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Who is Prone to be Unethical in a Business?

Donald Palmer says the answer is everyone.  Prior research suggests that being unethical is abnormal, rare, and aberrant behavior perpetrated by people who are abhorrent.  However, Palmer recently reported that misconduct is a normal phenomenon and that wrongdoing is as prevalent as rightdoing, and that misconduct is most often done by people who are primarily good, ethical, and socially responsible.  Palmer reports that individuals engage in unethical activities due to a plethora of structure, processes, and mechanisms inherent in the functioning of organizations – and, importantly, all of us are candidates to be unethical under the right circumstances in any organization.  Implications of this new research abound for managers.  In light of his findings, Palmer concludes that organizations should 1) punish wrongdoing swiftly and severely when it is detected, 2) be careful to hire employees who possess high ethical standards, 3) develop socialization programs to reinforce desired cultural values, 4) alter chains of command so subordinates report to more than one superior, 5) develop a culture whereby subordinates may challenge their superior’s orders when they seem questionable, and 6) develop a better understanding of internal policies, procedures, systems, and mechanisms that could lead to misconduct.

 

Palmer, Donald (2013).  “The New Perspective on Organizational Wrongdoing,”  California Management Review, 56(1), p.  5-23.

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