Courageous, Fearful, Bureaucratic, and Quantum Organizational Types, and Personal Ethics

Abstract

Integrating the perspective of the values in action classification theory (Peterson & Seligman, 2004), which asserts that personal attributes, such as fearlessness, authenticity, enthusiasm, and perseverance, create courage, and the deontological theory of ethics (Kant, 1996), which posits that what is wrong for one person to do is wrong for anyone and that morality is for everybody, this research examined four organizational types—courageous, fearful, bureaucratic, and quantum—to determine their effects on ethical behavior. The type of organization an employee works in can influence ethical behavior regarding supporting fairness and dignity, advocating for personal beliefs, challenging discrimination, defending colleagues’ rights, empowering underrepresented voices, and championing meritocracy and inclusivity (Kilmann et al., 2002). A statistically significant difference between fearful and quantum organizations was identified. This research affirms that individuals who worked in fearful organizations rated lower on personal ethics than those in quantum organizations, who rated higher on personal ethics. Furthermore, ethnicity emerged as the only statistically significant socio-demographic variable regarding the relationship between organizational type and personal ethics.