Betsy Stevens, associate professor of management, and Scott Buechler, assistant professor of business communications, received the “Best Paper” award at the 2013 Association for Business Communication Midwest/Southeast Regional Conference on Mar. 8 in Louisville, Ky.
The paper, entitled “An analysis of the Lehman Brothers’ Code of Ethics,” was judged the best paper published in the proceedings for the conference.
“This paper was important because it looked at the Lehman Brothers ethical code in an effort to determine whether or not the code was a core strategic document in the organization,” Stevens said. “Our analysis showed that it was not and it did not appear too integrated into the corporate culture. Lehman might have experienced a different financial outcome with a more robust code.”
A brief synopsis of the paper:
Effective corporate ethical codes must be communicated in organizations and assimilated into their cultures. When they exist as separate entities outside the culture or are communicated ineffectively, they can fail to function as key strategic documents.
The ethical code from Lehman Brothers investment bank was analyzed using two different methodologies. Results showed the code was clear in communicating facts and information, but was not strong in transformational and visionary aspects that might assist company during a crisis. The study revealed that the culture at Lehman was not tied to the code and it did not play a significant role in the organization.