caa a22 4500 605484880 CHVBK 20210128100438.0 cr unu---uuuuu 210128e20150201xx s 000 0 eng 10.1007/s10551-013-1966-x doi (NATIONALLICENCE)springer-10.1007/s10551-013-1966-x An Examination into the Disclosure, Structure, and Contents of Ethical Codes in Publicly Listed Acquiring Firms [Elektronische Daten] [Virginia Bodolica, Martin Spraggon] Due to the prevalent influence of legal trends in driving ethical homogenization and persistent decoupling between ethical substance and symbolism in today's organizations, scholars are calling for a renewed interest in the structural makeup of ethical codes. This article explores the disclosure trends and examines the contents of codes of ethics in the context of Canadian publicly listed acquirers. Relying on the analysis of codes' public availability, structure, purpose, and promoted values, four clusters of behavior are identified. Although many firms avoid the public disclosure of their codes, the results indicate that code of ethics' patterns in sample firms are not driven merely by regulatory forces but increasingly shaped by aspirations for building a sustainable values-based corporation. The reported differences across clusters demonstrate that many companies in Canada overcome isomorphic pressures by displaying some originality in the writing of their codes. While symbolism in codes of ethics' design and adoption prevails in publicly listed acquiring firms, the study provides evidence of an emerging trend of substantial commitment to social responsibilities. Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht, 2013 Codes of ethics nationallicence Content analysis nationallicence Structural design nationallicence Moral values nationallicence Acquiring firms nationallicence Canada nationallicence Bodolica Virginia Department of Strategy, ESE Business School, Universidad de los Andes, Av. Plaza, 1905, Las Condes, Santiago, Chile aut Spraggon Martin Department of Strategy, ESE Business School, Universidad de los Andes, Av. Plaza, 1905, Las Condes, Santiago, Chile aut Journal of Business Ethics Springer Netherlands 126/3(2015-02-01), 459-472 0167-4544 126:3<459 2015 126 10551 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-013-1966-x text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI BK010053 XK010053 XK010000 Metadata rights reserved Springer special CC-BY-NC licence nationallicence 1 research-article jats NATIONALLICENCE NATIONALLICENCE NL-springer NATIONALLICENCE 856 40 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-013-1966-x text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Bodolica Virginia Department of Strategy, ESE Business School, Universidad de los Andes, Av. Plaza, 1905, Las Condes, Santiago, Chile aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Spraggon Martin Department of Strategy, ESE Business School, Universidad de los Andes, Av. Plaza, 1905, Las Condes, Santiago, Chile aut NATIONALLICENCE 773 0- Journal of Business Ethics Springer Netherlands 126/3(2015-02-01), 459-472 0167-4544 126:3<459 2015 126 10551