“5 Signs Your Organization Might Be Headed for an Ethics Scandal”

“we see a “tone at the top” underpinned by widespread willful blindness, toxic incentives, and mechanisms that deflect scrutiny. These conditions seem to persist and metastasize. They replicate despite changes in leadership and in management systems.

Groups are more than the sum of their parts; we know we act differently when we’re on a team (or in a mob). And our explanations for ethical scandals are incomplete without a focus on group dynamics.

Although corruption, fraud, and other integrity scandals differ enormously in cause and trajectory, they correlate with particular group conditions with remarkable consistency...

In-group language: Humans need both to hide and rationalize unethical behavior, leading to the widespread use of in-group jokes and euphemisms. A rich terminology springs forth to describe bribes, from “gifts” and “commissions” to SNC Lavalin’s “project consultancy costs,” TSKJ’s “cultural arrangements,” and the funds Enron put aside to “educate Indians.” Metaphors of war and sport, common in this context, help to shift the frame away from that of individual choice...

Although leaders often complain that company culture is hard to measure, it is far easier to seek employees’ input on team culture and norms than to ask them to report fraudulent practices or call out powerful wrongdoers. Employee surveys, conversations, and focus groups can help us understand what actually happens in organizations, how seriously stated values and formal processes are taken, and which units or departments may pose the most ethical risk.“

https://hbr.org/2017/12/5-signs-your-organization-might-be-headed-for-an-ethics-scandal

FB: these are really interesting “Urgency and fear: Following corruption scandals, leaders tend to describe events in terms of pressure, necessity, and what the company needed to do to ”survive.” This perception of existential competitive threats can be used to justify the creation and maintenance of toxic incentives, and it will undermine any efforts to raise concerns.”