Letter vs. Spirit: The Evolution of Compliance into Ethics

In the wake of scandal, Congress and regulators have proceeded to punish corporate wrongdoing while simultaneously creating incentives for good acts. By requiring compliance and ethics, lawmakers invoke decades of statutory interpretation that mandates that the "and" is conjunctive, implyi...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inAmerican business law journal Vol. 46; no. 3; pp. 453 - 486
Main Authors Gabel, Joan T.A., Mansfield, Nancy R., Houghton, Susan M.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Malden, USA Blackwell Publishing Inc 01.09.2009
Academy of Legal Studies in Business
Subjects
Compliance
Employee attitude
Ethics
Legal research
Scandals
Self regulation
Studies
United States > US
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:In the wake of scandal, Congress and regulators have proceeded to punish corporate wrongdoing while simultaneously creating incentives for good acts. By requiring compliance and ethics, lawmakers invoke decades of statutory interpretation that mandates that the "and" is conjunctive, implying that firms need to follow the law while also doing something more, which they broadly characterized as ethics. For purposes of this legal research, the study offers initial findings that suggest engaging in employer-sponsored volunteer programs positively impacts employee decision making in this context. The authors begin their research in Part II by analyzing the manner in which postscandal laws and regulations theoretically encourage compliance and ethics programs, though in practice they have evolved primarily to emphasize legal compliance. Part III outlines the overlap between legal compliance and community-oriented ethics and investigates the utility of testing for a connection between compliance behavior and ethical behavior.
Bibliography:ark:/67375/WNG-KK9TN5FM-7
ArticleID:ABLJ1083
istex:F32F909680296DF625F01E32F529256EA1786A81
a
b
Associate Professor of Legal Studies, Risk Management and Insurance Department, J. Mack Robinson College of Business, Georgia State University.
c
We thank Jody Arogeti, Austin Hall, Michael Stewart, Garrett Nail, David Williams, Chris Chitty, and Andrew Jones who provided indispensable research support. Any errors and/or omissions, however, are our responsibility.
DeSantis Professor of Business Law, College of Business, Florida State University.
Associate Professor of Strategic Management, North Carolina A & T State University.
ISSN:0002-7766
1744-1714
DOI:10.1111/j.1744-1714.2009.01083.x