Abstract
Corporations in the United States have been starting ethics programs for a variety of reasons both active and passive. Ethics officers are being charged with improving both company image and the level of ethical decision-making by employees. Thirty ethics officers from Fortune 500 firms were surveyed to develop a database of their duties and the companies' commitment to ethical standards. The results suggest much is being done, both in the diversity of responses and the similarities of commitment and duties.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Anonymous: 1995, ‘Ethics Officer Association’, Overview Letter.
Anonymous: 1995, ‘Corporate Ethics Matter, Say Workers’, Training 32, 20–21.
Austin, Nancy K.: 1994, ‘The New Corporate Watchdogs’, Working Women (January), 19–20.
Center for Business Ethics: 1992, ‘Instilling Ethical Values in Large Corporations’, Journal of Business Ethics 11, 863–867.
Center for Business Ethics: 1986, ‘Are Corporations Institutionalizing Ethics?’, Journal of Business Ethics 5, 85–91.
Fry, Dolores: 1994, ‘Questions and Answers’, Outlook 61, 34.
Laczniak, Gene R., Marvin W. Berkowitz, Russell G. Brooker and James P. Hale: 1995, ‘The Ethics of Business: Improving or Deteriorating?’, Business Horizons 38, 39–47.
Maddocks, P. Merle, Sylvia H. Michelini and Grover L. Porter: 1994, ‘Ethics Cases From Academe’, Management Accounting (U.S.A.) 76, 68.
Magleby, David B. and Kelly D. Patterson: 1994, ‘The polls-Poll Trends: Congressional Reform’, Public Opinion Quarterly 58, 419–427.
McClenahen, John S.: 1995, ‘Good Enough?’, Industry Week 244, 58–62.
Petry, Edward S., Jr. and Fred Toetz: 1992, ‘Can Ethics Officers Improve Office Ethics?’, Business and Society Review (Summer), 21–25.
Solberg, Joseph, Kelly C. Strong and Charles McGuire, Jr.: 1995, ‘Living (Not Learning) Ethics’, Journal of Business Ethics 14, 71–81.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Morf, D.A., Schumacher, M.G. & Vitell, S.J. A Survey of Ethics Officers in Large Organizations. Journal of Business Ethics 20, 265–271 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1006000131803
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1006000131803