Factors Impacting Ethical Behavior in a Japanese Companies

2016 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 25285123
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
• Allocation Type: Partial Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Management
• Research Institution: Meiji University
• Principal Investigator: Demise Nobuyuki 明治大学, 商学部, 教授 (60248961)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 小山 嚴也 関東学院大学, 経済学部, 教授 (60288347) ; 谷口 勇仁 北海道大学, 経済学研究科(研究院), 教授 (60313970)
• Project Period (FY): 2013-04-01 – 2017-03-31
• Keywords: コンプライアンス / 企業倫理 / 企業不祥事 / 日本型経営 / ステークホルダー / 利害関係者 / コーポレート・ガバナンス

Outline of Final Research Achievements

We study on factors that impact ethical behavior in Japanese companies. We work to empirically elucidate the effects of “dynamics of the Japanese compliance model” on preventing corporate scandals. Japanese companies are active in educating and training their employees. They believe that transmission of knowhow from senior employees to junior employees is important rather than preparing manuals. In Japanese companies, it is said that a job description is “in name only”. Duties of each person are indistinct. This indistinctiveness contributes to employees helping each other. From these characteristics, the ethical behavior of peers will be positively related to the ethical behavior of respondents. Japanese corporations really value their management philosophy. Therefore, acceptance of the code of conduct is positively related to the ethical behavior of respondents.We conclude that an ethical training program would encourage a certain fraction of employees to behave ethically.

Free Research Field

経営学