Level:

This is a final thesis for a bachelor degree in Business Administration. The thesis is oriented

in the field of marketing and written at the University of Gavle.

Authors:

Caroline Gustafsson & Caroline Tell Ljungberg

Date:

May 2014

Tutors:

Lars-Johan Åge, Jonas Molin & Jens Eklinder-Frick

Title:

The implementation process of ethical guidelines – A qualitative study of the Swedish

insurance industry

Purpose:

The aim of this study is to create an understanding of different approaches to design and

implement organizational guidelines / codes to help the employees to behave ethically and deal with

ethical dilemmas.

Method:

By starting from the study's aim, it was appropriate to use a qualitative approach to

conducting the survey. The study's empirical study consisted of semi-structured interviews. We

interviewed ten companies in the Swedish insurance industry. By observing the outcome of the

interviews keywords were obtained. These keywords were then analyzed to find patterns in the

responses.

Contribution:

We have in this study concluded that it is the management's job that allows for the

codes to permeate the entire organization and that all employees act in accordance with them. Most

companies use some form of ethics training for employees to teach them how to deal with ethical

dilemmas. Our study has confirmed much of the existing research in this area but it has also

contributed to that we can now conclude that the role of the management is crucial for the

implementation process for the ethical guidelines efficiency in the insurance industry. Furthermore,

our study shows that the key to effective ethical codes is that the management together with the

employees creates discussions and dialogues on ethical issues and also helps the employees to

practice on handling ethical dilemmas.

Keywords:

ethics, ethical guidelines, implementation, insurance