Building an Ethically Strong Organization
Journal
MIT Sloan Management Review
ISSN
1532-9194
Type
journal article
Date Issued
2018
Author(s)
Abstract (De)
When German car manufacturer Volkswagen was caught cheating on its diesel emissions testing regime, the subsequent scandal launched numerous lawsuits, cost billions of dollars in fines, and severely harmed the company's reputation. Dozens of employees at all levels contributed to this disaster. Recently there have been other incidents at companies, including Wells Fargo and Samsung Electronics. Why do such scandals continue, and what can be done to change matters? When the authors asked employees at five U.K. organizations to share their experiences of ethical and unethical practices, they found that most employees and managers care about ethics and want to work for employers whose values and principles are aligned with their own. The authors present steps to help leaders set an ethically strong tone so that employees are better equipped to make the right choices. "Setting the stage for ethical behavior isn't just a top-down exercise," the authors write. Organizations need to understand the ethical dilemmas that managers and employees face and give them tools, including codes of conduct, to make good choices.
Language
English
HSG Classification
contribution to scientific community
Refereed
Yes
Publisher
MIT
Volume
60
Number
1
Start page
75
Pages
1
Subject(s)
Division(s)
Eprints ID
269298