| dc.description.abstract | The purpose of this study is to examine the effectiveness of code of ethics
on moral sensitivity of individuals and evaluate whether individual differences such
as locus of control have any effect on this relationship. Although code of ethics has
been argued to have significant effect on moral awareness and acts as a moral
reminder (Pflugrath, Martinov-Bennie & Chen, 2007; Ariely, 2012), there is an
ongoing debate regarding its effectiveness in promoting ethical behaviours in
organisations as the research evidence is found to be mixed (Loe, Ferrell &
Mansfield, 2000; O’Fallon & Butterfield, 2005; Craft, 2013). Additionally, to our
knowledge, there is no empirical research on the moderating effect of locus of
control in ethical decision making literature.
The study was conducted by sending a survey questionnaire consisted of
measures of moral awareness and locus of control to 500 individuals who are
students at BI Norwegian Business School and University of Oslo as well as people
from our social and professional network.
Results of this study show that code of ethics is not significantly related to
moral awareness. On the other hand, locus of control was found to have significant
moderating effect on the level of moral awareness one has when a reminder of code
of ethics was presented. Individuals with external locus of control tend to be less
ethically sensitive than those who have internal locus of control. This finding has
confirmed what previous studies have found regarding the relationship between
locus of control and moral awareness (Ho, 2010), and has raised a question
concerning the effectiveness of code of ethics itself in navigating ethical behaviours.
The academic and practical contribution of this study is to reflect on the
effectiveness of code of ethics in organisations. Such reflection is relevant for the
mainstream research on code of ethics and is necessary for organisation´s rethinking
of their use of code of ethics as a fulfilment of external expectations.
Keywords: moral awareness, code of ethics, locus of control, ethical decision making | nb_NO |
