Bad Culture

These three elements are important to what ethical culture the company is portraying. Management must be very clear in the code of conduct, where employees understand what the organization expects of them (Ferrell, et al, 2013). Without a clear and strong written code of conduct, employees and management can act in an unethical behavior as they did in the financial breakdown. During this time customers did not have faith in the financial world because of the unethical behavior. My belief is absent of poorly communicated code of conduct creates an environment for all parties of the organization to behave in a manner that benefits the organization or themselves over the

An organization’s culture is based off the shared values and beliefs that are shaped by the organization and its managers. It is this culture that dictates the manner in which employees are to conduct themselves within the organization. Therefore, a culture that creates an environment that influences the employees to act unethically will allow them to do so without thinking of the outcome of their

*  People Shape the Culture. Personalities and experiences of employees create the culture of an organization. For example, if most of the people in an organization are very outgoing, the culture is likely to be open and sociable. If many artifacts depicting the company’s history and values are in evidence throughout the company, people value their history and culture. If doors are open, and few closed door meetings are held, the culture is unguarded. If negativity about supervision and the company is widespread and complained about by employees, a culture of negativity, that is difficult to overcome, will take hold.

In difficult financial times, companies face various moral issues to try to keep up with their competitors. Although these issues have a direct impact on employee decision making, businesses rarely address how employees should assess the ethics of their actions and incorporate ethics into their decisions. Often this can be alleviated by creating and maintaining a corporate culture with a focus on

A healthy and ethical environment starts with a positive leadership role-model who encourage ethical practices, teamwork, participation, and inspires staff performance that support organizational goals (Ortmeier & Meese, 2010). Organizational cultures shape the framework of employee behavior, which can inhabit a negative environment and unethical conduct consisting of a code of silence, feelings of personal loyalty, morality issues, character, and authoritative environments that reduce morale and

The HealthSouth Fraud ACCT 480: Forensic Accounting Emily Bauer 2/7/2016   At the time when the HealthSouth fraud was discovered in 2003, HealthSouth was the largest owner and operator of inpatient rehabilitative hospitals as well as a provider of surgical and diagnostic services. Employing more than 60,000 people at their 2,000 locations, this billion dollar company had locations in all 50 states as well as operations in the U.K., Canada, Australia, Puerto Rico and Saudi Arabia. In 2003, they were the third largest healthcare company based on revenue.

Social norms really do interest me. Not just social, but descriptive, moral, injunctive and just norms in a society. These norms help regulate how a society functions and helps facilitate interactions amongst people. I started off my research by asking myself several questions: why can’t we be ourselves around certain people? Why do we feel the need to wait before fully unveiling our masks to people we like or are trying to get to know? I got stuck on one question more than the rest and that is why is ‘too kind’ a bad thing? It really bothered me because I know I over think things a lot and I think about this a lot. People constantly tell me that I’m too kind and that I shouldn’t do this or that but I’ve never fully understood why. Every sort of kind, public act that I preform is always followed by a negative response by my close peers. I don’t see why it’s a bad thing, I think it’s great. Why wouldn’t I help the older lady to her car or hold the door open for the people behind me?

The bad corporate culture at Enron deeply contributed to ethics digressions while pointing out how it led to its bankruptcy. A corporate code of ethics as well as an organizational culture are not only essential and vital to a company; they represent the core of a long term success. Notwithstanding the presence of “The Smartest Guys in the Room”, Enron’s corporate culture did not succeed in creating an ethical environment inside the company.

According to Johnson (2012) leaders are powerful role models, and policies will have a little effect if leaders do not follow the rules they set. In Enron case, corruption and ethical misconduct were deeply embedded in their business culture where profitability was more important than ethics. In this paper, I will address the factors that had led to the development of the culture of profit before principle at Enron. Also, I will create my personal code of ethics that will guide me in my professional and personal decision making and doing the right thing when faced with ethical challenges.

Trevino (1986) believes that the organizational norms are a level of cultural manipulation that guides individual's behavior and dictates what is and is not appropriate which allow individuals to judge others in different situations. As a result, the pressure placed for compliance with ‘ethical' norms of an organization is the manipulation of culture to encourage employees to follow rules reflecting soft-domination in the post-bureaucratic era. (Higgins, Power, & Kohlberg, 1984 cited from Kurtines and Gewirtz, 1987) This is further emphasized by Treviño, Weaver, Gibson & Toffler's (1999) research. It states that employees are willing to report other's misconducts when unethical behavior is displayed rather than their own offenses in order to prevent social segregation. (Treviño, Weaver, Gibson & Toffler, 1999) In contrast, the views and values that are not clear are known to be weaker cultures that tend to exist with introductions of many subcultures that alter the norm for ethical behavior. (Trevino, 1986) Organizational management in the bureaucratic era reveals higher levels of unethical behavior because of the heavy links to the hierarchical structure that are valued. (Chen, Sawyers & Williams, 1997 and Trevino, 1986) Inversely, the post-bureaucratic era has lower levels of unethical behavior due to the management based on trust, empowerment, personal treatment and shared responsibility. (McKenna, Garcia‐Lorenzo & Bridgman, 2010 and Trevino, 1986) Thus, individual behavior is inevitably manipulated through culture. (Chen, Sawyers & Williams,

Brickman and Sims evaluate the result of how unethical behavior can affect the organizational culture. The article is credible because if demonstrates the effects of negative and unethical behavior on an organization and how to counter act them. Robert Sims is an author, Floyd Dewey Gottwald Senior Professor of Business Administration at Mason School of Business and has a PhD in Organizational Behavior from Case Western Reserve University. Johannes Brickman Professor in the Department of Strategy and Entrepreneurship at Norwegian School of Management BI, Sofienberg, Oslo, Norwayship. Their backgrounds in leadership, business, ethics and business assist them to be specialist in their field and credible sources for research. This paper shows

In anything, the morals come from the top, the leadership. What a leader believes usually has an enormous effect on the thing he or she is leading. What they believe usually can be seen throughout the company. Their background can also be seen throughout the company. "It is mistaken to assume that people

An organization’s culture governs day to day behavior. This type of power may be seen as a control mechanism, which businesses use to manipulate internal and external perception. Every organization has a set of assumed understandings that must be adopted and implemented by new employees in order for them to be accepted. Conformity to the culture becomes the primary basis for reward by the organization. “The role of culture in influencing employee behavior appears to be increasingly important in today’s workplace, as organizations have widened spans of control, flattened structures, introduced teams, reduced

Strong culture is said to exist where staff respond to stimulus because of their alignment to organizational values. Conversely, there is Weak Culture where there is little alignment with organizational values and control must be exercised through extensive procedures and

The purpose or aim of every organization is to establish such an organizational culture and behavior among its employees that helps in achievement of ideal ethical standards. There are certain determinants that play a critical role in helping achieve the right organizational culture. Some of these include personal moral intensity, social ties, codes of ethics, locus of control and Machiavellianism. These