The Normalisation of Organisational Deviance: How Ethical Drift Becomes Managerial Common Sense

This paper introduces the concept of Organisational Deviance Normalisation (ODN) to explain how ethically questionable practices gradually become accepted as routine managerial behaviour. Rather than focusing on individual misconduct, it demonstrates how moral discomfort is reframed as operational necessity, procedural compliance displaces human judgement, and organisational silence becomes professional common sense. Through a four-stage process model and illustrative cases from aviation, healthcare, finance, and digital platforms, the paper shows how ethical erosion is structurally cultivated in modern organisations. It concludes by outlining leadership and governance interventions aimed at restoring moral agency in increasingly system-driven environments.