Molly McCallum:
The Psychology of Corporate Ethics
How can we build ethical organizations? This is the question that Molly McCallum seeks to answer one day. Her interest in organizational ethics and morality was sparked during her first career in accounting and financial consulting, as she noticed acceptance of minor unethical activities. “These ‘petty crimes’ would often be ignored by the leaders of the companies. If no one corrects the smaller acts, they are more likely to become socially acceptable practices.” Molly is interested in determining how to keep these smaller, unethical acts from infecting the corporate culture. “What causes an employee to take advantage of an apathetic system, to go beyond the ‘petty crimes’ to something that is truly damaging to the organization? And, how do we fix the damage they have done, not just financially, but to the culture of the organization?”
Molly's interest in organizational ethics has led her to look at the individual decision-making process and the effect of the organizational culture on that process. Molly is conducting an on-line survey to explore the relationship between the decision-making process and the perceived personal consequences for making a decision within the organizational setting. Her decision model is based off of research that acknowledges that individuals use a cost-benefit analysis when deciding whether or not to act in a way that could be considered unethical by superiors and peers within the organization.
Molly is also interested in looking at the broader picture of building an ethical organization through the aspects of organizational culture and leadership. “Recent research examines Ethical or Authentic Leadership styles, which include ethical and moral evaluations of every decision and action. If you believe that the leader does set the ‘tone at the top,’ these leadership styles could have a huge impact on the cultural norms. Certain organizational cultures might be more supportive of an ethical environment.” With this in mind, Molly sees her future dissertation work having more of a focus on the moral aspects of leadership and the influence of leadership style on the culture of the organization.
The idea of promoting ethics and morality in the business is a relatively new one. Molly says she is frequently asked if organizations can be ethical. “People wonder if a corporation can be ethical because its primary responsibility is to the shareholders and to make profits. I say it doesn’t have to be one or the other.” Molly believes that an ethical cost-benefit analysis can be included in all levels of organizational decision making. “Decision makers can ask themselves ‘is this the right thing to do?’ for all stakeholders, not just the shareholders.” She also hopes that the public will eventually make their investment decisions based on the ethics and social responsibility of companies, and not just stock prices and future earnings potential.
|
How to Apply to CGU
