That alone can raise awkward questions. You do realise , said the chairman, that if we publish this, we will be expected to follow it. Otherwise our staff and customers may ask questions. Dismayed, the lawyer went off to produce something more closely attuned to reality. Not surprisingly, codes are often too broad to capture the ethical issues that actually confront companies, which range from handling their own staff to big global questions of policy on the environment, bribery and human rights.
Some companies use the Internet to try to add precision to general injunctions.
The best corporate codes, says Robert Solomon of the University of Texas, are those that describe the way everybody in the company already behaves and feels. The worst are those where senior executives mandate a list of principles especially if they then fail to walk the talk themselves. However, he says, companies debate their values for many months, but they always turn out to have similar lists. The ethical issues that actually create most problems in companies often seem rather mundane to outsiders. When an employee who you know is about to be let go is buying a new house, and you re honour-bound not to say anything, says Mr Solomon.