earticle

영어

The past ten years has fostered an increased interest in the unethical behaviour exhibited by firms. The imperatives of day-to-day organizational performance are so compelling that there is little time or inclination to divert attention to the moral content of organizational decision making. Morality lacks substantive relation to objective and quantitative performance. Within this context it becomes imperative to undertake a study of unethical behaviour or work place deviance. This article examines the ethical context and climate within organizations and implications for all employees. Justifications for unethical behaviour and the manifestation of this behaviour will be examined as well. Solutions to counteract deviations from the norm will be presented. The purpose of this article is to perform a literature review of the existing body of empirically-based studies relating to the causes and implications of how the ethical climate of a company ultimately affects the incidence of workplace deviance. The article examines the issue of ethical contexts and climates within organizations, as measured by the Ethical Climate Questionnaire developed in 1987 by Victor and Cullen, and their implications in the daily work lives of participants. The causes of unethical behaviour, including the presence of counter norms, the environment in which a firm operates, and organizational commitment, as well as the manifestation of this behaviour in the form of workplace deviance, are reviewed. Finally, current trends in preventing workplace deviance are investigated, including promoting a strong culture of ethics, and the use of “toxic handlers” individuals who take it upon themselves to handle the frustrations of fellow employees. Clearly, unethical and deviant behaviour problems are of great concern to organizations, which must take steps to solve them, at the same time as fostering strong positive ethical cultures. Feels that further studies are needed using more definitive and qualitative measurements to learn more about these behaviors.

한국어

조직구성원들의 비윤리적 행동은 조직에 막대한 비용을 초래하기 때문에 조직의 주요 관심사가 되고 있다. 조직이 지속적으로 존속하려면 구성원들의 비윤리적 행동들이 확인되고, 측정되고 해결되어야 한다. 이와 관련하여 조직에 강한 긍정적 윤리문화를 구축해서, 구성원들이 윤리적 딜레마에 직면했을 때 이를 어떻게 처리해야 할지 알 수 있게 하는 것이 필요하다. 구성원들에게 자신의 윤리적 행동이 경영자와 전체 조직으로부터 지지받는다고 느낄 수 있게 해야 한다. 나아가 과거 조직에 해가 되었던 공격적이고 일탈적인 행동에 구성원들이 침묵하지 않도록 이러한 긍정적 조직문화가 유지되어야 한다. 비윤리적 행동에 대한 향후 연구에서 현상의 객관적 이해뿐만 아니라 보다 명확하고 계량적인 측정이 요청된다. 비윤리적 행동에 대한 이해가 충분히 축적되면 이는 조직이 이 이슈를 관리하고 해결하고, 건강한 윤리 문화를 형성하는데 기여할 수 있을 것이다.