How Can Organizational Integrity Be Measured?

Abstract

Trying to take up research into organizational integrity will raise several problems. First of all, it has to be accepted that nobody wants to talk about misconduct and corruption, which is, of course, understandable since it involves criminal behavior. The organizational staff would not be very happy to provide detailed information about their own behavior. It is, after all, socially desirable to act in conformity with the rules. This is why it is necessary to distinguish between “talk” and “action”. It is simply not possible to obtain information about “action” when the interviews are supposed to cover the theme of “talk”? By shifting the perspective, avoid criminalizing the employees and analyze organizational structures instead, the problem of social desirability can be circumvented. The issue in question is not which employees will be more or less compromised by acting unethically, but rather what risks are inherent in the organizational structure under review—detached from the individual. So where is the difference here? The difference is that by analyzing the organizational structures it is also possible to identify the risks resulting from the employees’ absolutely correct behavior. This means that they might violate valid law by acting precisely in line with the organizational structures.