Employee perspective on implementation of a new Code of Conduct in organisations, case study : Raute Oyj

Abstract

Corporations’ social responsibility practices are established to follow ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) requirements. Achieving such goal targets requires commitment from every employee of the company. To establish company-wide practices, a Code of Conduct can serve as a guide for behavior. However, according to previous research, it remains unclear what constitutes a successful Code implementation (Kaptein, 2021; Tahniyath & Said, 2023). In this study, a Code implementation is examined from an employee perspective within a case company, Raute Oyj. Raute launched a new strategy in fall 2023 and a new Code was part of the strategy.

The purpose of this study is to gain better understanding of factors that contribute to a Code implementation. The results of the study will provide an employee perspective of the Code implementation. Development suggestions are stated for the formal material of the Code as well as suggestions are given to practices that can informally support the implementation.

Theoretical framework of study is divided into three chapters. First chapter presents definition of a Code and presents previous research that examined correlation between a Code and ethical behaviour. Second theoretical consideration is written about factors that contribute to unethical decision making. And lastly, the most comprehensive theoretical consideration is presented, Code implementation. The theoretical framework was used to conduct the questions for the interviews and questionnaires, which consisted of the same multiple-choice and open-ended questions.

To examine the Code implementation from employee perspective interviews and questionnaire responses have been analysed. Employees that took part in the research were either from Finland (Lahti and Kajaani offices), North America (Pullman, US and Delta, CA offices) or China (Changzhou office).

In conclusion, findings of the interviews and questionnaires indicate how the online training brought up the existence of the Code and raised discussion on corporate ethics. Employees agreed that the Code is understandable, but more practical examples are hoped to illustrate the meaning of the principles. It was suggested that further discussion about the Code would enhance understanding of its impact on work responsibilities. Overall, the atmosphere at Raute was found to support compliance with the Code.