ACCA Applied Knowledge · Business and Technology · Corporate codes of ethics
Zentra Ltd issued a detailed code of ethics but senior managers regularly ignore it when targets are at risk, and no one has ever been disciplined for breaching it. Which limitation of codes of ethics does this best illustrate?
This shows that a code only works if it is enforced and backed by management behaviour. When managers ignore it and breaches go unpunished, the code is just a statement with no real influence on conduct.
- AA code is too general to cover specific situations
- BA code is only effective if it is enforced and supported by management behaviourCorrect
- CA code is a legal document that employees cannot interpret
- DA code can only apply to external stakeholders
Explanation
The problem is lack of enforcement and poor leadership example, so the code is merely words on paper. Generality is a separate limitation and is not what the scenario describes. Codes are not legal documents and apply mainly to internal staff.
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