An Ethics Hierarchy

>Studies of the ethics cultures of public organizations based on the perceptions of members of the organization consistently show that lower level employees perceive more ethics problems in their organization than do higher level employees. A recent study of even an ethics organization, the U.S. Office of Government Ethics, documents the same phenomena. This study "Ethics Blanch Employee Ethics Survey 2000" conducted by Arthur Andersen reports that "Supervisors are more likely than are employees in non-supervisory positions to have a positive perception of the ethical culture of their agencies. This result may indicate that supervisors and managers generally have a more positive perception of the ethical culture because they help to create it through their own attitudes and actions." Hmmm! Perhaps so.

>But, could it be that ethics problems (at least in quantitative terms) do align along the organizational hierarchy? And, if so, then current efforts to flatten organizational hierarchies would have a positive influence on the ethical cultures of public organizations. But, we don't really know if this is or is not happening. Surely a subject ripe for further study given its importance.

>What about the seriousness of a potential ethics breech? Is there any reason to think that more serious ethics problems are more likely to surface at higher rather than lower levels of the organizational hierarchy? One is reminded of Stephen Bailey's keen observation that as one climbs the organizational ladder the more wobbly it becomes.