Proceedings

and the opportunity of this research is justified through the necessity of establishing
the boundaries of corporate activity and decision-making under the imperative of
profit grows. The originality of this paper is the statistical apparatus that is used in the
aggregation of initial data. We consider that the company’s steps in the identification
of the inner corporate values after a selection process is similar with a voting system,
more specific, a preferential voting system which permits to the company to give its
‘vote of confidence’ to a specific value and the ‘vote of no confidence’ to another
different value. A preferential voting system allows a hierarchical systematization
between more competing options and, thus, in our opinion, is more suitable for our
goal rather than a simple frequency determination. Our results present the corporate
value system that is applicable at the time present in a European context. We also
confronted this value system which is practiced in the British and French companies
with a theoretical one formulated by scholars. This has revealed that the existing
corporate value system can be easily challenged because of the lack of consistency
and the significant number of weakness discovered.
This paper is organized in two main sections: the first section includes the literature
review with discussion on four ‘hot’ topics: corporate trust, corporate identity, codes
of ethics and corporate values. The second section is dedicated to the statistical
apparatus that is used to establish the general value system of the companies in the
European context.
1. IS ‘CREDIBILITY’ A SYNONYM FOR TODAY’S CORPORATE
ACTIVITIES?
1.1. Trust, a Milestone for Today’s Companies
According to Garcia-Marza (2005), trust is one of the company’s most important
intangibles. Trust is paramount for product acceptance, a good working atmosphere
and smooth relationships. It enables cooperation, promotes network relationships,
facilitates effective responses to crises, reduces harmful conflict, decreases transaction
costs and facilitates the effective functioning of groups (Sundaramurthy, 2008).
Although trust is recognized as a decisive factor for the company in relation with
every stakeholder, little effort is being made to manage it. According to Garcia-Marza
(2005), business ethics aims to provide advice and indications on how to approach
this situation.
Ethical behaviour is a precondition for an enterprise to obtain the status of a credible
and trustworthy partner, which, in the long-run, ensures the company’s success.
Enterprises should not only be concerned about making a profit, but also be engaged
in actions that appear to further some social good, beyond the interests of the firm and
what is required by law (Lindgreen, Swaen and Johnston, 2008). A company’s moral
responsibility is defined according to the possible agreement among the interests of all
enterprise stakeholders. Interests common to all stakeholders exist; to be satisfied,
stakeholders demand a specific orientation in management decisions and actions. The
company needs credibility or society’s consent to be able to act and achieve its
objectives (Garcia-Marza, 2005).
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