Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The Pluralist Theory of Ethics Programs Orientations and Ideologies: An Empirical Study Anchored in Requisite Variety

  • Published:
Journal of Business Ethics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

We propose, in this article, a pluralistic theory of ethics programs orientations, empirically derived from the statistical analysis of responses to an ad hoc questionnaire on organizational ethics practices. The results of our research identify six different orientations to ethics programs, corresponding to as many types of organizational ethics practices. This model goes beyond the traditional opposition between a compliance orientation, focused on the regulation of behavior and the detection of deviance, and a values-based orientation, which is said to be more reflective and enabling, and allows for a more sophisticated understanding of the composition of ethics programs. Drawing from the theory of requisite variety, we suggest that these six orientations are not to be considered in opposition but rather as complementary and even synergistic. In doing so, this pluralism has the potential to counter the potential deleterious effects of dominant logics and ideologies in organizations. Our model thus allows for a more empirical analysis of organizational ethics practices and programs and provides a new analytical framework for research and practice in considering the principle of requisite variety in ethics management. This represents, in our opinion, a contribution to the advancement of knowledge and practice in organizational ethics.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. Parastatal organizations are similar to public or state-own organizations but enjoy more autonomy than public or government agencies. Also, their management systems are very close to those of the private sector. Examples of parastatals are hospitals and universities in Quebec, Canada.

References

  • Airhart, P. D., Legge, M. J. A., & Redcliffe, G. L. (2002). Doing ethics in a pluralistic world: Essays in honour of Roger C. Hutchinson. Waterloo, ON: Wilfrid Laurier University Press.

  • Arnold, D. G., Audi, R., & Zwolinski, M. (2010). Recent work in ethical theory and its implications for business ethics. Business Ethics Quarterly, 20(4), 559–581.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ashby, W. R. (1956). An introduction to cybernetics. London: Methuen.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Ashby, W. R. (1968). Variety, constraint, and the law of requisite variety. In W. Buckley (Ed.), Modern systems research for the behavioral scientist: A sourcebook (pp. 129–136). New York: Aldine.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bandalos, D. L. (2002). The effects of item parceling on goodness-of-fit and parameter estimate bias in structural equation modeling. Structural Equation Modeling, 9(1), 78–102.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barley, S. R., & Kunda, G. (1992). Design and devotion: Surges of rational and normative ideologies of control in managerial discourse. Administrative Science Quarterly, 37(3), 363–399.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Beer, S. (1995). Brain of the firm. New-York: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bendix, R. (1956/1974). Work and authority in industry: Ideologies of management in the course of industrialization. Berkeley: University of California Press.

  • Bettis, R. A., & Prahalad, C. K. (1995). The dominant logic: Retrospectives and extension. Strategic Management Journal, 16(1), 5–14.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bettis, R. A., & Wong, S.-S. (2003). Dominant logic, knowledge creation, and managerial choice. In M. Easterby-Smith & M. A. Lyles (Eds.), Handbook of organizational learning and knowledge management (pp. 43–355). Malden, MA: Blackwell.

  • Boisot, M., & McKelvey, B. (2010). Integrating modernist and postmodernist perspectives on organizations: A complexity science bridge. Academy of Management Review, 35(3), 415–433.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bourdieu, P. (1980). Le sens pratique. Paris: Les Éditions de Minuit.

    Google Scholar 

  • Collins, D. (2000). The quest to improve the human condition: The first 1500 articles published in Journal of Business Ethics. Journal of Business Ethics, 26, 1.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Diamantopoulos, A., & Siguaw, J. A. (2006). Formative versus reflective indicators in organizational measure development: A comparison and empirical illustration. British Journal of Management, 17(4), 263–282.

  • Dimaggio, P. J., & Powell, W. W. (1983). The iron cage revisited: Institutional isomorphism and collective rationality in organizational fields. American Sociological Review, 48, 147–160.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ford, J. K., MacCallum, R. C., & Tait, M. (1986). The application of exploratory factor analysis in applied psychology: A critical review and analysis. Personnel Psychology, 39, 291–314.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Friedman, M. (1953). Essays in positive economics. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ghoshal, S. (2005). Bad management theories are destroying good management practices. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 4(1), 75–91.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Giddens, A. (2003). Runaway world. How globalisation is reshaping our lives. New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gunia, B. C., Wang, L., Huang, L., Wang, J., & Murnighan, J. K. (2012). Contemplation and conversation: Subtle influences on moral decision making. Academy of Management Journal, 55(1), 13.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hinich, M. J., & Munger, M. C. (1994). Ideology and the theory of political choice. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Hinkin, T. R. (1998). A brief tutorial on the development of measures for use in survey questionnaires. Organizational Research Methods, 1, 104–121.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hodgkinson, G. P. (1997). Cognitive inertia in a turbulent market: The case of UK residential estate agents. The Journal of Management Studies, 34(6), 921–945.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hoffman, A. J. (2001). A framework for analyzing institutional processes. In From heresy to dogma, an institutional history of corporate environmentalism (pp. 24–43). Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.

  • Husted, B. W. (1993). Reliability and the design of ethical organizations: A rational systems approach. Journal of Business Ethics, 12(10), 761–769.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hutchinson, R. C. (1995). All sweets of being: A life of James Boswell. Edinburgh: Mainstream Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Johnson, G. (1988). Rethinking incrementalism. Strategic Management Journal, 9(1), 75–81.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jost, J. T., Federico, C. M., & Napier, J. L. (2009). Political ideology: Its structure, functions, and elective affinities. Annual Review of Psychology, 60, 307–337.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kaptein, M. (2009). Ethics programs and ethical culture: A next step in unraveling their multi-faceted relationship. Journal of Business Ethics, 89(2), 261–281.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kim, D. H. (1993). The link between individual and organizational learning. Sloan Management Review (Fall), 37–50. 

  • KPMG. (2000). KPMG ethics survey 2000: Managing for ethical practice. KPMG.

  • KPMG. (2005). International survey of corporate responsibility reporting 2005. KPMG.

  • Lamberti, L., & Lettieri, E. (2009). CSR practices and corporate strategy: Evidence from a longitudinal case study. Journal of Business Ethics, 87(2), 153–168.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Landis, R. S., Beal, D. J., & Tesluk, P. E. (2000). A comparison of approaches to forming composite measures in structural equation modeling. Organizational Research Methods, 3(2), 186–207.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Landis, J. R., & Koch, G. G. (1977). The measurement of observer agreement for categorical data. Biometrics, 33(1), 159–174.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liebowitz, S. J., & Margolis, S. E. (1995). Path dependence, lock-in, and history. Journal of Law Economics and Organization, 11(1), 205–226.

    Google Scholar 

  • MacCallum, R. C., & Browne, M. W. (1993). The use of causal indicators in covariance structure models: Some practical issues. Psychological Bulletin, 114(3), 533–541.

  • Mannheim, K. (1936/1968). Ideology and utopia. New York: Harcourt, Brace & World.

  • Marx, K., & Engels, F. (1998). The german ideology. New York: Prometheus Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • McDonald, G. (2000). Business ethics: Practical proposals for organisations. Journal of Business Ethics, 25(2), 169–184.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meyer, J. W., & Rowan, B. (1977). Institutionalized organizations: Formal structure as myth and ceremony. American Journal of Sociology, 83(2), 340–363.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Morgan, G. (2006). Images of organization. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Moscovici, S. (1988). Notes towards a description of social representations. European Journal of Social Psychology, 18(3), 211–250.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Oakeshott, M. (1975). On human conduct. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • OECD (2009). Towards a sound integrity framework: Instruments, processes, structures and conditions for implementation. Paper presented at Global Forum on Public Governance.

  • Paine, L. S. (1994). Managing for organizational integrity. Harvard Business Review, 72(2), 106–117.

    Google Scholar 

  • Parush, T. (2008). From “management ideology” to “management fashion”: A comparative analysis of two key concepts in the sociology of management knowledge. International Studies of Management & Organization, 38(1), 48.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pauchant, T. C. (1995). In search of meaning: Managing for the health of our organizations, our communauties and the natural world. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

  • Pauchant, T. C. (2002). Ethics and spirituality at work. Hopes and pitfalls of the search for meaning in organizations. Wesport, CT: Quorum Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Prahalad, C. K. (2004). The blinders of dominant logic. Long Range Planning, 37(2), 171–179.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Prahalad, C. K., & Bettis, R. A. (1986). The dominant logic: A new linkage between diversity and performance. Strategic Management Journal, 7(6), 485–501.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rollin, B. E. (2006). Science and ethics. New York: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Sainclair, A. (1993). Approaches to organisational culture and ethics. Journal of Business Ethics, 12, 1.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schatzki, T. R. (1996). Social practices: A Wittgensteinian approach to human activity and the social. New-York: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Schein, E. (2004). Organizational culture and leadership. San-Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scott, W. R. (2002). Organizations: Rational, natural, and open systems. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shrivastava, P. (1986). Is strategic management ideological? Journal of Management, 12(3), 363–377.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shrivastava, P., & Schneider, S. (1984). Organizational frames of reference. Human Relations, 37(10), 795.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Spiller, R. (2000). Ethical business and investment: A model for business and society. Journal of Business Ethics, 27(1–2), 149–160.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stansbury, J., & Barry, B. (2007). Ethics programs and the paradox of control. Business Ethics Quarterly, 17(2), 239–261.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Taylor, C. (1989). Sources of the self. The making of the modern identity. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Taylor, C. (1991). The ethics of authenticity. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tenbrunsel, A. E., Smith-Crowe, K., & Umphress, E. E. (2003). Building houses on rocks: The role of the ethical infrastructure in organizations. Social Justice Research, 16(3), 285–307.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thérien, J.-P. (2012). Human security: The making of a UN ideology. Global Society, 26(2), 191–213.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thompson, J. D. (1967). Organization in action. New Brunswick: New Brunswick Transaction Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Treviño, L. K., Weaver, G. R., Gibson, D. G., & Toffler, B. L. (1999). Managing ethics and legal compliance: What works and what hurts. California Management Review, 41(2), 131–151.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tsang, E. W. K., & Zahra, S. A. (2008). Organizational unlearning. Human Relations, 61(10), 1435–1462.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Von Krogh, G., & Roos, J. (1996). A tale of the unfinished. Strategic Management Journal, 17(9), 729–737.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weaver, G. R., & Treviño, L. K. (1999). Compliance and values oriented ethics programs: Influences on employees’ attitudes and behavior. Business Ethics Quarterly, 9(2), 315–335.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weaver, G. R., Treviño, L. K., & Cochran, P. L. (1999a). Corporate ethics practices in the mid-1990’s: An empirical study of the fortune 1000. Journal of Business Ethics, 18(3), 283–294.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weaver, G. R., Treviño, L. K., & Cochran, P. L. (1999b). Corporate ethics programs as control systems: Influences of executives commitment and environmental factors. Academy of Management Journal, 42, 539–552.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weick, K. E. (2001). Making sense of the organization. New York: Blackwell Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weiss, R. M., & Miller, L. E. (1987). The concept of ideology in organizational analysis: The sociology of knowledge or the social psychology of beliefs? The Academy of Management Review, 12(1), 104–116.

  • Werhane, P. H. (2008). Mental models, moral imagination and system thinking in the age of globalization. Journal of Business Ethics, 78(3), 463–474.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Williamson, O. (1975). Markets and hierarchies. New-York: Free Press.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Neuroethics Research Unit, Institut de recherches cliniques de Montréal (IRCM), Montreal, QC, Canada

    Joé T. Martineau

  2. Chair in Ethical Management, HEC Montreal, Montreal, QC, Canada

    Joé T. Martineau & Thierry C. Pauchant

  3. Department of Management, HEC Montreal, Montreal, QC, Canada

    Kevin J. Johnson

Authors
  1. Joé T. Martineau
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Kevin J. Johnson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Thierry C. Pauchant
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Joé T. Martineau.

Appendix

Appendix

See Table 7.

Table 7 Inter-judge agreement on the classification of each 45 ethics practices on the proposed six-orientations model
Full size table

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Martineau, J.T., Johnson, K.J. & Pauchant, T.C. The Pluralist Theory of Ethics Programs Orientations and Ideologies: An Empirical Study Anchored in Requisite Variety. J Bus Ethics 142, 791–815 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-016-3183-x

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-016-3183-x

Keywords

Search

Navigation