ethics in business

Common Thread: The Impact of Mission on Ethical Business Culture. A Case Study

Jana L. Craft1

Received: 14 September 2015 / Accepted: 18 January 2016 / Published online: 30 January 2016

� Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2016

Abstract What is the impact of mission on ethical busi-

ness culture? This question was analyzed through a quali-

tative case study of a large nonprofit organization in the

human services industry with a solid history of ethical

business practices and consistent use of a values-based

decision-making model. This research explored ethical

decision making, ethical business culture, and congruence

between enacted and espoused institutional values. Insti-

tutional values were identified, and the following pair of

research questions was examined: To what extent were

incongruent values found between espoused and enacted

values? To what extent did incongruent values impact the

ethical business culture? Incongruent enacted values were

present in the culture, but negative impact was diminished

by a larger number of congruent enacted values. Additional

findings revealed that an intense commitment to the mis-

sion by all employees was the common thread that wound

throughout the organization’s ethical business culture and

essentially abrogated the undesirable effects of incongruent

and negative values.

Keywords Ethical business culture � Ethical decision making � Argyris and Schön � Nonprofit � Qualitative research � Case study

What is the impact of mission on ethical business culture?

In a qualitative case study of a large nonprofit organization

in the human services industry with a solid history of

ethical business practices, a common thread was found that

wove throughout the culture: mission. Belief in the mission

by employees at all levels and locations held together the

fabric of the culture in which there existed a shared com-

mitment to ethics and ethical decision making. While much

can be said for a shared dedication to mission, major gaps

existed between espoused and enacted values. Gaps

occurred between two key descriptors: (1) hierarchical

positions, and (2) geographic locations. Thus, the purpose

of this study is twofold. To what extent were incongruent

values found between espoused and enacted values? And,

to what extent did incongruent values impact the ethical

business culture? The organization studied was a large

nonprofit in the human services industry located in the

upper Midwest. In business for nearly 50 years, the orga-

nization consistently demonstrated ethical business prac-

tices and had in place a values-based decision-making

model (VBDMM) for over two decades. This study is

grounded in the examination of three key issues.

First, what were the institutional values of the organi-

zation? Values can be defined as generalized, enduring

beliefs about the personal and social desirability of modes

of conduct or ‘‘end-states’’ of existence (Rokeach 1979;

Schwartz 1992). Values are important when dissecting

decision-making behavior because they exist at all levels of

social analysis: cultural, societal, institutional, organiza-

tional, group, and individual (Kabanoff et al. 1995).

According to Argyris and Schön (1978), values can be both

espoused and enacted. Espoused values signify what

organizations communicate as important and are found in

organizational documents such as annual reports, mission

statements, and strategic plans. Espoused values that are

consistent with the organization’s culture strengthen the

organization’s reputation and external legitimacy. Enacted

values involve a theory-in-use that explains behavior which

& Jana L. Craft

[email protected]

1 Winona State University, 175 W. Mark Street, Winona,

MN 55987, USA

123

J Bus Ethics (2018) 149:127–145

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-016-3034-9

neither the institution nor the individuals may understand

(Argyris 1999; Argyris and Schön 1978; Kabanoff and

Daly 2002). Essentially, espoused values communicate

what we say and enacted values reveal what we do. In this

case, the enacted values of the organization were uncov-

ered during the data collection phase.

Second, to what extent did gaps exist between espoused

and enacted values? Congruence was identified when

espoused values corresponded with enacted values. Simply,

when what was said by participants matched the actual

values in use within the organization, regardless of hier-

archical level or geographic location. Incongruence

occurred when inconsistencies emerged between espoused

and enacted values. Specifically, value dissimilarity was

found to exist between hierarchical positions (i.e., man-

agers versus lower-level employees) and geographic loca-

tions (i.e., corporate employees versus satellite employees).

Third, to what extend did incongruent values impact the

ethical business culture? It stands to reason that incon-

gruent values would negatively impact an ethical business

culture. Using the characteristics of ethical business cul-

tures model developed by Ardichvili et al. (2008), the

researcher analyzed the impact of incongruent values on

the five characteristics of an ethical business culture: mis-

sion and vision driven; stakeholder balance; leadership

effectiveness; long-term perspective; and process integrity.

In conjunction with consistent communication of organi-

zation values and a deep commitment to serving their cli-

ents, a fiercely shared dedication to the mission of the

organization was the common thread that mended gaps that

existed between enacted versus espoused values.

The organization under study provided customized ser-

vices for people with disabilities and was chosen because

of its long history using values-based decision making and

consistent ethical business practices. Adopted in 1992, the

values that governed this organization had not changed in

over 20 years. The organization successfully infused ethi-

cal decision making within its culture by creating a tool by

which all decisions were measured; training staff at all

levels on a regular basis; and requiring decisions to be

justified using the four components within the device. At

each of their locations, the model was incorporated into

public spaces, prominent reminders of the importance of

values-based decision making at the firm. As a condition of

research access, confidentiality of the organization and any

identifying factors were masked. The organization will be

referred to as ‘‘Ability, Inc.,’’ a pseudonym.

The researcher examined the supporting literature on the

theoretical frameworks of espoused versus enacted values

(Argyris and Schön 1978), ethical decision-making theory,

and characteristics of ethical business cultures (Ardichvili

et al. 2008). Findings of the case study related to each area

of scholarship are discussed and the main question is

addressed: What is the impact of mission on an ethical

business culture?

Supporting Literature

Institutional Values

An important aspect of this study is the role of organiza-

tional values in everyday decision making. Values can be

defined as generalized, enduring beliefs about the personal

and social desirability of modes of conduct or ‘‘end-states’’

of existence (Rokeach 1979; Schwartz 1992). Values are

important when dissecting decision-making behavior

because they exist at all levels of social analysis: cultural,

societal, institutional, organizational, group, and individual

(Kabanoff et al. 1995).

The value structure of Ability, Inc. included four distinct

elements: ethics, respect, responsiveness, and resourceful-

ness. Decisions should show personal honesty, demonstrate

the mission, and follow the code of ethics (ethical); treat

people with dignity, see people as worthy of having the

best, promote win/win situations (respectful); provide

information and opportunities to make choices, demon-

strate respect for people’s ideas and choices, identify

expectations, and deliver on commitments (responsive);

use resources to support, not replace other resources, and

use resources wisely (resourceful) as shown in Fig. 1. In

addition to the four components of ethical decision making

in the VBDMM, Ability, Inc.’s five core values were

sharing ordinary places, growing in relationships, making

choices, contributing, and being respected. The combina-

tion of these documents represent the espoused values of

the organization.

Espoused Versus Enacted Values

An important aspect of this study was the role organiza-

tional values played in everyday decision making. Argyris

and Schön (1978) separated values into two categories:

espoused and enacted. Espoused values signify what

organizations communicate as important and are found in

organizational documents such as annual reports, mission

statements, and strategic plans. These values denote how

an organization defines itself. Espoused values that are

congruent with an organization’s culture strengthen the

organization’s reputation and external legitimacy. Viola-

tion of espoused values may result in loss of credibility and

relationship disengagement by those who interact with the

organization (Kabanoff and Daly 2002; Siehl and Martin

1990; Sutton and Callahan 1987). Enacted values involve a

theory-in-use that explains behavior which neither the

institution nor the individuals may understand (Argyris

128 J. L. Craft

123

1999; Argyris and Schön 1978; Kabanoff and Daly 2002).

They are congruent with the organization’s culture, and it

is how the organization’s members define it. In essence,

enacted values answer the question, what’s it really like to

work here? and give insight into organizational culture.

Key Terms Defined

Several definitions of key terms should be provided before

a review of the ethical business culture research is under-

taken. The definition of ethics that pertains to this study is

‘‘the study of and philosophy of human conduct, with an

emphasis on determining right and wrong’’ (Ferrell et al.

2013, p. 7). Behavior that is ethical is often deemed correct

by the society in which the behavior exists. In contrast,

moral behavior can be considered more of an individual

choice between right and wrong. While a technical dis-

tinction exists, the two terms are often used interchange-

ably within the literature review among various authors. In

the analysis and findings within this study, the term ethics

will be used because the study involves organizational and

ethical business culture and ethical decision making, not

necessarily individual, moral behavior. For the purposes of

this article, business ethics ‘‘comprises the principles,

values, and standards that guide behavior in the world of

business’’ and values are ‘‘used to develop norms that are

socially enforced’’ (Ferrell et al. 2013, p. 7) such as

integrity, accountability, and trust.

Ethical Business Culture

Components of ethical business cultures can be categorized

into two distinct types: formal and informal. Formal rep-

resentations of ethical business cultures include mission

statements, codes of conduct, indoctrination and orienta-

tion rituals, decision-making processes, rules, and regula-

tions, and so forth. Informal symbols of ethical business

cultures include less obvious components of culture such as

Fig. 1 Ability, Inc.’s Values-

based decision-making model

Common Thread: The Impact of Mission on Ethical Business Culture, A Case Study 129

123

norms, values, and behavior. Organizational values are

‘‘basic determinants of human behavior and social atti-

tudes’’ that express what is acceptable to individuals and

society (Dion 1996, p. 333). Sims and Brinkmann (2003)

argued that ethical business culture matters more than

codes of ethics; they use the catchphrase, ‘‘Enron Ethics,’’

which asserts that ‘‘business ethics is a question of orga-

nizational ‘deep’ culture rather than of cultural artifacts

like ethics codes, ethics officers and the like’’ (p. 243).

Sims and Brinkmann use Schein’s (1985) five mechanisms

for influence regarding an organization’s culture to illus-

trate the impact of leadership on ethical business cultures.

The five mechanisms are: attention, reaction to crisis, role

modeling, allocation of reward, and criteria for selection

and dismissal. Sims and Brinkmann illustrated these

mechanisms through use of the Enron case, highlighting

that the organization used the mechanisms ‘‘to reinforce a

culture that was morally flexible, opening the door to ethics

degeneration, lying, cheating and stealing’’ (p. 247). Small

(2006) investigated ethical culture at four distinct Aus-

tralian organizations in order to better understand how

ethical culture can be developed, encouraged, and main-

tained. Small’s study substantiated Gilmartin’s (2003)

conditions in developing an ethical business culture:

(1) The top leaders must set the right tone;

(2) the organization must offer formal training in ethics

and standards of conduct;

(3) and the organization must provide formal mecha-

nisms, both internally and externally to the organi-

zational structure, for reporting wrongdoing.

Small’s study concluded that ‘‘organizational theory and

ethical theory are complimentary and that the combination

of the two areas can facilitate understanding in developing

an ethical corporate culture’’ (p. 599).

Ardichvili et al. (2008) conducted a grounded theory

study that elicited five clusters and statements about the

characteristics of ethical business cultures (Fig. 2): they are

mission and vision driven; seek stakeholder balance; strive

for leadership effectiveness and process integrity, and

adopt a long-term perspective.

Based on their findings, the significant characteristic of

ethical business cultures is described as the ‘‘lifeblood of

the organization’’ (p. 449), the mission and vision. For an

organization to survive, and ultimately thrive, it needs to

connect its mission and vision to its long-term strategic

goals and objectives. The alignment of mission and vision

is vital in developing organizational norms that result in

codes of conduct and ethics, which is why mission and

vision are in the center of the model. The second charac-

teristic found by Ardichvili et al. (2008) was stakeholder

balance. This characteristic was in contrast with

Friedman’s (1970) popular theory that making a profit for

stockholders is the sole goal of the organization. Rather,

respondents believed in balancing customer value and

profit, keeping in mind competing needs of stakeholders

(i.e., customers, employees, owners, and community) and

respecting and fairly compensating employees. Echoing

Small (2006), Gilmartin (2003) and Ardichvili et al. (2008)

also found the ethical ‘‘tone at the top’’ or the example set

by leadership, to be the third characteristic of ethical

business cultures. Respondents indicated the decisions and

actions of senior management to be an important trait as

well as consistency between words and actions. Congru-

ence between words and actions results in increased, long-

term effectiveness. The fourth characteristic of an ethical

business culture was process integrity, indicated by the

statements describing a dedication to quality and fairness,

investments in ongoing ethics training, outstanding cor-

porate governance processes, and transparent decision

making. Lastly, ethical organizational cultures must also

elicit long-term perspective by ‘‘placing mission above

profit and long-term over short-term; acting in the best

interests of customers, over the longer term; connecting

environmental sustainability with corporate social respon-

sibility and profit’’ (Ardichvili et al. 2008, p. 448); and the

CEO taking a long-term approach to building the

organization.

Ethical Decision Making

Numerous studies supported a connection between ethical

business culture and ethical decision making. In a review

of the ethical decision-making literature from 1996 to

2003, O’Fallon and Butterfield (2005) reported sixteen

findings on ethical climate or ethical culture that influenced

Fig. 2 Five clusters of characteristics of ethical business cultures

(Ardichvili et al. 2008)

130 J. L. Craft

123

the ethical decision-making process. Of the sixteen, twelve

findings reported that at least one dimension of ethical

climate or culture positively influenced ethical decision

making (see Singhapakdi et al. 2001; Trevino et al. 1998;

VanSandt and Neck 2003; Weber and Seger 2002). Loe

et al. (2000) earlier review of ethical decision-making lit-

erature revealed support for the connection between ethical

culture or climate and ethical decision making, albeit with

fewer studies published (see Ferrell and Skinner 1988;

Jones and Hiltebeitel 1995; Verbeke et al. 1996). More

recently, Craft (2013) reported ten findings related to eth-

ical culture in the areas of awareness, judgment, and intent.

Studies showed ethical decision making was significantly

impacted by workplace ethics, standards, and practices

(Elango et al. 2010); age and perceived ethical climate

types (Forte 2004); management’s efforts to encourage

ethical decision making and the tone at the top (Sweeney

et al. 2010); and ethical norms and incentives (Shafer and

Simmons 2011). Zhang et al. (2009) found a positive

correlation between employee perception of an ethical

culture and their whistleblowing judgment.

Several important theories buttress the ethical decision-

making literature. The two most prevalent models are

Rest’s (1986) four-component model for individual ethical

decision making and Jones’ (1991) Issue-Contingent

Model. Rest’s (1986) model reduces ethical decision

making to four key components: awareness, judgment,

intent, and behavior. Building on Rest, Jones (1991) coined

the term moral intensity, which is comprised of six

elements:

(1) magnitude of consequences: the sum of the harm/

benefits of the moral act to those involved

(2) social consensus: the degree of social agreement that

a proposed act is good or bad

(3) probability of effect: the probably the act will

actually take place and will harm/benefit those

involved

(4) temporal immediacy: length of time between the

present and the act

(5) proximity: the feeling of immediacy to those

involved

(6) concentration of effect: strength of consequences for

those involved

As of the writing of this article, over 2800 articles cited

Jones (1991), including numerous articles that tested at

least one example of the model (e.g., Carlson et al. 2002;

Davis et al. 1998; Harrington 1997; May and Pauli 2002;

Paolillo and Vitell 2002; Singhapakdi et al. 1996) or

revising the model itself (e.g., Kelley and Elm 2003;

McMahon and Harvey 2007). Recent research in ethical

decision making using Jones (1991) included a study by

Hopkins et al. (2008) that concluded female managers were

more inconsistent than male managers in their ethical

decision making and in their responses to items on the

discrimination scale. They related this to the proximity

component of Jones’ model and suggested that decisions

made by females with regard to ethics and discrimination

may affect them personally and have a more immediate

impact on an individual’s personal life, thus being in close

proximity. Hayibor and Wasieleski (2009) found the

availability of consequences associated with an act was

positively related to Jones’ perceptions of the magnitude of

consequences of the act. Karacaer et al. (2009) found the

perceptions of moral intensity influenced both ethical

judgments and behavioral intentions (Jones 1991; Rest

1986) in their study of Pakistani and Turkish auditors.

McMahon and Harvey (2007) found mixed results for the

effect of perceived moral intensity on ethical decision

making. Further, both probable magnitude of consequences

and social consensus had a significant effect on ethical

decisions, whereas proximity did not. Finally, ethical

judgment was found to be a stronger predictor than per-

ceived moral intensity in one of their studies. Leitsch

(2006) found that two dimensions of moral intensity, per-

ceived corporate concern and perceived involvement

effect, when combined, significantly predicted accounting

students’ moral intentions.

This is by no means a complete discussion of the

instruments and theories involved in ethical decision-

making research. Rather, it should serve as context for the

larger framework of ethical decision-making research.

Mission-Driven

Ability, Inc., a large, not-for-profit organization in the

human services industry, had a well-documented history of

being mission driven. Founded over 40 years ago by

families of children with special needs, at the time of the

study Ability, Inc. operated eight program locations in a

large Midwestern metropolitan area. In 2012, Ability, Inc.

earned over $54 million in revenue and projected 4.5

percent annual revenue growth in subsequent years. With

nearly 500 volunteers and over 4300 clients and staff,

Ability, Inc. was a major player in the human services

industry.

A nonprofit organization is driven by its mission and

uses profit to improve services rather than pay dividends to

investors as in for-profit businesses. The reason an orga-

nization seeks nonprofit status is not only to encourage

donations through tax incentives, but ultimately to benefit

the general public. Each nonprofit organization states its

purpose and how it will benefit the public through the

declaration of a mission statement. Brinckerhoff (2009)

discussed the role of mission in nonprofits as ‘‘what the

organization does [emphasis original]’’ (p. 39). This

Common Thread: The Impact of Mission on Ethical Business Culture, A Case Study 131

123

statement can be amended with the words ‘‘and strives to

be’’ because organizations are more than just what they do

but also what they are striving to become.

In 1992, Ability, Inc. created a VBDMM (Fig. 1) that

put its mission into context in order to make decisions

based on the mission and values. Often revisited by the

board of directors and executive leadership, the values

were the driving force behind the organization’s mission.

What motivated the researcher to seek out an opportunity

to work with this organization was her prior experience

with Ability, Inc. clients, client supervisors, and volunteers

at various employers. Further, while on a tour of the

company headquarters in early 2002, the VBDMM was on

display throughout the building. This sparked an interest in

the researcher in the way the organization communicated

its values and provided a tool for making values-based

decisions. When interviewed about this phenomenon, an

Ability, Inc. employee stated she and her colleagues used

the tool to make and justify decisions. Simply, if the

decision maker could justify the decision as ethical,

respectful, responsible, and resourceful, it was often made.

The researcher found the idea of creating an ethical deci-

sion-making tool to, in essence, build a culture of ethical

decision makers, a unique and noteworthy idea to be

explored.

Research in ethical business cultures indicated that

organizational values should be consistently communicated

and acted upon by all members of an organization. Given

the long history of ethical decision making and consistent

use of values-based decision making within Ability, Inc.,

did gaps exist between enacted and espoused values? If this

was a strong ethical business culture, were values consis-

tent through the entire organization? If no, how were

satellite locations experiencing an ethical business culture?

Thus, two research questions were explored:

RQ 1: To what extent were gaps found between

espoused and enacted values?

RQ 2: To what extent did incongruent values impact the

ethical business culture?

Methodology

A single-case descriptive qualitative study (Merriam 1998;

Smith 1978; Yin 2009) of the ethical business culture of a

large nonprofit organization was conducted. Three sources

of evidence were used to collect data on values-based

decision making within the organization: documentation

(Fraenkel et al. 2012; Hodder 1994; Jones 1996; Miller

1997), focus groups (Krueger and Casey 2009) and existing

survey data. These sources were chosen because they

represented multiple layers of information gathering that

overlapped to provide a variety of data for generating

appropriate findings. Patton (2002) stated that the combi-

nation of document analysis and interviewing (in a group

or individually) was valuable. He further suggested four

types of triangulation be utilized in data evaluation. Yin

(2009) described triangulation as the convergence of evi-

dence within a single study as the types of data evaluation

adding to a set of facts that are derived from the data. This

study replicated the convergence of evidence through the

triangulation of data as information will be collected from

multiple sources (documents, focus groups, and existing

survey data) that corroborate the same fact or phenomenon.

Data analysis was conducted in accordance with Miles

and Huberman’s (1994) suggestions for data reduction:

creating a data display matrix, drawing conclusions, and

verifying data. Themes obtained from the analysis were put

into a matrix to allow for theoretical clarity in emergent

findings. Data were archived, coded, and analyzed using

Dedoose, an online qualitative software program, and

reflexively verified with participants to safeguard meaning

congruence. A total of thirty-four documents were

reviewed. Public documents reviewed consisted of annual

reports, balanced scorecards, newsletters, marketing

materials, and surveys published by the organization on

their website. Non-public documents reviewed, with per-

mission, included training materials, new employee infor-

mation, and other internally circulated written

communiqué.

A total of seven focus groups were held during a four-

month period: four at the corporate location and three at

remote satellite centers. These satellite centers were chosen

because they provided a good mix of size, program offer-

ings, and people. A total of thirty-eight employees partic-

ipated in seven focus group sessions representing all levels

of the organization. All focus groups were audio recorded

and transcribed by the researcher. Responses from a 2011

Employee Satisfaction Survey, conducted by a professional

research firm in which 173 responses were received, were

used. The response rate for this survey was 84 percent. All

locations and hierarchical levels were represented in the

survey results. Informed consent forms were signed and

retained by the researcher, and the whole work was

approved by a university Human Subjects Committee.

In exchange for their support, the organization was

given a report that focused on several key areas of the

study. First, the report addressed the consistency between

the stated and actual values of the organization and applied

the identified values to the four components of the

VBDMM using Argyris and Schön’s (1978) theory of

espoused versus actual values. Second, the report encap-

sulated how the VBDMM was used by its employees when

making ethical decisions and how the values translated

within the organization culture. Finally, based on research

132 J. L. Craft

123

findings, numerous practices were recommended to address

the gap that existed between espoused and enacted values

and strengthen the ethical business culture.

Findings

RQ 1: To what extent were gaps found

between espoused and enacted values?

More congruent values were found than incongruent values.

In essence, the majority of what was said (espoused) was

practiced within the organization (enacted) and subscribed

to by both hierarchical levels and differing locations. Con-

gruent values, both negative and positive, were found.

Positive congruent values contributed to the strong sense of

commitment and dedication to the organization expressed

throughout the study, which positively impacted the ethical

business culture. Negative congruent values threatened to

undermine the existing ethical business culture.

Congruent Values

Seventeen consistent themes emerged that indicated con-

sistency between espoused and enacted values, meaning no

gap was present. In contrast to inconsistent themes, both

corporate and satellite employees reliably voiced issues as

positive and negative. No demarcation existed between

hierarchical levels, or proximity to corporate office. Sim-

ply, all employees in the research pool agreed on these

values and, as such, these findings were the most important

to the executive leadership. Because of the large number

(17), similar themes are grouped together in the following

analysis. Twelve themes were positive, four totally nega-

tive, and one a combination of both (see Tables 1, 2).

Negative Congruent Values

Corporate and satellite employees agreed that there was a

large disconnection between satellite centers and head-

quarters. Timely communication about changes and

employee input was lacking. This lead to a centralized

management structure which conflicted with the

autonomous culture that had been cultivated at many off-

site locations, as reflected in these quotes from a rural

location:

Corporate wants us to be just like them, but we are a

small community. We can’t be just like them. We

don’t want to be.

Instead of trying to turn us into corporate, maybe

corporate should come and see what we are doing.

Corporate employees recognized this ‘‘sanitization’’ of

corporate culture and called it centralization. While

satellite locations saw it as negative, corporate saw it as

positive—a rebranding effort. This theme was the only

value that was both consistent but positive and negative

depending on the source. The fast-paced environment

created by the need to cut costs while delivering high

quality and innovative programs led employees to wax

poetically about the ‘‘good ‘ol days’’ when Ability, Inc.

had a smaller, more familial environment. When asked to

describe the culture back then, one long-term employee

said, ‘‘it was like ma pa.’’ Meaning, it was like a family

where everyone knew everyone else, and all employees

were important. Long-term employees felt they had more

say in decisions when the organization was smaller.

Positive Congruent Values

Conversely, there were many more positive, consistent

themes than negative and inconsistent. Positive change—

change that was necessary to respond to evolution in the

industry and recoup diminishing state funding—was agreed

upon and welcomed, at least in theory. As an example, it is

needed, but when put into practice, the change became

(a) negative when applied to program cuts, and (b) misun-

derstood by those not in power. However, the idea of

positive change was lauded and led to employees at all

levels and locations feeling hopeful about the future. When

in an optimistic frame of mind, employees spoke of their

work environment as fun and being team-centered. When

working together, teams were able to provide innovative

programming on a small budget—something of which they

were very proud. Employees spoke of enjoying a level of

independence within their job and benefitted from an

Table 1 Negative congruent

values applied to the four

components of the VBDMM

Values[ themes Ethics Respect Responsiveness Resourcefulness

Disconnection There is a clear disconnect between satellite and corporate employees

Communication Lack of timely communication about changes

Centralization Corporate makes decisions about satellite operations

Fast-paced Employees are burnt out, efficiency is hurting effectiveness

Nostalgia Employees used to be more involved, seen and heard

Common Thread: The Impact of Mission on Ethical Business Culture, A Case Study 133

123

environment generally free from micromanaging

supervisors.

The next set of consistent, positive themes elicited a

strong emotional response from employees at all levels and

locations. The emergence of these positive themes were the

first indication of the common thread that ran throughout

the organization. Employees stated that Ability, Inc. pro-

vided high-quality programs, in spite of cost cuts and staff

reductions. While trust had been negatively impacted

between lower level employees and executive leadership,

one thing remained clear, as evidenced by this quote, ‘‘I

trust that the leaders of this company have the best of

intentions.’’ The difference between trusting someone and

trusting their intentions should be clarified. While it’s

possible to not trust individuals or their poorly communi-

cated strategic changes, taken together as a whole, the

intentions of the leadership team were seen as honorable,

their jobs difficult, and that they were trying their best.

Leaders were often described as good people with hard

jobs. In the words of one employee, ‘‘I wouldn’t pay a

million bucks to be in their shoes, neither.’’

Even though budgets were tight and patience was

wearing thin under a heavy workload, employees at all

levels and locations consistently mentioned how dedicated

they were to their jobs. They believed in the mission of

Ability, Inc.; were committed to their clients and the cli-

ents’ families; stayed late to finish tasks often clocked out;

and stated they were not there for the money. Because they

were dedicated, the job was also rewarding. Love for their

vulnerable adult client population was palpable at all levels

and locations, even from employees who did not work

directly with clients (i.e., accounting, marketing, and call

center). Consider these quotes:

[The best part of my job is] working with clients,

being a meaningful part of their life and helping them

make decisions.

I love my job. I don’t love the paperwork, but I love

the clients I work with. You can’t work in this busi-

ness for the money.

I look at our staff of dedicated people and I hear

upper management talking. Well, are they doing this?

Are they doing that? I want to say, hey man, they’re

doing that plus more and back off! They are working

hard! I have this to say about a lot of our staff. My

gosh, the work they put in, the dedication and the

integrity that they have… they really care about what

they’re doing for these people.

One such encounter that elicited heavy emotion was

between the researcher and staffing manager. Consider this

vignette from one of the last focus groups.

Organizational changes and pressure were beginning to

take their toll on everyone. The staffing manager looked

tired as she sighed and sat down in the conference chair an

hour before the start of the focus group interview. ‘‘How’s

it going?’’ she said. ‘‘How’s it going with you?’’ I replied.

‘‘Ok’’ she said, with fatigue in her voice. At this point I felt

everyone at the executive and managerial levels were

Table 2 Congruent positive values applied to the four components of the VBDMM

Values[ themes Ethics Respect Responsiveness Resourcefulness

Change Change is necessary to demonstrate mission, promote win/win for clients, respond to industry and government funding and

doing more with less

Hope We are hopeful that changes will sustain the company in the long-run

Fun/team I have respect for my co-workers; our team

is fun

Innovative We have creative, flexible and customized client

programs

Independent I like the freedom I have in my job to serve my clients or perform job duties

Quality I want the best for my clients. We do the best we can with what we have

Intentions I trust the people making decisions have the best of intentions. The leaders are doing their best; they are good people

Dedication I believe in our mission. I’m committed to my clients and their families. We get the job done even if we have to stay late.

We’re not here for the money

Rewarding The best part of my day is working with clients. Love for clients is evident at all levels and locations. I’m proud of what I do.

My job is rewarding

Personal Values Personal and organizational values are the same. Dignity and respect are part of ethics and part of my personal values. I do

my best because it’s what I believe. I try to save money for the company because I save money myself

Ethical Company Ethics is clearly identified in our culture. Our ethical culture includes respect for people, fulfilling expectations, being

responsive to needs and use resources wisely

134 J. L. Craft

123

somewhat nervous about what I may have been hearing

from their employees over this four-month change period. I

said, ‘‘Would you like a preview of what I’ve found?’’ Yes;

she was curious but hesitant. At this point I was certain

about two themes:

(1) Ability, Inc. clients are cherished.

(2) I had never seen a more dedicated group of

individuals in any organization.

At this point, she started to cry and said, ‘‘It’s so good to

hear you say that,’’ while she dug tissues out of her purse. I

knew I was on to a big theme. I think people just wanted to

hear that what they felt was what everyone else felt:

• I don’t want these changes to impact clients any more

than they have to.

• Please let me maintain the relationships I have built

with my clients and their families.

• I don’t want to be forced to look for another job.

• I want this company to stay in business for the future.

The reason for the dedication to the job, in spite of all

the negative themes found, boiled down to the last two

themes. The vast majority of participants, when asked if

their personal values meshed with organizational values,

agreed unequivocally and without hesitation. Regardless of

their skepticism about changes for the future, not feeling

supported or valued, having a heavy workload, and feeling

disconnected from corporate, one thing remained constant:

person-organization value alignment. Statements such as,

‘‘I already live this way’’ and ‘‘I save money at home, so of

course I try to save money at work’’ were heard during

each focus group.

The follow up question was then asked regarding if

Ability, Inc. was an ethical company and if it had an ethical

business culture. After those terms were defined by the

researcher, every participant agreed that it was ethical and,

in turn, had an ethical business culture. Reasons cited were

many. Ethics was clearly identified in the culture. Ethical

cultures include respect for people. Ethical cultures include

fulfilling expectations and being responsive to people’s

needs. Ethical cultures aim to use resources wisely. These

statements directly influenced the components of the

VBDMM. Many said that this kind of organization could

not be successful unless ethics was paramount in the cul-

ture at every level. Hiring people with personal values in

place that matched organizational values was a key aspect

of the hiring process. Ethics was infused through the

training, use, and communication of the VBDMM and

reinforced regularly by supervisors and managers. Walls

were painted with murals depicting organizational values,

and the VBDMM was reproduced in miniature, hung in

every bathroom and cubicle.

Incongruent Values

This study found several differences between espoused and

enacted values. When an organization is operating with sig-

nificant gaps within critical functions, operations are not as

efficient, and turnover is frequent. Thus, it is in a company’s

best interest to minimize inconsistencies and maximize

communication. Major gaps between espoused and enacted

values existed in five main themes: person-centeredness,

proximity impact, sustainability and growth, trust in strategic

changes, and employees feeling supported and valued. All

incongruent values were expressed as negative by satellite

employees or lower-level workers and positive by corporate

employees or satellite management. In essence, the values

weren’t themselves negative, just the applied perspective.

The framework for espoused values was based on the

organizations’ long-standing (VBDMM) which described

four criteria that should be used in making ethical organi-

zational decisions: ethics, respect, responsiveness, and

resourcefulness. Document analysis revealed a strong

emphasis on being responsive to clients, employers, and

families, and resourceful with funds, growth, and sustain-

ability for the future. As expected, internal training docu-

ments such as the employee resource manual and decision-

making training manual explicitly instructed employees on

the use of the VBDMM. Strategic planning documents and

annual reports, as expected, concentrated on long term

goals in fundraising, sustainability and growth.

In addition to document analysis, espoused values were

evident in the language used by executives. An email to the

organization from the CEO during the four-month focus

group research period addressed major changes that were

about to occur. With the help of a consulting team and in

response to the fluctuating government funding and chan-

ges in the human services industry, nonprofits were being

asked to do more with less; in other words, to be more

efficient. Espoused values present in the remainder of the

email included: provide excellent service with reduced

costs; process improvement; being responsive to client and

family needs; employee roles; sustainability; and the

company’s stated values.

Our biggest advantage is you, our employees. You

know us well and you are analyzing how we can do

our work better. We all want our changes to be in line

with our Values-Based Decision Making process

ensuring that all changes are ethical, respectful,

responsive, and a match to our resources. Our

challenge for the future is to continue to provide

excellent quality care with lower costs. –CEO

Of the thirty-four documents reviewed, nearly half were

marketing materials or public communication to staff, such

Common Thread: The Impact of Mission on Ethical Business Culture, A Case Study 135

123

as this email from the CEO. With the exception of one

story about a new sales director, this email contained one

of the few direct mentions of employees and their value to

the organization. This sentiment, ‘‘our biggest advantage is

you, our employees,’’ was not represented in other public

documents available on the website. Espoused values

demonstrated by corporate leadership focused on being

resourceful and responsive to employers, clients, and

families. The following two values, ethical and respectful,

were somewhat represented. However, there was a large

gap in the responsive and respectful categories with regard

to employees and their value in the organization.

Person-Centeredness

A common sentiment was repeated: ‘‘We are person-cen-

tered.’’ Meaning, the organization is focused on serving the

needs of their vulnerable adult clientele, and as one

employee stated, ‘‘Looking at each person as an individual

and what’s most important to them.’’ While laudable, the

definition of being person-centered was enacted within the

culture as ‘‘client-centered.’’ This was a perfect example of

a gap between espoused (what we say) and enacted (what

we do). Descriptive language about this theme, pervasive at

the upper levels of corporate staff, was jargon-laden and

industry specific. As a result, the corporate employees were

asked to clarify the meaning of person-centeredness in their

culture. Corporate employees included verbiage such as

ethical culture, quality, staff, and doing the best for people

as person-centeredness. One corporate employee took it a

step further and said Ability, Inc. was ‘‘human-service

focused’’ and then simplified to ‘‘human-focused.’’

Unfortunately, employees were being left out of the

‘‘human-focused’’ equation at Ability, Inc.. Employee

recognition programs were nonexistent in both theory and

practice. Document analysis scarcely revealed a hint of

employee recognition, and the organization failed to rec-

ognize even one employee at its annual fundraising fête.

I do think we would say we’re also employee cen-

tered. If you take care of Ability, Inc., Ability, Inc.

will take care of you. So, I do believe people feel that

as part of our culture. –Corporate Employee

I think the focus is primarily client focused, but we as

staff provide the services [and are] also very impor-

tant. –Satellite Employee

As evidenced by these quotes, espoused values of per-

son-centeredness at the corporate level were not enacted at

the satellite. As such, a gap existed between hierarchical

levels and was heightened by geographic distance.

Proximity Impact

It was quickly apparent after early focus groups and con-

firmed at every subsequent one that there would be a gap in

issues related to proximity: between employees based at

the corporate office and employees based at satellite offi-

ces. The 2011 employee survey found significant variation

in responses across job types and locations in many areas.

Specifically, gaps were present in employees’ ability to use

the VBDMM and recognize the importance of the tool after

orientation. Simply, the further away an employee was

from corporate headquarters, the more out of touch they

were with espoused values. Thus, enacted values differed

from espoused which led to incongruity.

During a satellite focus group, the researcher asked how

often executive staff members visited satellite offices. A

member of the corporate office said, ‘‘October is Disability

Awareness Month. The executive staff goes out every

October and does what they call a Road Show.’’ The eight-

person executive team traveled to all seven satellite loca-

tions and met with the staff after hours. When asked how

the road show fit into the company culture, satellite

employees responded:

When the executives come down during October, they

kind of look around and we feel we’re being snubbed

a little bit.

[Referring to the executive road show] Well, they take

a tour and it’s like, make sure everything looks nice

because the executive team is coming!

All of a sudden, when they come down, we have 20

million little things that work for us that we have to

change.

The executive team’s road show contributed to the gap

by creating more work and providing little value. The visits

widened the gap between corporate and satellite members

because they were rare and special instead of often and

typical. Further, the road show visits occurred after clients

had departed for the day. Satellite employees viewed this

as executives not wanting to see ‘‘what really goes on’’

with clients. Executives viewed this timing as respecting

employees, being able to spend time with center-based staff

without distraction, and not wanting to upset the daily

routine of clients. Satellite employees often mentioned that

a good lesson for executives would be for them to do our

job for one day or I’d like to see them spend a day in my

shoes. There was a misperception that executives had not

been working in this industry before Ability, Inc., when

only two of eight executives had come from a non-human

service background. All of the program managers had

136 J. L. Craft

123

worked their way up from lower level positions in the

company as well. The CEO was a 36-year veteran of the

organization, the vice president of human resources, over

20 years. Misperception on both sides was rampant and

contributed to a large gap in respect and resourcefulness of

employees. A satellite employee, fed up with miscommu-

nication and constant budget cuts, bluntly declared, ‘‘We

bring in the money. We should decide where it goes.’’

Sustainability and Growth

A demarcation was clear on the subject of sustainability

and growth between corporate and satellite employees.

Corporate employees were overwhelmingly positive about

growth through change and sustaining Ability, Inc. for the

future. They saw the need for short term pain to obtain long

term gains or big wins. However, there was trepidation on

the part of corporate employees; they were unsure of the

direction of the organization, and how it would affect them

in the long run, but they were aware of the necessity and

importance of change to sustain and grow for the future. An

understanding of the big picture was easily seen by cor-

porate employees.

Conversely, satellite employees saw how the changes

promoting growth and sustainability were directly

impacting their clients in the areas of decreasing quality

programming; increasing employee-to-client ratios;

increasing the number of programs but not increasing staff;

organization of services; and communication with clients

and families. The most striking quote came from a satellite

employee in reference to the effects of growth at Ability,

Inc.. Simply, ‘‘We seem to have lost our heart.’’ Intrigued, I

asked the participant to explain the heart of Ability, Inc.

and how and when it was lost. The participant could not

say, only that it had diminished. No one else in that focus

group offered an opinion, so I introduced it in all of the

other focus group interviews. The conversation progressed

in one group in this way:

Employee: Moving into a new facility, a nicer facil-

ity… it was great. We were really excited. Then it

was like just more clients coming in, more and more

coming in. Bigger caseloads [are now the norm].

When I started as a facilitator I had eight people and

now I have 16 or 17.

Researcher: So, doing more with less? Aren’t all

businesses struggling with this?

Employee: I think that’s the state that every single

company is in, that we are being stretched to the max

and being asked to do as much as we can with the

same resources without any additional [support]. It is

basically like we are bringing in these new people

and it’s started to feel like they weren’t people they

were just revenue and we are just packing them in.

Researcher: You mean, like walking revenue?

Employee: Yeah, I think that was the biggest thing

that I struggled with. I understand we need to make

money. I understand we need to be sustainable. But,

at what point is that devaluing the services we pro-

vide to the people?

Researcher: So, which is most important: staying in

business or serving people? There’s no mission

without money.

Employee: We no longer work with people, we work

with revenue and that’s how people are being seen. I

don’t think it’s intentional. I think we get in between

a rock and a hard place. We need to survive as a

company, but we also need to serve people. Which

one’s got to give a little bit?

The gap between corporate and satellite employees was

evident in this area. Perhaps the recent changes had

changed employees’ views on the future direction of the

organization. In 2011, 74 percent of employees reported

they were confident in the future direction of Ability, Inc..

Corporate employees saw the changes and the need for

sustainability and growth as a utilitarian venture; Ability,

Inc. needed to survive for the next generation in order to do

the greatest good for the greatest number of people.

Satellite employees made individual sacrifices that affected

day-to-day lives of clients and families. Essentially they

were operating from a deontological perspective; it was

their duty to serve clients to the best of their ability. This

gap in philosophical perspectives will be explored in a

forthcoming publication.

Trust in Strategic Changes

Corporate employees tended to trust leadership and the

strategic changes they were initiating, perhaps because they

were closer to the action. Satellite employees mentioned

their distrust and fear of the changes but did not doubt that

intentions of those in leadership were good. This was an

important distinction. Can mistrust and good intentions co-

exist without negatively impacting the corporate culture?

Would better and more frequent communication of changes

remedy this mistrust? Satellite employees also raised the

issue that they did not know who to trust to share their

concerns.

It seems as though satellite employees wanted to believe

everything would be all right, but could not see it at this

point. The respect that had built up over time by leadership

essentially caused employees to fear, but continue to hold

on. This was especially evident in multiple quotes from

Common Thread: The Impact of Mission on Ethical Business Culture, A Case Study 137

123

corporate employees who cited their trust in the CEO. This

trust in the CEO was not evident from satellite employees,

perhaps because they were physically removed from her

daily presence, unlike at the corporate office:

After talking with [the CEO] I always feel like it is an

ethical place. I get that feeling from her.

You run into the president of the company in the

bathroom and she asks how your kids are and tells

some funny joke, and then it’s ok.

I asked employees, with the exception of the executive

staff, if they thought the change would turn out all right.

One employee summed up her feelings as skeptical, but not

cynical. People were nervous, but there was an underlying

trust in the leadership. It was a skeptical trust, nonetheless.

People wanted to believe the impending changes would

improve the company. It seems as though they forced

themselves to trust leadership even though they did not like

the lack of communication and uncertain future. Impactful

statements in this area revealed that most employees

thought leadership staff had the best of intentions.

Employee frustration was not personal:

I know [executives] are trying and I trust them

completely. I know they have the best of intentions.

I’m still up in the air if this is the right direction. I

really feel like the people up in the office really have

the best of the intentions. I really do. I feel this

company really cares about people.

Employee’s recognized that it was difficult to make

decisions that impacted the strategic health of an organi-

zation. It was a difficult job, one that many employees were

happy to not have to be responsible for. One front-line

satellite employee stated this in response to being part of

the decision-making executive staff, ‘‘I wouldn’t pay a

million bucks to be in their shoes, neither.’’ The 2011

employee survey showed a 70 percent favorable rating for

managers’ demonstration of employees’ importance and

confidence in management’s direction for the future of

Ability, Inc.. However, just two years later, the trust gap

widened between hierarchical levels and geographic

locations.

Employees Feeling Supported and Valued

A large gap existed between corporate and satellite

employees in the area of feeling supported and valued. In

general, corporate employees felt supported, valued and

heard. No excerpts from the corporate office existed that

discussed the opposite. Overall, satellite employees

expressed that over time they felt ignored, dismissed, and

invisible. No excerpts from satellite offices existed that

discussed feeling valued, recognized or heard. When asked

in 2011 about resources and support received, employees

rated this category as 75 percent favorable.

As part of the project, the researcher attended the

Annual Celebration. With over 900 people in attendance,

the Annual Celebration was a glitzy fundraiser for costly

equipment such as handicap accessible vans, which can

cost upward of $100,000. The awards, stories, and

fundraising auction were fun and inspiring. The audience

clapped when money was raised and cheered for award

recipients. Clients (people receiving services), volunteers,

employers (locations at which clients are employed), and

advocates (people who raise money for the organization

and advocate for state support) were recognized for their

achievements and service to the organization.

Tonight we recognize the talents, strength of char-

acter, and the desire the people we serve have to

succeed. We also want to showcase our commitment

to providing excellent, innovative, and quality ser-

vices to the community. –excerpt from CEO opening

remarks at Annual Celebration

Clients attended the event with either family or resi-

dential assistants. Many of the Ability, Inc. employees

worked second jobs at residential facilities and were in

attendance in this capacity. It was a work day for many

employees, not a celebration. Shockingly, not one

employee was recognized at the event. Little recognition

existed beyond a supervisor pat on the back and the

intrinsic rewards gained from helping clients. This was a

major shortcoming that was brought up repeatedly at each

satellite location and was echoed in the 2011 employee

survey wherein only 62 percent of employees felt recog-

nized by the organization. An exploration of the implica-

tions of nonexistent employee recognition and the changes

made by the organization is planned for a future article.

Table 3 plots themes and values in a matrix format, as

recommended by Miles and Humberman (1994). The gap

in the consistent definition of person-centeredness nega-

tively impacted both ethics and respect. Corporate

employees and those in management espoused person-

centeredness but enacted client-centeredness. This gap

violated the ethics and respected values by dishonoring the

importance of employees and damaging the integrity of

leadership. The gap in proximity impact to headquarters

related to all four values. This gap opposed the ethics value

by violating the mission; the respect value by not pro-

moting win/win situations for employees; the responsive-

ness value by showing disrespect for satellite employees’

ideas and choices; and resourcefulness value by asking

employees to overextend themselves in the name of

increased efficiency. The gap in sustainability and growth

also touched all four values. This gap violated the ethics

value in that it contradicted the mission of serving clients

138 J. L. Craft

123

well; respect in that employees felt left out of the changes;

responsiveness in that delivering on commitments of

quality seemed compromised due to a focus on efficiency

rather than effectiveness, a key component of resource-

fulness. The gap illustrated in the trust theme mainly

impacted the respect value in that mistrust of executives

eroded the respect employees had for them both personally

and professionally. In turn, the employees became cynical

of changes and resorted to language, doubtful at best and

defamatory at worst, within the focus groups. Perhaps this

disparaging viewpoint was related to the final theme of

employees not feeling supported and valued. Budget cuts

forced everyone to find ways to cut costs, but the satellite

locations seemed especially affected. Empowering lan-

guage was not backed up with supportive measures

(unethical, disrespectful); employees were burnt out for

long periods of time (unresponsive); and cost-cutting was

making work unmanageable (not resourceful).

Employees as Stakeholders

In the ethical business cultures model (Fig. 2), Ardichvili

et al. (2008) found the ethical ‘‘tone at the top’’ or the

example set by leadership to be the third characteristic of

ethical business cultures: leadership effectiveness.

Respondents in their study indicated the decisions and

actions of senior management to be an important trait as

well as consistency between words and actions. Further,

Argyris and Schön (1978) contended that congruence

between words (espoused values) and actions (enacted

values) results in increased, long-term effectiveness. The

espoused values of person-centeredness as the heart of the

organization did not translate to an enacted value for

employees. Yes, clients were at the center of the organi-

zation, but person referred to all persons, not just clients.

The exclusion of employees was not recognized, or at least

voiced, at the higher levels of corporate oversight.

Differences in proximity—employees who worked at

satellite versus corporate—impacted the perception of

leadership effectiveness. Activities such as the Executive

Road Show were negative at satellite offices and positive at

corporate. Strategic changes were positive at corporate and

misunderstood at satellite offices. Gaps in the appreciation

of sustainability and growth measures, including cost cut-

ting and process improvements, were highly visible

between hierarchical levels and locations and led to

decreased trust in leadership’s view of the future.

Employees did not feel supported or valued, and manage-

ment did not recognize this large gap in espoused versus

enacted values. Taken together, these findings negatively

impacted the leadership effectiveness characteristic of the

ethical business cultures model (Ardichvili et al. 2008) and,

as such, weakened the ethical business culture.

RQ 2: To what extent did incongruent values impact

the ethical business culture?

Incongruent values negatively impacted individual morale

and location-specific motivation more than the overall

ethical business culture. In this section, findings are applied

to the five components of the ethical business cultures

model in order to understand how the values impacted each

area. The four components of the VBDMM are graphed

visually to illustrate which component was enacted and

activated most, but to also show the prevalence of the four

components in the culture, which would show support for a

healthy ethical business culture. Four key findings within

the ethical business culture are discussed: personal values,

reputation as an industry leader, evidence of a strong cul-

ture and mission as heart.

Mission as ‘‘Lifeblood’’

The five characteristics of ethical business cultures, as

developed by Ardichvili et al. (2008) were evident at

Ability, Inc. (Fig. 2). The significant characteristic of the

ethical business cultures, the ‘‘lifeblood of the organiza-

tion,’’ (p. 449) was the mission. The mission of Ability,

Table 3 Incongruent values applied to the four components of the VBDMM

Values[ themes Ethics Respect Responsiveness Resourcefulness

Person-centeredness Espoused: we are person-centered enacted: we are client-

centered

Proximity Impact Espoused: all employees are important. All jobs are valued

Enacted: corporate employees are important. Corporate jobs are valued

Sustainability/growth Espoused: growth is necessary for the future. Efficiency is key to sustainability. Enacted: growth disregards

the mission of serving clients well. Effectiveness suffers

Trust in strategic changes Espoused: trust enacted: skepticism

Employees feeing support/valued Espoused: employees are empowered, valued, and supported.

Enacted: employees are ‘‘stretched thin,’’ undervalued, and unsupported

Common Thread: The Impact of Mission on Ethical Business Culture, A Case Study 139

123

Inc., to serve people with disabilities, drove the culture.

Alignment of mission was vital in developing organiza-

tional norms. This was seen in the alignment of personal

values and organizational values, agreement that Ability,

Inc. was an ethical organization, and shared dedication to

innovation and quality. In the findings, ethics was referred

to as lived and breathed, which was a metaphor for the

‘‘lifeblood’’ referred to by Ardichvili et al. (2008). How-

ever, it was also stated that Ability, Inc. had ‘‘lost its

heart.’’ If the mission was the lifeblood, what was the

heart? Perhaps employees were the heart, which was why

they could not identify it—they were enmeshed in the

situation, and their perspective was skewed. Along these

lines, alignment of mission was unclear due to inconsis-

tencies in sustainability and growth values. Stakeholder

balance was weakened because of the lack of attention

placed on employee welfare and satisfaction. However,

multiple surveys revealed that these categories of stake-

holders were consistently pleased with the value received

for services. Findings indicated process integrity in the

areas of dedication to quality and investments in values-

based and ethics training. These areas were clear and

consistent. Corporate governance processes were outside

the scope of the research, and decision-making was not

transparent overall. Leadership effectiveness received

mixed results in that leaders were praised for their good

intentions, innovation, quality, hope, and ethics. Yet,

leadership effectiveness was hindered by mistrust, lack of

support, and a desire to rebrand and centralize. Finally,

long-term perspective was evident in the placement of

mission above profit and long-term gain over short-term

benefits. Changes at Ability, Inc. were occurring in order to

prepare for the future in anticipation of reduced govern-

ment funding. In short, a long-term perspective had been

adopted even though some gaps were widening in at

present.

Values-Based Decision Making Model Components

Ethical values were consistent in both corporate and

satellite locations and played a significant role in the cul-

ture. Overall, employees believed Ability, Inc. was an

ethical company, regardless of the impact of change in the

current timeframe. Respect was shown to be a consistent

value in application to coworker and client relationships.

Resourcefulness was seen as balancing efficiency with

effectiveness and doing more with less while keeping

quality programs intact. In addition, remaining responsive

to client needs and maintaining the dedication to serving

them were paramount in the research.

Figure 3 depicts the use of the terms ethical, respectful,

responsive and resourceful in the language. Enacted doc-

uments (focus group transcripts) showed a greater number

of terms used than espoused (i.e., employee handbook,

decision-making training, newsletters, and strategic plans).

Rather than focusing on the numerical difference in fre-

quency between espoused and enacted values, the more

important takeaway from this chart is that the four com-

ponents were truly active in the culture.

Personal Values

A clear link was found between personal and corporate

values. A strong enacted value without a gap between

corporate and satellite locations, personal values, spoke

strongly about ethical decision making and maintaining an

ethical business culture. When the question was asked, do

you hire ethics or develop them? invariably, respondents

thought people who were hired could be screened for ethics

that matched the organizations. However, in speaking with

the staffing manager, she did not concur. In her view,

people who were hired were trained by their peers and

coworkers in the area of ethical decision making. Meaning,

this is how it’s done here, gets translated across the hier-

archy and from immediate supervisors rather than existing

organically within individual employees.

This disjunction contrasted with the respondent view. It

seemed as though people with a caring, serving character

were naturally attracted to the field of human services.

Perhaps participants were used to their lives mirroring the

four components and could not distinguish if they came

into the organization with these values, if they were

developed, or enhanced. Further, it may have been possible

that Ability, Inc. gave employees the language of personal

values that mirrored their own, and employees were able to

better articulate the values now than they did at their point

of hire. Regardless, personal values played a large part in

ethical decision making and influenced ethical business

culture. Three excerpts from varying locations illustrate

this finding:

Our clients are treated very ethically just because of

who we are and the people in this field. The people

23

45

8 5

74

49

19

45

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

ETHICAL RESPECTFUL RESPONSIVE RESOURCEFUL

ESPOUSED

ENACTED

Fig. 3 VBDMM components represented in the language

140 J. L. Craft

123

working here wouldn’t be here if they didn’t have that

value.

People I know and myself, I live it in my own life too.

The [VBDMM] is used in Ability, Inc. because people

believe in, agree with and relate to those ethics. It is

aligned with their personal ethics.

I don’t need [the VBDMM] in front of me, it’s how I

live

Industry Leader

Ability, Inc. was considered an industry leader by the

employees with a reputation of being ethical and playing

by the rules. According to the most recent employee sat-

isfaction survey, 78 % of employees agreed that the

organization showed a commitment to ethical business

decisions. One manager stated that some social workers

purposely did not refer clients to Ability, Inc. because they

know we won’t bend the rules. Employees in multiple

locations told stories of self-reporting mistakes to vendors,

families or government, which illustrated the responsibility

of the organization for maintaining their ethical reputation.

Employees told stories about working for competitors or

residential care facilities in which they saw unethical

practices abound. One manager stated that the best lesson

he received in the importance of ethics occurred when he

worked for multiple competitors before coming to Ability,

Inc. Only after he started working for this firm did he see

the difference in ethical business culture.

When I came, I firmly thought we were light-years

ahead in terms of professionalism. But since being

here and going through process improvement and

some tough leadership changes, it’s gotten even

better to the point where we are recognized at a level

we’ve never been before. The business community, as

well as with our peers and other industries similar to

ours, so that just makes me so much more proud to

work here – being part of that.

Executives used the four components in strategic plan-

ning and long-range forecasting which they believed gave

them a competitive advantage in the industry. There were

high expectations to maintain their industry leader status,

grow, improve, and excel. There are also high expectations

of employees to remain ethical, serve clients, work hard, and

do their best. Strategic changes may have impacted short

term attitudes and the faith employees had in leadership, but

research showed, specifically in consistent values such as

intentions, dedication, innovation and hope, that the direc-

tion the leadershipwas taking the companywas the right one.

There are high expectations but it doesn’t feel bur-

densome, it feels freeing. Nobody is saying, ‘Did you

get that done? Get that done?’ No one’s

micromanaging.

Strong Culture

Beyond the four individual components, a strong culture

existed in general. Respondents identified with Ability, Inc.

in various ways, including purchasing popular logo wear,

joking about common occurrences, and realizing ethics was

also important in ‘‘sticky situations.’’ During the executive

focus group interview, I learned that Ability, Inc. created

logo wear with the VBDMM emblazoned on clothing

(Fig. 4). That was my first indication that a strong culture

surrounding the VBDMM and ethics existed. When

describing the logo wear, two executives had this exchange

about color:

Executive 1: [The shirt] was light blue

Executive 2: No, [the shirt] was our blue

Saying the shirts were ‘‘our blue,’’ indicated a strong

identification with color in addition to employees feeling

enough connection to don clothing that showed the

VBDMM. Employees also felt comfortable enough to joke

about ethics as if it were just another part of the work day.

In the administrative focus group interview, an employee

joked about ethics in this way, illustrating that ethics had

become part of the daily routine:

It’s like when you’re on hold in your office and you’re

just looking around and you think ‘‘this is not ethical,

I’m on hold!’’

[shared laughter]

Topics that can be mutually joked about become a part

of the culture because a shared joke is powerful. A

Fig. 4 The values-based decision-making model on clothing

Common Thread: The Impact of Mission on Ethical Business Culture, A Case Study 141

123

common viewpoint shared seriously was that ethics was

most visible in times of trouble.

I think ethics is really used when we make mistakes.

Ethics was present even when it caused the company to

admit mistakes, which supports the earlier point about

remaining an ethical leader and protecting the company’s

ethical reputation. In earlier examples, ethics was used in

correcting billing issues, vendor bids, and state reporting.

Building on these examples, ethics was described as being

‘‘lived and breathed.’’

Mission as Heart

The mission of Ability, Inc. is to serve our community

and people with disabilities as we live and work

together.

Ability, Inc. is a nonprofit organization that helps

people with disabilities live fuller lives that are

integrated into the flow of community experience.

Through employment at area businesses, social

enrichment opportunities, and customized support

services, Ability, Inc. provides the tools clients need

to build the lives they want to live.

The excerpts above are from documents published by

the organization and are often seen on the website, and in

annual reports and newsletters. Overall, Ability, Inc. is

committed to its mission. The employees referenced mis-

sion-driven decisions and improving client services fre-

quently, as seen in the consistent enacted values categories

of dedication, quality, rewarding and innovation. Taken

together, the mission was the heart of the organization.

Early in the focus group research, a supervisor tenta-

tively whispered, ‘‘it seems like we’ve lost our heart.’’ The

room went silent. After a pause, the remaining participants

agreed. The researcher probed, ‘‘what’s the heart?’’ No

consensus was reached. In focus groups that followed, the

same question was asked to try to identify the heart of

Ability, Inc.. Varying explanations were given including

the mission, core values, clients, and employees. Consider

these excerpts:

I would agree that there is always a mission out

there. There are always goals, but at least when I

started, it felt more like the goals were very profes-

sional; more process oriented. But it’s more… the

heart is still there. (?)

I remember there just being this overwhelming sense

that everybody was committed to the mission. (?)

Ability, Inc. is still Ability, Inc. Internally, so many

changes have happened. Changes are here to make

sure things work out. The core values are still there.

(?)

There have been changes in turnover, but it’s really a

culture of dedication to the mission. That’s the one

overriding thing in this workplace. (?)

There is a common thread towards the mission, how

people generally provide services, more or less how

people interact with the clients. (?)

To me, that’s part of losing our heart because the

service is not personalized. (-)

They used to say that the employees were the back-

bone, the whole heart of Ability, Inc. It used to be our

decision to hire someone or not. It’s not participatory

any more. (-)

What is interesting about this spread of opinion about

the heart of Ability, Inc. is that all positive comments (?)

were from corporate staff and all negative comments (-)

were from satellite employees. Every level and location

within the company is represented by these excerpts.

Examining these comments and taking into consideration

the remaining research, the researcher concluded the heart

of Ability, Inc. to be the mission, serving clients. The

concerns with losing our heart centered on two main

aspects: clients and employees (i.e., not serving clients in

the best way possible and failing to properly recognize

employees). Support for this statement is seen in nearly all

of the incongruent values.

Conclusion

This case study explored the impact of values and mission

on ethical business culture. First, the researcher investi-

gated the consistency between the stated and actual values

in the organization and applied the values identified to the

four components of the VBDMM: ethics, respect, respon-

siveness, and resourcefulness. Espoused values that are

consistent within the organizational culture strengthen an

organization’s reputation and provide external legitimacy

(Argyris and Schön 1978; Kabanoff and Daly 2002; Siehl

and Martin 1990; Sutton and Callahan 1987). The organi-

zation’s reputation as a leader in ethical behavior in its

industry was found to be prevalent in the espoused values

of the employees. In addition, external legitimacy was

strengthened by the organization’s well-known commit-

ment to ethics. Doing business ethically was evident in the

research and consistent in espoused values, which

strengthened its external legitimacy. Positive congruent

values also existed in the necessity for change; alignment

of organization and personal values; respect for coworkers;

enjoying a fun work environment; committing to innova-

tive and flexible programming; empowering the work

environment; providing hope for the future; and dedicating

to quality and customer service. Together, congruent

142 J. L. Craft

123

enacted values illustrated a strong, positive corporate

culture.

Negative congruent values were found to exist as rep-

resented by a shared perception of disconnection between

the corporate and satellite offices; a longing for a more

familial work culture; an admitted lack of timely commu-

nication regarding strategic changes; dissatisfaction with

centralized decision-making; and the shared burden of a

frenetic pace. Argyris and Schön (1974) cautioned that

such behaviors would eventually lead to organizational

entropy, the unavoidable and steady decline of a system or

culture.

Incongruent values, those that differed between either

hierarchical levels or organizational locations, illustrated

the need for intervention in several areas. Differences in

these areas further elucidated variation in perceptions in

regard to support and value within the organization; level

of trust in leadership; standardization and corporate

branding; sustainability and growth for the future; the

definition of person-centeredness; and an understanding of

how changes affect workload burnout rates. If left unad-

dressed, all of these areas may eventually corrupt an

otherwise positive, strong, ethical culture.

Consistent themes present in the culture and reflected in

the use of the VBDMM. A clear link was evident between

personal and corporate values. Bowen (2004) asserted that

a high degree of consistency between personal and orga-

nization values supported an ethical decision-making cul-

ture; this study supported Bowen’s assertion. Employees

frequently stated that ethical decision making was a natural

consequence of their own personal values and instinctively

carried through to their corporate decision making. Evi-

dence was found for a shared identification as an ethical

industry leader with a strong culture of shared ethics. One

example of this strong culture was the creation of clothing

that depicted the VBDMM components and the description

of the color as ‘‘our blue.’’

Perhaps most important was the value placed on the

mission. Brinckerhoff’s (2009) statement that nonprofits

pursue their mission rather than chasing profits and Roth-

schild and Milofsky’s (2006) assertion that nonprofits exist

to convey a ‘‘public statement of what their members see as

a better, more caring or more just world’’ (p. 136) rever-

berated throughout the findings in this area. The mission

was described as the ‘‘heart’’ of the organization that was

both ‘‘lived and breathed.’’ Dedication to the mission and a

commitment to supporting the core values were vital within

the culture. Even though employees spoke of ‘‘losing our

heart,’’ but could not come to consensus on the heart of

Ability, Inc., the findings were clear to the researcher, an

unbiased outsider: the heart of Ability, Inc. was the mis-

sion. The mission was the common thread that wove itself

within each employee, nurturing compassion for their

vulnerable adult clients and cultivating relationships with

their families. The common thread of mission was present

at each location and at every level of the organization in

words and actions. Helping clients make meaningful con-

tributions to society and, in turn, receiving their thanks and

gratitude motivated underpaid and over-worked staff

members to press on and hope for better. A workforce

grounded in ethics that consisted of employees who pos-

sessed a strong commitment to the organization’s mission

overcame the negative impact of incongruent values on the

ethical business culture.

Limitations and Suggestion for Future Research

This study consists of three data-collection tools: document

analysis, focus group interviews, and existing survey data.

Limitations within each collection method, as well as in

qualitative research in general, are common. Focus group

data limitations include distorted responses due to personal

bias, anger, anxiety, politics, and simple lack of awareness.

Emotional states could have had a significant impact on the

interviewee. Interview data are also subject to recall error,

reactivity of the interviewee to the interviewer and self-

serving responses. Document and record review limitations

included the possibility of inaccuracy or incompleteness

and variability of quality or detail. Focus group limitations

included the impact of thoughts, opinions, or feelings of

individuals by others in the group, inaccurate statements,

dominant individuals, and researcher bias in interpreting

nonverbal data. A further limitation exists because the

study elicits data from a single source within one industry.

As with any qualitative research design, findings were

exploratory and not generalizable. Care should be taken

when viewing the study results in context of another

organization or industry with decision-making methods,

codes of ethics or ethical cultures that differ from the

organization in this case study.

This study could also be replicated at other types of

organizations such as smaller nonprofits, government

entities or for-profit companies. An interesting comparison

would be to reproduce this study at a similarly sized for-

profit organization and compare the results to assess the

differences in ethical decision making between the two

types of institutions. In addition, a study investigating other

organizations that use VBDMMs and how the models

influence ethical decision making may be valuable.

These findings were part of a larger study. Two articles

are planned for publication. The first article will report the

impact of competing philosophical paradigms on ethical

business culture and decision making. The second will

explore the role of human resource development in reme-

dying the scarcity of employee recognition, both formal

and informal. In addition, initiatives the organization

Common Thread: The Impact of Mission on Ethical Business Culture, A Case Study 143

123

undertook as a result of this case study and its recom-

mendations will be included in the forthcoming article.

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