Ethical Issues in Organizational Behavior

Abstract

Many researchers have underscored the impor- tance of ethical standards, and formal and informal communicaüon of these ethics, as essential compo­ neros of any profession. Fields and disciplines with the least paradigmatic development show litde con­ sensual agreement on important issues to be resear- ched and methodologies to be employed. Many professions, including those in the soda! sciences, not only have standards but formal channels within their associations that permit criticisms to be admi- nistered anonymously, at arm’s length, and in a known systematic manner. Currently the Academy of Management possesses no consensual agreement on important issues of ethics, no basis for consistent peer control, few agreed-upon standards of ethical behavior, and no structures that serve to maintain professional standards, although there have been sfforts by a number of divídions such as Manage­ ment Cónsul ting, Social Issues in Management, and Organization Development to address ethical con- cems. The OB Divisiones Task Forcé on Ethics was created for this reason in 1981. Five regional task forces on ethics were esíablished and charged with developing five global topic arcas, which seemed pertinent not only to the field of OB but to other areas within the Academy as well.