Abstract
<p><strong><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">Abstract </span></strong></p><p><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">Employee codes of conduct have remained one of the most favoured templates for governing employee discipline and sustaining an ethical organizational culture in most contemporary establishments. However the numerous challenges and contradictions that confront both the construction and administration of the instrument have recently attracted a heightened interest from both scholars and industrial relations practitioners. Based on the findings from five selected Zimbabwean public sector firms, this paper mounts a critique of codes of conduct through the foil of postmodern deconstructionism and advances that there are <em>aporias; </em>that is,<em> </em>tensions and irresolvable contradictions between the logic and rhetoric of codes of conduct and their practice. The paper further argues that the codes are in a predicament rendering them to be at best only partially accurate and at worst misleading descriptions of the real organizational culture. The <em>aporetic</em> nature of codes of conduct as experienced by the variability and contradictions in their application creates possibilities of uncertainty and limitations in the management of employee discipline. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><strong>Keywords</strong>: aporia, code, deconstruction, discipline, ethics, postmodern</span></p><p><strong><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"> </span></strong></p><p><strong><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"> </span></strong></p><p><strong><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"> </span></strong></p><p><strong><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"> </span></strong></p><p><strong><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"> </span></strong></p><p><strong><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"> </span></strong></p><p><strong><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"> </span></strong></p><p><strong><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"> </span></strong></p><p><strong><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"> </span></strong></p>
Highlights
Literature is replete with evidence showing the popularity of codes of conduct in creating and sustaining an ethical organizational culture by governing the actions and conduct of employees (Doig & Wilson, 1998; Wortuba, Chonko & Loe, 2001; Kenny, 2007; Erwin, 2011)
The study is based on a qualitative analysis of experiences of five Zimbabwean public sector or state owned enterprises selected from sectors that include revenue administration (Firm A), telecommunications (Firm B), transport (Firm C), municipality or local authority (Firm D) and hospitality (Firm E)
Deconstruction is an activity of reading which is attuned to seeking out those ‘aporias’ or blind spots within which a text involuntarily contradicts itself and betrays the tensions existing between its logic and rhetoric (Chia, 1996, p. 187)
Summary
Literature is replete with evidence showing the popularity of codes of conduct in creating and sustaining an ethical organizational culture by governing the actions and conduct of employees (Doig & Wilson, 1998; Wortuba, Chonko & Loe, 2001; Kenny, 2007; Erwin, 2011). The central argument of this paper is that there are blinds spots, tensions and contradictions between the logic and rhetoric of codes of conduct and their practice that render the management of employee discipline dilemmatic. This article proceeds as follows: it begins by contextualizing the problem by presenting a legal background to codes of conduct in Zimbabwe, followed by an overview of theoretical orientation It discusses, drawing cases from selected firms, the deconstruction of the aporetic nature of the origins of codes of conduct, their purpose, implementation and post-adoption administration. It further examines the challenges and contradictions relating to issues of adherence to codes as ether prescription or. The article’s conclusion reflects on the central argument and suggestion for the need to deconstruct the power and domination discourse that circumscribe the origin, purpose and application of codes of conduct
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