THE EFFECT OF ETHICAL SIGNALS ON RECRUITMENT ...

Within the organization, culture serves as a social mechanism that can promote
ethical or unethical behavior. Social psychologists and anthropologists have contributed
to the ethics literature through the study of culture. Before delving into the specifics of
the relationship between ethics and culture and climate, it is important to first
acknowledge the vast literature on the similarities and differences between culture and
climate (see Denison, 1996; Ostroff, Kinicki, & Tamkins, 2003, for review). Culture, as
it is related to the organization, is defined as “a system of shared values (that define what
is important) and norms that define appropriate attitudes and behaviors for
organizational members (how to feel and behave)” (O’Reilly & Chatman, 1996, p. 160).
As proposed by Trevino (1986), a strong culture can direct behaviors, and organizational
members in stronger cultures will have a clearer picture of what is acceptable and
unacceptable behavior. Organizational culture, specifically the ethical component of
culture, is one source of cues and gives the employee a feeling for the norms and values
of the organization and influences their ethical or unethical behavior (Trevino, 1990).
Culture can be a form of social control, even more influential than formal controls within
an organization (O’Reilly & Chatman, 1996). Control in organizations is defined by
O’Reilly and Chatman (1996) as, “the knowledge that someone who matters to us is
paying close attention to what we are doing and will tell us if our behavior is appropriate
or inappropriate” (p. 161).
Ethical cultures can serve to relay the values of the organization to its members
(Jones & Ryan, 1997). In order to have ethical behavior in their organization, there is a
need for organizations to create a shared ethical environment. The creation (and
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