Abstract
Continual corporate malfeasance signals the need for obeying the law and for enhancing business ethics perspectives. Yet, the relationship between law and ethics and its integrative role in defining values are often unclear. While integrity-based ethics programs emphasize ethics values more than law or compliance, viewing ethics as being integrated with law may enhance understanding of an organization’s core values. The author refers to this integration of law and ethics as “substantive ethics,” analogous to the substantive law that evolves over time, which is applied to ethical breaches and carries sanctions for non-compliance. This article describes the integration of law and ethics as a mid-point between two polar views that define law and ethics either as having no relation or as being one and the same. Since corporations expressly state which laws they follow, a sample of corporate compliance statements is used to demonstrate this integrative mid-point. The sample also reveals that corporate ethics codes rarely express ethics and law as being integrated per se. Therefore, the author creates an example of a securities law compliance statement that is introduced with an integrative perspective of law and ethics. Perhaps such revised corporate codes will encourage corporate respect for both law and ethics and enhance ethical sustainability.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
3M Compliance Policy. Retrieved January 1, 2009, from http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/3M/en_US/businessconduct/bcmain/policy/policies/legalethic/compliance/.
Altria, Responsibility—Compliance & Integrity at Altria Group. Retrieved December 5, 2009, from http://altria.com/responsibility/4_//_3_respci.asp.
August, R., Mayer, D., & Bixby, M. (2009). International business law (pp. 8–9). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Avery Dennison, Code of Ethics and Business Conduct. Retrieved December 5, 2009, from http://www.averydennison.com/corporate.nsf/1ebb2cd9540ffe2a882569de00829ce0/67b66.
Ballam, D. (2000). Employment-at-will: The impending death of a doctrine. American Business Law Journal, 37(4), 653–687.
Blodgett, M., & Carlson, P. (1997). Corporate ethics codes: A practical application of liability prevention. Journal of Business Ethics, 16(12/13), 1363–1369.
Boatright, J. (2003). Ethics and the conduct of business (4th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Cavanaugh, G. F. (1998). American business values (4th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Cohen, D. (1993). Creating and maintaining ethical work climates: Anomie in the workplace and implications for managing change. Business Ethics Quarterly, 3(4), 343–358.
Cox, J., Hillman, R., & Langevoort, D. (2004). Securities regulation (4th ed.). New York, NY: Aspen Publishers.
Di Lorenzo, V. (2007). Business ethics: Law as a determinant of business conduct. Journal of Business Ethics, 7(3), 275–299.
Donaldson, T., & Dunfee, T. (1999). Ties that bind: A social contracts approach to business ethics. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press.
Donaldson, T., & Werhane, P. (1993). Ethical issues in business. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Dunfee, T. (1996). On the synergistic, interdependent relationship of business ethics and law. American Business Law Journal, 34(2), 316–319.
Ehrlich, C. (2005). Is business ethics necessary? DePaul Business and Commercial Law Journal, 4, 55.
France, M. (2005). How to fix the tort system. Business Week, 14, 70–78.
Fritzsche, D. (1997). Business ethics: A global and managerial perspective. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
Fuller, L. (1958). Positivism and fidelity to law—a reply to professor Hart. Harvard Law Review, 71(4), 630–672.
Hart, H. L. A. (1958). Positivism and the separation of law and morals. Harvard Law Review, 71(4), 593–629.
Hartman, L. (2000). Compliance versus integrity: The process of ethics integration. Journal of Employment Discrimination Law, 2(2), 157–159.
Herrera, C. D. (2000). How are Law and Ethics Related? Retrieved April 30, 2009, from http://www-hsc.usc.edu/~mbernste/tae.ethics&law.herrera.html.
Hilts, P. (2003). Protecting America’s health (pp. 45–46). Chapel Hill, NC: The University of North Carolina Press.
Hoffman, W. M., & Driscoll, D. M. (2000). Business ethics in the new millennium: Will the patient survive? Business Ethics Quarterly, 10(1), 221–231.
Hosmer, L. (2008). The ethics of management (6th ed., p. 71). New York, NY: McGraw Hill Irwin.
Jennings, M. (2006). Business ethics (p. 3). Mason, OH: Thomson-West.
Murphy, P. (2005). Developing, communicating and promoting corporate ethics statements: A longitudinal analysis. Journal of Business Ethics, 62(2), 183–189.
Nesteruk, J. (1999a). Reimagining the law. Business Ethics Quarterly, 9(4), 603–617.
Nesteruk, J. (1999b). Evaluating the moral creativity of the law. Business Ethics Quarterly, 9(4), 689–692.
Ostas, D. (2004). Cooperate, comply or evade? A corporate executive’s social responsibilities with regard to law. American Business Law Journal, 41(4), 559–594.
Pacific life, our principals, our values: A guide to the code of business conduct. Retrieved December 5, 2009, from http://www.pacificlife.com/About+Pacific+Life/Corporate+Governance/Corporate+Governance2.htm.
Pagnatarro, M. A., & Peirce, E. (2007). Between a rock and a hard place; the conflict between U.S. corporate codes of conduct and European privacy and work laws. Berkley Journal of Employment and Labor Law, 28, 375–428.
Paine, L. S. (1994a). Law, ethics, & managerial judgment. Journal of Legal Studies Education, 12(2), 153–169.
Paine, L. S. (1994b). Managing for organizational integrity. Harvard Business Review, 72(2), 106–117.
Peppas, S. (2002). Attitudes toward business ethics: Where east doesn’t meet west. Cross Cultural Management, 9, 42–59.
Post, J., Lawrence, A., & Weber, J. (2002). ‘Ethical dilemmas in business’, business and society (10th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
Reed, O. L., Shedd, P., Morehead, J., & Pagnattaro, M. (2009). The legal and regulatory environment of business (14th ed.). NewYork, NY: Irwin/McGrawHill.
Salbu, S. (2001). Law and ethics. American Business Law Journal, 38(2), 209–214.
Schaffer, R., Agusti, F., & Earle, B. (2009). International business law and its environment (7th ed.). Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning.
Schwartz, M. (2005). Universal moral values for corporate codes of ethics. Journal of Business Ethics, 59(1/2), 27–44.
Schwartz, M., Dunfee, T., & Kline, M. (2005). Tone at the top: An ethics code for directors? Journal of Business Ethics, 58(1–3), 79–100.
Shaw, W. H. (1996). Business ethics (2nd ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing Co.
Trevino, L., Butterfield, K., & McCabe, D. (1998). The ethical context in organizations: Influences on employee attitudes and behaviors. Business Ethics Quarterly, 8(3), 447–476.
Trevino, L., Weaver, G., Gibson, D., & Toffler, B. (1999). Managing ethics and legal compliance: What works and what hurts. California Management Review, 41(2), 131–151.
Weaver, G., & Trevino, L. (1999). Compliance and values oriented ethics programs: Influences on employee’s attitudes and behavior. Business Ethics Quarterly, 9(2), 315–335.
Webley, S. (1997). The business organisation. In P. W. F. Davies (Ed.), Current issues in business ethics. London: Routledge.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Blodgett, M.S. Substantive Ethics: Integrating Law and Ethics in Corporate Ethics Programs. J Bus Ethics 99 (Suppl 1), 39–48 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-011-1165-6
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-011-1165-6