Codes of Conduct in the Swedish Business Sector : How to Choose the Right Customer

Abstract: This study was conducted to examine whether large publicly listed companies in Sweden have any demands regarding their customers’ codes of conduct as well as how business-to- business collaborations are affected by the presence of codes of conduct at the customer in this relationship. The business-to-business relationships were investigated in their three essential relationship-stages (pre-relationship stage, established/mature-relationship stage and ending-relationship stage) that are introduced in previous business-to-business research. Theories about contract theory and external accounting helped illustrate the complications surrounding codes of conduct in regard to customers. It was found that codes of conduct are important for companies’ business to-business relationships. However, the code of conduct is still not included in the contractual agreement with customers in most cases. The study was conducted through a survey and a content analysis in cooperation with KPMG and the Swedish law firm Delphi.