www.luxottica.com. Accessed on 1 March 2019.
[40] Meyer, John W. and Rowan, Brian (1997) Institutionalized organizations: formal structure as myth and ceremony. The American Journal of Sociology 83 (2), 340–363. | DOI 10.1086/226550
[41] Nieweler, Amanda (2014). Code of ethics and code of conduct: what's the difference? Whistleblower Security. Accessed on 14 August 2019 from https://www.whistleblowersecurity.com/code-of-ethics-and-code-of-conduct-whats-the difference/.
[42] Paltridge, Brian (2012) Discourse Analysis (2nd ed.). London: Bloomsbury.
[43] Pierce, Anne and Henry, John W. (1996) Computer ethics: the role of personal, informal, and formal codes. Journal of Business Ethics 15 (4), 425–437. | DOI 10.1007/BF00380363
[44] Pollach, Irene (2003) Web: a discourse analysis of selected company websites. Business & Society 42 (2), 277–287. | DOI 10.1177/0007650303042002006
[45] Poste Italiane (2018) Code of Ethics of Poste Italiane Group, retrieved from https://www.posteitaliane. it. Accessed on 1 March 2019.
[46] Riolo, Franco (1995) Etica degli affari e codici etici aziendali, Milano: Edibank.
[47] Sarbanes Oxley Act, enacted 30 July 2002.
[48] Singh, Jang, Carasco, Emily, Svensson, Goran, Wood, Greg and Callaghan, Michael (2005) A comparative study of the contents of corporate code of ethics in Australia, Canada and Sweden. Journal of World Business 40 (1), 91–109. | DOI 10.1016/j.jwb.2004.10.007
[49] Singh, Jang (2011) Determinants of the effectiveness of corporate codes of ethics: an empirical study. Journal of Business Ethics 101 (3), 385–395. | DOI 10.1007/s10551-010-0727-3
[50] Somers, Mark J. (2001) Ethical codes of conduct and organizational context: a study of the relationship between codes of conduct, employee behavior and organizational values. Journal of Business Ethics 30 (2), 185–195. | DOI 10.1023/A:1006457810654
[51] Statman, Meir (2007) Local ethics in a global world. Financial Analysts Journal 63 (3), 32–41. | DOI 10.2469/faj.v63.n3.4688
[52] Stevens, Betsy (2008) Corporate ethical codes. Effective instruments for influencing Behavior. Journal of Business Ethics 78 (4) 601–609. | DOI 10.1007/s10551-007-9370-z
[53] Stevens, Betsy (2009) Corporate ethical codes as strategic documents: an analysis of success and failure. EJBO Electronic Journal of Business Ethics and Organization Studies 14 (2), 14–20.
[54] Swales, John (1981) Aspects of article Introductions. Aston ESP Research Report No. 1, Language Studies Unit. Birmingham: University of Aston.
[55] Swales, John (1990) Genre Analysis. English in Academic and Research Settings. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
[56] Telecom Italia (2013) Code of Ethics, retrieved from https://www.telecomitalia.com. Accessed on 1 March 2019.
[57] Tenaris (2018) Code of Conduct, retrieved from https://www.tenaris.com. Accessed on 1 March 2019.
[58] Tenzer, Helene, Terjesen, Siri and Harzing, Anne-Will (2017) Language in international business. A review and agenda for future research. Management International Review (June 2017), 1–61.
[59] Wood, Greg (2000) A cross cultural comparison of the contents of codes of ethics: USA, Canada and Australia. Journal of Business Ethics 25 (4), 287–298. | DOI 10.1023/A:1006034209956
[60] Wood, Greg and Rimmer, Malcolm (2003) Codes of ethics: what are they really and what should they be? International Journal of Value-Based Management 16 (2), 181–195. | DOI 10.1023/A:1024089509424
[2] Balmer, John M.T. (2001) Corporate Identity, Corporate branding and corporate marketing: seeing through the fog. European Journal of Marketing 35 (3–4), 248–291. | DOI 10.1108/03090560110694763
[3] Bazerman, Charles (2004) Intertextuality: how texts rely on other texts. In: Bazerman, Charles, and Prior, Paul (eds.) What Writing Does and How it Does it: An Introduction to Analyzing Texts and Textual Practices. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum, 83–96.
[4] Bhatia, Vijay K. (1991) A genre-based approach to ESP materials. World Englishes 10 (2), 153–166. | DOI 10.1111/j.1467-971X.1991.tb00148.x
[5] Bhatia, Vijay K. (1993) Analysing Genre: Language Use in Professional Settings. London: Longman.
[6] Bhatia, Vijay and Gotti, Maurizio (2006) Introduction. In: Bhatia, Vijay K. and Gotti, Maurizio (eds.) Explorations in specialized genres, Bern: Peter Lang.
[7] Campari (2018) Code of Ethics, retrieved from https://www.camparigroup.com. Accessed on 1 March 2019.
[8] Candlin, Christopher, Bhatia, Vijay J. and Jensen, Chris (2002) Developing legal writing materials for English second language learners: problems and perspectives, English for Specific Purposes 21 (4), 299–320. | DOI 10.1016/S0889-4906(01)00029-1
[9] Catenaccio, Paola and Garzone Giuliana E. (2017) Poster session held at the 82nd ABC Annual International Conference 2017, Dublin.
[10] Chua, Frances Cho-Kwai (2015) Discourse analysis of corporate codes of ethics (thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Accountancy). Manawatu, NZ: Massey University.
[11] Di Maggio, Paul and Powel, Walter (1991) The New Institutionalism in Organizational Analysis. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
[12] D'Orazio, Emilio (2003) Codici etici, cultura e responsabilità d'impresa. Notizie di POLITEIA XIX (72), 127–143.
[13] Dudley-Evans, Tony (1986) Genre analysis: an investigation of the introduction and discussion sections of MSc dissertations. In: Coulthard Malcom (ed.) Talking about Text. Birmingham: University of Birmingham, 128–145.
[14] Enel (n.d.) Code of Ethics, retrieved from https://www.enel.com. Accessed on 1 March 2019.
[15] Eni (2017) Code of Ethics, retrieved from https://www.eni.com. Accessed on 1 March 2019.
[16] Fairclough, Norman (2003) Analysing Discourse. Text Analysis for Social Research. London: Routledge.
[17] Fairfax, Lisa M. (2007) Easier said than done? A Corporate Law Theory for Actualizing Social Responsibility Rhetoric. Florida Law Review 59, 771–828.
[18] Farrell, Brian J. and Cobbin, Deirdre (2000) A content analysis of codes of ethics from fifty-seven national accounting organizations. Business Ethics: A European Review 9 (3), 180–190. | DOI 10.1111/1467-8608.00189
[19] Farrell, Helen, and Farrell, Brian J. (1998) The language of business codes of ethics: Implications of knowledge and power. Journal of Business Ethics 17 (6), 587–601.
[20] Garzone, Giuliana E. and Salvi, Rita (2007) Legal English (2nd Ed.), Milano: EGEA.
[21] Garzone, Giuliana E. (2015) Genre analysis. In: Tracy Karen, Ilie Cornelia and Sandel Todd (eds.) The International Encyclopedia of Social and Language Interaction, Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley.
[22] Generali (2012) Code of Conduct, retrieved from https://www.generali.com. Accessed on 1 March 2019.
[23] George, Geoffrey, Jones, Asheley and Harvey, Jack (2014) Analysis of language used with codes of ethical conduct. Journal of Academic and Business Ethics 8, 1–24.
[24] Giglioni, Cinzia (2014) Variation in apologetic strategies in annual company report: rhetorical functions of lexical-syntactical patterns. In: Evangelisti Allori, Paola, John A. Bateman and Vijay K. Bhatia (eds.) Evolution in Genre; Emergence, Variation, Multimodality. Bern: Peter Lang, 45–65.
[25] Giglioni, Cinzia (2019) Legalistic and commitment-oriented corporate codes of ethics: distinctive macro textual and lexico-syntactic traits. Ostrava Journal of English Philology 2, 5–21.
[26] Guillén Parra, Manuel, Méle, Domenec, and Murphy, Patrick E. (2002) European vs. American approaches to institutionalisation of business ethics: the Spanish case. Business Ethics. A European Review 11, 167–178.
[27] Gunnarsson, Britt-Louise (1984) Functional comprehensibility of legislative texts: experiments with Swedish act of Parliament. Text. Interdisciplinary Journal for the Study of Discourse 4 (1–3), 71–106.
[28] Holder-Webb, Lori and Cohen, Jeffrey (2012) The cut and paste society: isomorphism in codes of ethics. Journal of Business Ethics 107 (4), 485–509. | DOI 10.1007/s10551-011-1060-1
[29] Hyland, Ken (1992) Genre analysis: just another fad? Forum 30 (2), 1–17.
[30] Intesa Sanpaolo (2016) Code of Ethics, retrieved from https://www.group.intesasanpaolo.com. Accessed on March 2019.
[31] Johnstone, Barbara (2008) Discourse Analysis (2nd ed.). Malden, MA: Blackwell.
[32] Kaptein, Muel (2011) Toward effective codes: testing the relationship with unethical behavior. Journal of Business Ethics 99 (2), 233–251. | DOI 10.1007/s10551-010-0652-5
[33] Krippendorff, Klaus (2013) Content Analysis. An Introduction to its Methodology (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
[34] Kothari, C.R. (2004) Research Methodology. Methods and Techniques (2nd ed.). New Age International Publisher.
[35] Langois, Catherine C. and Schelegelmilch, Bodo B. (1990) Do corporate codes of ethics reflect national character? Evidence from Europe and the United States. Journal of International Business Studies 21 (4), 519–539. | DOI 10.1057/palgrave.jibs.8490340
[36] Legislative Decree n. 231/2001, enacted 8 June 2001.
[37] Leonardo (2017) Code of Ethics, retrieved from https://www.leonardocompany.com. Accessed on 1 March 2019.
[38] Long, Brad S. and Driscoll, Cathy (2008) Codes of ethics and the pursuit of organizational legitimacy: theoretical and empirical contributions. Journal of Business Ethics 77 (2), 173–189. | DOI 10.1007/s10551-006-9307-y
[39] Luxottica (n.d.) Code of Ethics, retrieved from https://www.luxottica.com. Accessed on 1 March 2019.
[40] Meyer, John W. and Rowan, Brian (1997) Institutionalized organizations: formal structure as myth and ceremony. The American Journal of Sociology 83 (2), 340–363. | DOI 10.1086/226550
[41] Nieweler, Amanda (2014). Code of ethics and code of conduct: what's the difference? Whistleblower Security. Accessed on 14 August 2019 from https://www.whistleblowersecurity.com/code-of-ethics-and-code-of-conduct-whats-the difference/.
[42] Paltridge, Brian (2012) Discourse Analysis (2nd ed.). London: Bloomsbury.
[43] Pierce, Anne and Henry, John W. (1996) Computer ethics: the role of personal, informal, and formal codes. Journal of Business Ethics 15 (4), 425–437. | DOI 10.1007/BF00380363
[44] Pollach, Irene (2003) Web: a discourse analysis of selected company websites. Business & Society 42 (2), 277–287. | DOI 10.1177/0007650303042002006
[45] Poste Italiane (2018) Code of Ethics of Poste Italiane Group, retrieved from https://www.posteitaliane. it. Accessed on 1 March 2019.
[46] Riolo, Franco (1995) Etica degli affari e codici etici aziendali, Milano: Edibank.
[47] Sarbanes Oxley Act, enacted 30 July 2002.
[48] Singh, Jang, Carasco, Emily, Svensson, Goran, Wood, Greg and Callaghan, Michael (2005) A comparative study of the contents of corporate code of ethics in Australia, Canada and Sweden. Journal of World Business 40 (1), 91–109. | DOI 10.1016/j.jwb.2004.10.007
[49] Singh, Jang (2011) Determinants of the effectiveness of corporate codes of ethics: an empirical study. Journal of Business Ethics 101 (3), 385–395. | DOI 10.1007/s10551-010-0727-3
[50] Somers, Mark J. (2001) Ethical codes of conduct and organizational context: a study of the relationship between codes of conduct, employee behavior and organizational values. Journal of Business Ethics 30 (2), 185–195. | DOI 10.1023/A:1006457810654
[51] Statman, Meir (2007) Local ethics in a global world. Financial Analysts Journal 63 (3), 32–41. | DOI 10.2469/faj.v63.n3.4688
[52] Stevens, Betsy (2008) Corporate ethical codes. Effective instruments for influencing Behavior. Journal of Business Ethics 78 (4) 601–609. | DOI 10.1007/s10551-007-9370-z
[53] Stevens, Betsy (2009) Corporate ethical codes as strategic documents: an analysis of success and failure. EJBO Electronic Journal of Business Ethics and Organization Studies 14 (2), 14–20.
[54] Swales, John (1981) Aspects of article Introductions. Aston ESP Research Report No. 1, Language Studies Unit. Birmingham: University of Aston.
[55] Swales, John (1990) Genre Analysis. English in Academic and Research Settings. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
[56] Telecom Italia (2013) Code of Ethics, retrieved from https://www.telecomitalia.com. Accessed on 1 March 2019.
[57] Tenaris (2018) Code of Conduct, retrieved from https://www.tenaris.com. Accessed on 1 March 2019.
[58] Tenzer, Helene, Terjesen, Siri and Harzing, Anne-Will (2017) Language in international business. A review and agenda for future research. Management International Review (June 2017), 1–61.
[59] Wood, Greg (2000) A cross cultural comparison of the contents of codes of ethics: USA, Canada and Australia. Journal of Business Ethics 25 (4), 287–298. | DOI 10.1023/A:1006034209956
[60] Wood, Greg and Rimmer, Malcolm (2003) Codes of ethics: what are they really and what should they be? International Journal of Value-Based Management 16 (2), 181–195. | DOI 10.1023/A:1024089509424