A management profile for ethical choices - A model to test an «organizational system» based on the Legislative Decree No 231/2001

Framing of the research. The work focuses on the relationship that more and more seems to emerge among «company organization» and the safeguarding of some «fundamental values», as, for example, environment or health, that concerns the «ethical dimension» of the question. Purpose of the paper. The paper aims to investigate the contribution made by some rules and laws, in particular the Legislative Decree No 231/2001, in the business context and their role to develop business platforms that can foster «sustainable development». Methodology. The hypothesis was tested on a sample of data from a survey administered to managers of public and private Italian companies. The proposed approach is based on models that are simulated employing a «structural equation modeling». Results. The «goodness indices» of the model have shown that an «organizational system» that contemplates tools, levers and rules, such as those envisaged by artt. 6-7 Legislative Decree No 231, represents a set of «ppractice» able to induce the management adopting «ethical behaviors». Research limitations. Some limitation of this work deals with the uncertainty that surrounds the judicial assessment of the MOG ex art. 6-7 of the Decree, and the tendency of judges to conclude for a “structural organizational negligence “ of the company when an offence has been committed. The risk is that this uncertainty will act as a counterthrust to the virtuous mechanism introduced into our legal system by Decree No 231. Managerial implications. The results contemplate a series of practical managerial implications such as the adoption of principles of conduct, procedures, protocols, operating instructions, delegations and powers of attorney and, more generally, of company rules, which must govern all the conduct of company staff in the daily work (i.e., hiring processes, conducting in public tenders, invoicing preparation, and so forth). Originality of the paper. The research is developed following an interdisciplinary approach aimed at analyzing some aspects of the issue of the compliance, both from a management, organizational and legal perspective.