Posts

How Networks of Complicity Can Enable Crimes to Go on for Decades

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Unethical, even criminal, conduct can persist in organizations for long periods of time, often as an open secret and often supported by others. The R&B singer R. Kelly was found guilty of racketeering and sex trafficking charges…

A Behavioral Ethics and Compliance Primer

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In 1991, when the Federal Sentencing Guidelines for Organizations went into effect, Compliance and Ethics (“C&E”) programs became a part of the business landscape in the United States. There was, at the time, a fairly widespread…

What Leaders Signal to Workers When They Compensate Victims

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Compensators, in an economic game, were seen as more trustworthy, moral, generous, and friendlier than punishers. Of all the levers at the disposal of a manager, an invaluable one for promoting cooperation is punishment. Teams that effectively…

Overcoming Our Ethical Blindspots: A Conversation with Ann Tenbrunsel

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In this episode of the Leading Transformational Change podcast, host Tobias Sturesson speaks with Ethical Systems collaborator Ann Tenbrunsel about the pitfalls in corporate culture that make it easier to behave less ethically. They…

Do Honesty Pledges Work?

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Honesty pledges often sound like a good idea, but whether they are in any given situation depends on various factors. Just ask Jim Comey. In a recent paper, Eyal Pe’er, at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and Yuval…

It’s Time to Question Everything About Best-Practice Compliance

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A strong company culture of integrity isn’t just a nice thing to have.

It’s time for policy makers to enter the 21st century

Can you imagine a world where marketers promoted products without knowledge of psychology and persuasion? Well, the equivalent is happening in policy making and international development- in fact it is the standard. Programs are created with…

(Un)Ethical Behavior in Organizations

Wouldn’t it be helpful if there was a review of some of the most influential, recent work on ethical behavior in organizations?  Well Ethical Systems collaborator Linda Trevino and colleagues have provided just that with their excellent…

“Mind, Society and Behavior” and Ethical Systems Design

David Brooks recently published an insightful piece (In Praise of Small Miracles) about “Mind, Society and Behavior,” a recent report issued by The World Bank on how behavioral economics can be applied to global development and global health. Brooks…

Ethics Starts At The Top

Which matters more for creating an ethical organization: tone at the top, or tone in the middle?  The answer is that it depends on when, exactly, you are talking about.  A recent study (Gächter, Renner, 2014) corroborates…