Board ethos and institutional work: developing a corporate governance identity through developing the UK code

Abstract

Codes of conduct seek to institutionalize certain practices and govern the actions of those who accept the regime. As they arise and seek to displace established ways of life in organizations, they provide examples of institutional development and change. Th is paper examines how the UK code of corporate governance arose and developed over time, and how it leads to a common understanding across various fields of social actors. Specifi cally, it examines the debate about what the ethos of the board for directors should be, as exhibited in consultations informing the 1992, 2003 and 2010 versions of the code. It shows social actors, as expected, taking stances aligned with their economic interests. But over time and through the institutional work involved in the debate, some of those actors identify increasingly with the process, and the collective understanding informs the identity of those participants.