While advancement opportunities, corporate culture, salary, and signing bonuses are important factors when considering a job offer, a Penn State authority on ethics and leadership advises conducting an ethical culture audit before joining any firm.
"Given the current environment and the growing number of corporate scandals, there are a number of questions that one should ask abut the ethical culture of an organization before accepting a job," says Linda K. Trevino, professor of organizational behavior in the Penn State Smeal College of Business, and co-author of the book, "Managing Business Ethics: Straight Talk About How to Do It Right."
In her book, with Katherine Nelson, Trevino recommends dividing the ethical culture into formal and informal systems.
Questions For Auditing the Formal System
1. How are organizational leaders perceived in terms of their integrity?2. How do organizational leaders model ethics related behaviors? 3. Are workers at all levels encouraged to take responsibility for the consequences of their behavior or to question authority when they are asked to do something that they consider to be wrong? How?4. Does a formal code of ethics and/or values exist? Is it distributed? How widely? Is it used? Is it reinforced in other formal systems such as reward and decision-making systems? 5. Are whistleblowers encouraged and are formal channels available for them to make their concerns known confidentially?6. Is misconduct disciplined swiftly and justly in the organization?7. Are people of integrity promoted? Are means as well as ends important?8. Is integrity emphasized to recruits and new employees?9. Are managers oriented to the values of the organization in orientation programs? Are they trained in ethical decision-making?10. Are ethical considerations a routine part of planning and policy meetings, new venture reports? Is the language of ethics taught and used? Does a formal committee exist high in the organization for considering ethical issues?
Questions For Auditing the Informal System
1. Identify the organization's heroes. What values do they represent? Given an ambiguous ethical dilemma, what decision would they make and why? 2. What are some important organizational rituals? How do they encourage or discourage ethical behavior? Who gets the awards, people of integrity who are successful or individuals who use unethical methods to attain success?3. What are the ethical messages sent to new entrants into the organization? Must they obey authority at all costs, or is questioning authority acceptable or even desirable?4. Does analysis of organizational stories and myths reveal individuals who stand up for what's right despite pressure, or is conformity the valued characteristic? Do people get fired or promoted in these stories? 5. Does acceptable language exist for discussing ethical concerns? Is this language routinely incorporated and encouraged in business decision-making?
"Many firms have 'integrity' in their values statements, but just talking about ethics and integrity clearly isn't enough. As my research suggests, ethics has to be 'baked into' the culture in a variety of ways-- in leadership messages, in follow-up and follow-through, and in reward systems. Also, if ethical problems are portrayed as resulting from a few 'bad apples,' people won't see the importance of broader, more systemic fixes," says Trevino, who is Chair of the Department of Management and Organization.
Her research and writing on the management of ethical conduct in organizations is widely published and well known internationally. Trevino has consulted with for-profit and non-profit organizations and has led research projects for the Ethics Resource Center Fellows Program. Her current research focuses on ethical leadership, moral awareness, and on organizational justice.
She points out that while many large corporations now have formal programs for managing ethical behavior and legal compliance, human resources departments often play only a minor role in companies' ethics management efforts. Trevino co-authored a paper on the topic, "The Role of Human Resources in Ethics/Compliance Management: A Fairness Perspective," with Gary R. Weaver of the University of Delaware. The paper appears in a recent issue of Human Resource Management Review.
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