The suspension of morality in organisations: Conceptualising organisational moral disengagement and testing its role in relation to unethical behaviours and silence

Abstract

While considerable attention has been devoted to understanding how individual characteristics influence unethical actions, far less research has examined the role of social and organisational processes. We introduce the concept of organisational moral disengagement (OrgMD), drawing on Bandura’s moral agency theory, to explain how unethicality may be fostered in organisations. OrgMD is a multilevel construct, capturing perceptions of the mechanisms through which morality can be suspended in an organisation allowing unethical practices to flourish. Using four empirical studies, we validated OrgMD at both individual and organisational levels. The first three studies were conducted at individual level (Study 1: two waves, 301 workers; Study 2: two waves, 297 workers; Study 3: 297 workers), while the fourth adopted a multilevel design (3050 workers nested in 113 organisations). OrgMD, although highly correlated with personal moral disengagement, emerges as a distinct construct that operates both at individual and organisational levels. We show that when members perceive their organisation to be morally disengaged, they are more likely to engage in unethical pro-organisational behaviour and silence. The concept of OrgMD advances understanding of the social processes through which unethical organisational activities can be normalised as acceptable in organisations.