Section audio
Unfortunately, several structures exist within many organizations that constrain people’s ability to act per their moral convictions. These structures include an organization’s culture, corporations’ legal status, moral mazes, and the myth of rationality.
As you read the following sections, you will note some of the items discussed are specific to Western business practices (e.g., corporations’ legal status). Every item listed below may not apply to every culture, and other cultures may have different structures constraining action. Be sure to develop your institutional and contextual (cultural) rationality of the social context in which you operate.
We will start this discussion by considering the role of organizational culture in constraining our willingness to act in pursuit of our values.
The Role of Organizational Culture
In the same way that nations or ethnic groups develop distinct cultures, so do organizations. Cultures promote specific values and behaviours among their members. The stronger an organization’s culture, the more likely employees will identify with its moral code.[1]
If the behaviours and morals promoted by an organization’s culture align with the broader society’s norms, life may be fine. If there are differences between the community’s behaviours versus the organization, however, employees may find themselves in situations where they must act contrary to societal (and perhaps their own) values.
How does an organizational culture promoting behaviours contrary to society’s morals arise?
It happens slowly. An organization may, for example, pursue the value of competitiveness. If this value dominates, employees become infused with the desire to beat the competition at all costs.
In pursuit of victory over competitors, leaders model desired behaviours, and individuals are rewarded for certain actions and punished for others. People develop and reinforce policies that begin to justify morally gray actions in the name of winning.
People further exhibit the ability to compartmentalize their actions, mentally separating unethical behaviours at work from the rest of their life. Thus, they retain the belief they are good people despite the morally questionable actions they perform for their job.[2]
The Impact of Corporations’ Legal Standing
In societies adopting Western business practices, the legal status of corporations exacerbates these dynamics. Western societies define corporations as individuals under the law. Legally, it is the organization that acts unethically, not the people. Victims of an organization’s action may pursue legal action against it, but not the people working for it.
For the people working in the organization, this dynamic depersonalizes the consequences of their actions. They may feel that they are not acting unethically; the organization is. They may further feel the organization is justified in its actions since it pursues a value that the culture honours.[3]
Moral Mazes
The bureaucracy of org