Dialectical Interactions: Decoupling and Integrating Ethics in Ethics Initiatives

Evidence abounds that when ethics initiatives are decoupled from the actual work of organizations, ethics policies may become little more than “window dressing†(Weaver, Trevino, and Cochran 1999; Collen and Gonella 2002). We found, however, an unexpected, positive feature of decoupling in the study of a local government; namely, when organizational members engage in discussions that turn away from the letter of an ethics code they often do so to address higher ethical principles embedded in the spirit of the code. The decoupled understanding of the code in these cases becomes a symbolic, legitimating gesture grounded not in strict provisions but in creative and complex interactions. This counterintuitive explanation of decoupling capitalizes on discourse that evolves from a legalistic interpretation to rich discussions that value the multiplicity of voices within organizational life. What follows is that ethical decision making emerges as creative, dynamic, and responsive to its constituents.