Dimensiones humanas en la vestimenta

The questionnaire findings suggest that, contrary to the literature, codes of conduct are prevalent and in operation in SMEs. It is evident from the data provided by the eighteen SMEs that codes of conduct are used in some extent in these organisations. These codes are either organisationally formed codes, adopted from larger organisations, industry codes or the prescribed values of the owner/managers. From the literature presented above, it is clear that the percentage of organisations using codes is increasing confirming that business ethics topics and more particularly codes of conduct are becoming more common. Therefore further research can be conducted to deduce how SME organisations develop their code from initial creation to execution as well as development. In order to achieve this a thorough case study approach could be adopted, assessing SMEs whose codes are at different stages such as creation, implementation and development.

In the majority of instances SME owner/managers do not require employees to acknowledge that they will follow ethical codes of conduct via signature, which poses a number of questions with respect to enforcement. Results from this question indicated that there is a distinction between creating a code and then actually disseminating and communicating it. Although many organisations have codes a considerable number are not fully utilised or ‗alive‘ within the organisation. Usually senior management makes strategic decisions and therefore it is often them that creates the codes of conduct. By not ensuring that all employees sign to the code suggests that it is not considered important and that it will perhaps not be used as a formal document. To create a meaningful code responsibility must be maintained and all employees should be held accountable to it. Communication of the code is an area that requires more detailed research.

The results indicate that in SMEs there is limited training in regards to ethics and codes of conduct other than what is communicated by the owner/managers. However, there is a willingness to undertake training. Training of codes of conduct seems to be rare, yet there is clearly an opportunity for this to be developed in the future. Training is one way to ensure compliance and dissemination of the code and so this is research area that is currently underdeveloped. Content and delivery of the training of codes of conduct also needs further exploration

In the majority of instances the sampled SMEs provide code of conduct information at the employee induction stage, only three organisations claim to continuously provide information. Again this supports the conclusion above that there is scope for the development to ensure that codes become ‗living‘ within the organisation and a programme is put in place to ensure regular training, compliance and development of the code throughout all levels of the organisation.

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