Understanding the Effectiveness of Ethics Programs in Preventing Unethical Behavior by Unravelling the Dimensions of Team Ethical Culture

Abstract Unethical behavior in the workplace is a widespread phenomenon. A burgeoning body of research has examined the influence of the ethics program and ethical culture of an organization on the unethical behavior of its employees. The existence of different team ethical cultures within an organization, however, offers a new perspective on the occurrence of unethical behavior beyond the individual and organizational levels. To extend the understanding of the causes of unethical behavior, we examined whether and how the dimensions of team ethical culture may mediate the effects of specific components of an ethics program on unethical behavior. Our findings, based on a sample of 180 teams in an organization based in one country and a sample of 590 teams from its sister organizations from multiple countries, supported the hypothesis that the different pathways through which components of an ethics program affect unethical behavior are specific to certain dimensions of team ethical culture. Evidence also suggested that the mediation pathways varied among the sister organizations. This article shows how a better understanding of team ethical culture is crucial to fostering effective ethics programs that can reduce unethical behavior.