Perceptions of Ethics Programs and Corporate Ethical Values and a Positive Work Attitude: An Application of Pluralistic and Decoupling Frameworks

In support of positively aligned ethics infrastructures, employers utilize ethics programs to advance work environments that improve individual attitudes and behaviors. There is reason to believe that ethics infrastructures should be strengthened by multiple programs representing multiple ethics orientations, but this notion of plurality is underexplored in business ethics research. This study uniquely draws from the pluralistic theory of ethics program orientations, its principle of requisite variety, and the concept of decoupling to better understand ethics infrastructures in firms. Using a convenience sample of employees working for organizations primarily located in the Upper Midwest region of the United States, this study explored the collective impact of four ethics program orientations, reflected across perceived ethics practices utilized and ethics communication frequency, on employees' perceptions of corporate ethical values and their overall positive work attitudes. The results of the mediation analysis indicated that perceptions of ethics programs were associated with stronger perceived corporate ethical values and a more positive work attitude. This suggests firms focus on a variety of ethics program orientations when selecting ethical practices and communication efforts to enhance employees' ethical perceptions and attitudes, thus preventing the decoupling of the ethics infrastructure from employee outcomes.