The Role of Ethics in Corporate Governance

The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of ethics in corporate governance. The research is situated within an interpretive approach. The interview technique was employed to explore the issue. Interviews were conducted with 13 experts who were involved in the reform of Malaysian corporate governance. The experts were selected based on their expertise and experience. Three themes emerged in respect of the main role of ethics in corporate governance: corporate governance is a code of ethics, corporate governance is inclusive of ethics, and ethics is an affiliate of corporate governance. The research has contributed in enhancing the understanding of corporate governance by shifting the focus from a structural perspective to a moral perspective and manages to highlight the contradictions that lie within the understanding of corporate governance in moral perspective.