Codes of ethics in Spanish corporations: an exploratory content analysis

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to analyse the contents of ethics codes from Spanish manufacturing companies disclosed on their corporate web sites. The analysis of these contents will reflect the main ethical concerns faced by Spanish organizations in the current business context.Design/methodology/approachA sample of companies listed on the Madrid Stock Market was used. The initial sample was made up of all the quoted companies. Firms belonging to the finance and insurance sectors were removed, leaving a final population made up of 117 corporations from different sectors. The Pearson's correlations were analysed to detect the sign of the relationships and some non‐parametric tests of mean differences – Mann–Whitney U and Wilcoxon W – were run to validate the statistical significance of the relationship.FindingsThe findings stress that the drawing up of codes in Spain is relatively recent and highlight that Spanish codes have received a dual influence. On one hand, they set out responsibilities and principles towards stakeholders and many of them reflect corporate social responsibility, as do many other European codes. On the other hand, their nature is mainly prescriptive and they set out desirable conduct for employees, as many US codes do.Practical implicationsFrom the analysis, it can be deduced that the main ethical concerns in Spanish corporations have to do with the adherence to law, protection of inside information, search for product quality and good relationships with customers and suppliers, conflicts of interests, the workplace and environmental issues.Originality/valueThis paper is the first study that examines the codes of ethics in Spanish corporations.