2. Status of HR in organizational ethics/compliance programs
Corporate ethics programs typically involve many components and initiatives, and research has catalogued these elements (Berenbeim; Center and Weaver). Expectations for ethical behavior typically are communicated to employees via codes and policy documents, formal training programs, and messages from senior management. Ethics programs also often provide means for employees to communicate with management, sometimes anonymously through telephone “hotlines.” These communication devices are used for reporting real or perceived ethical or legal problems, to solicit advice and counseling, or both. Also common are procedures for monitoring behavior so as to reward ethical behavior and/or discipline unethical behavior.
Empirical research suggests that HR staff are merely one among many categories of corporate staff who may be involved in managing ethics programs. One study of ethics programs in Fortune 500 service and industrial firms found that an HR officer ultimately was responsible for ethics/compliance management in 28% of responding firms (Weaver, Treviño, & Cochran, 1999b). But, just as many firms (28%) vested responsibility for ethics in legal positions (e.g., general counsel), while 16% placed responsibility in distinct ethics or compliance departments, and 11% in audit and control functions, with the remaining firms selecting from among positions, such as corporate secretary, public affairs, and corporate communications. This study also found that HR and legal departments were involved equally in ethics training, while legal, audit, and control functions dominated investigations of ethical or legal violations. The labeling of many corporate ethics programs also suggests that legal concerns often are prominent. At many companies, the effort is referred to as a “compliance” program, or an “ethics and