Une typologie de la formalisation de l'éthique en entreprise: l'analyse de contenu de 50 documents

The study of corporate ethics reported in this article sheds light on the content and status of 50 formal ethical statements in large France based companies. Content analysis (with SPAD.T software) reveals potentially divergent view among companies as to the primary nature and purpose of a corporate ethics document. On the one hand, codes contain detailed rules and guidelines devoted to employee conduct. Their objective is to make sure that employees strictly abide by the firm's rules. These documents allow to convey standards setting apart which is good or bad. On the other hand, values statements and corporate principles are shorter documents based on the idea of common trust and including an outline of the company's social responsibilities to a wide range of stakeholders.