When Organizations Don’t Walk Their Talk: A Cross-Level Examination of How Decoupling Formal Ethics Programs Affects Organizational Members

Tammy MacLean, Barrie E. Litzky, D. Kip Holderness Jr.

Journal of Business Ethics · 2015 · Volume 128 · Issue 2

Abstract

This research illustrates dangers inherent in the gap created when organizations decouple ethics program adoption from implementation. Using a sample of 182 professionals in the pharmaceutical and financial services industries, we examine the relationship between structural decoupling of formal ethics programs and individual-level perceptions and behavior. Findings strongly support the hypothesized relationships between decoupling and organizational members’ legitimacy perceptions of the ethics program, psychological contract breach, organizational cynicism, and unethical behavior.

Keywords

Cynicism, Decoupling, Ethics programs, Psychological contract breach

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