The Dissolution of Ethical Decision-Making in Organizations: A Comprehensive Review and Model
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The Dissolution of Ethical Decision-Making in Organizations: A Comprehensive Review and Model Ralph W. Jackson • Charles M. Wood James J. Zboja
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Received: 16 March 2012 / Accepted: 16 August 2012 / Published online: 1 September 2012 Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2012
Abstract The purpose of this research is to present the major factors that lead to ethical dissolution in an organization. Specifically, drawing from a wide spectrum of sources, this study explores the impact of organizational, individual, and contextual factors that converge to contribute to ethical dissolution. Acknowledging that ethical decisions are, in the final analysis, made by individuals, this study presents a model of ethical dissolution that gives insight into how a variety of elements coalesce to draw individuals into decisions that result in the ethical undoing of an otherwise healthy organization. ENRON, TYCO and WorldCom did not happen in a vacuum. Nor can such debacles be explained as simply one or two individuals who were morally corrupt. The ethical breakdowns that occurred in these companies happened over a period of time, involved numerous individuals both inside and outside of the organization, and brought about the implosion of viable companies. Seeking to extend the work of previous researchers, this study attempts to tie together a disparate set of factors into a cohesive explanation of ethical breakdowns in organizations. Keywords Corporate ethics Ethical breakdown Ethical decision-making Ethical development Ethical dissolution Organizational networks Organizational leadership
R. W. Jackson (&) C. M. Wood J. J. Zboja Collins College of Business, University of Tulsa, 800 South Tucker Drive, Tulsa, OK 74104, USA e-mail: [email protected]
Introduction The examples of unethical and sometimes illegal corporate behavior are by now both ubiquitous and legendary. While in more recent times, examples such as ENRON, Tyco, WorldCom, DynCorp, and Bernie Madoff have made headlines and drawn attention to the subject, unethical behavior is not strictly a contemporary phenomenon. In the 1980s, we were graphically shown the result of poor ethical decision-making of upper management at Morton-Thiakol and NASA as the space shuttle exploded on our televisions. That disaster occurred in spite of efforts by a recently deceased engineer who tried to stop the launch. That decade also was witness to the Union Carbide disaster in Bhopal, India. In the 1970s, we saw the decision-making behind the Ford Pinto that resulted in deaths and injuries that could have been avoided with a relatively minor investment. Suffice it to say that unethical decisions have been part and parcel of corporate life since corporations were first formed. At the outset of any discussion of ethics, it is tempting to take the position that ethics, in the final analysis, are the purview of individuals. The argument is that it is not corporations that are unethical but individuals, thus the discussion of ethics must focus on the individual rather t
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