Elevating the Dialogue on Professional Ethics to the Next Level: Reflections on the Experience of the Academy of Management

Abstract

This commentary reflects on the Academy of Management's experience since developing a formal code of ethics to guide the professional behaviour of its members over twenty years ago. Despite widespread efforts to publicize the Code within the Academy, a sizeable proportion of Academy members are unaware it exists and only a very small proportion have read it carefully. Current efforts underway to increase ethics awareness are described. In addition, it is suggested that the discussion of ethical principles needs to move beyond a printed document and annual workshops to become more influential in the day-to-day lives of management professors. Suggestions for how this might be accomplished by the Academy of Management and other similar associations with codes of ethics (e.g., IACMR) are discussed. © 2011 The International Association for Chinese Management Research.