The Ethics of Organizations: A Longitudinal Study of the U.S. Working Population

44 Pages Posted: 13 Apr 2009

See all articles by Muel Kaptein

Muel Kaptein

Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR) - Rotterdam School of Management (RSM)

Date Written: January 2009 4,

Abstract

The ethics of organizations has received much attention in recent years. This raises the question whether the ethics of organizations has also improved. In 1999, 2004 and 2008, a survey was conducted of 12,196 U.S. managers and employees. The results show that the ethical culture of organizations only improved in the period between 1999 and 2004. Unethical behavior and its consequences, however, declined between 2004 and 2008, while the scope of ethics programs expanded in that period. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications of these findings for further research and practice.

Keywords: ethical culture, ethics program, unethical behavior, ethical reputation, ethics management, virtue theory, stakeholder theory

JEL Classification: F23, M14, M, P48

Suggested Citation

Kaptein, Muel, The Ethics of Organizations: A Longitudinal Study of the U.S. Working Population (January 2009 4,). ERIM Report Series Reference No. ERS-2009-018-ORG, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1376150

Muel Kaptein (Contact Author)

Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR) - Rotterdam School of Management (RSM) ( email )

P.O. Box 1738
Room T11-53
3000 DR Rotterdam, 3000 DR
Netherlands
+31 10 408 1923 (Phone)

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
151
Abstract Views
1,129
Rank
350,945
PlumX Metrics