Ethics in Organizations, Psychology of

Abstract

Ethics in organizations represents a new area of research. Its focus is the ethically justifiable moral responsibility for the structures and processes in organizations. Important stimuli for research in this area have stemmed from the field of applied psychology, business ethics, labor law, technology assessment, as well as from studies on improving the quality of working life. An attempt will first be made to elucidate what is meant by the concepts of organization, morality, and ethics in order to arrive at a definition of ethics in organizations. Contractual theory forms the link between ethics and organizations. It, however, requires an underpinning in fundamental ethical theories such as utilitarianism, the basic rights approach, or discourse ethics. A brief discussion of exemplary areas in organizations follows, namely personnel selection, the superior-subordinate relationship, micropolitics, freedom of conscience, the right to make abuses in organizations public (whistle blowing), and the ethical rules for dismissal from organizations. The article concludes with a description of the different forms taken by the agents of enforcement (law, union activity, professional standards, self-commitment by branches of industry, public denunciation as well as individual activity) and implementation (compliance vs. integrity approach) of ethical standards in organizations.