Rituals of an ethical culture.

They tell people symbolically what the organization wants them to do and how it expects them to do it. Rituals are a way of affirming and communicating culture in a very tangible way. Organizations have meetings, parties, banquets, barbecues, and awards ceremonies that all convey messages about what’s valued in the organization, Years ago, General Motors of Canada introduced a new vision and values by asking each manufacturing unit to create a small float representing one of the key values. These floats were part of a parade that kicked off a full day of culture-building ritual surrounding the theme ‘‘Customers for Life’’ and the motto ‘‘I Am GM.’’ During the day, the CEO unveiled a large painting of the group vision and told a story about the company’s future. To reinforce the ‘‘I Am GM’’ motto, employees were asked to see themselves as being responsible, at any moment, for the company, its products, and services. The day ended with the ‘‘GM Acceleration Song’’ performed by the 100-person Up With People singing and dancing group. The song had been revised to incorporate the new values created by the leadership team.

Some companies have annual family picnics and ‘‘bring your child to work days’’ that encourage employees to value time with their families. Some have on-site child care so that having lunch with your preschool child in the company cafeteria becomes a valued daily ritual and symbol of the extent to which the organization values family. Others have awards ceremonies that convey the values of the organization, including awards for exemplary ethical conduct   It’s important to ask what values are celebrated at these rituals and ceremonies because they can easily support unethical behavior, such as making the numbers no matter how. For example, sales meetings occur in most organizations. So is success with integrity being touted and celebrated at these meetings, or are only those who make their numbers celebrated at these events? Look for whether the rituals are consistent with the company’s stated values, formal rules, and reward systems to help determine whether the culture is in alignment.

DEVELOPING AND CHANGING THE ETHICAL CULTURE

We can conclude from this cultural analysis that ethics at work is greatly influenced by the organization’s ethical culture. Both formal and informal systems and processes channel and reinforce certain kinds of behavior. Each of the systems on its own can support either ethical or unethical conduct. In addition, these multiple systems can work together or at cross purposes, thus leading to an organization that is aligned to support ethical  conduct or one that is misaligned and creating mixed messages. Imagine an organization with an ethics code that forbids employees from accepting gifts of any kind, but a senior executive is known to have accepted box seats at the ball game from a client. This ‘‘we say one thing, but do another’’ approach leads to widespread cynicism. The code loses all credibility as workers pay more attention to what’s done than to what’s said. On the other hand, when the organization disciplines that executive, this action visibly reinforces the code and supports the firm’s ethical stance with all workers.