How Does Organizational Climate Influence The Ethical Behavior Of People In An Organization?

Abstract

Litwin constructed a questionnaire to measure organizational climate.  At the same time working independently, Tagiuri investigated how executives perceived the environment in which they  functioned.  Litwin and Tagiuri reached the same conclusion:  organizational climate influences the behavior of people in an organization (McKenna, 1993, p 37). 

Litwin and Stringer (1968) developed an instrument to collect perceptions of organizational environment.  They contended that realities of an organization are understood only as they are perceived by members of the organization (p.42).  Litwin and Stringer defined organizational climate operationally as the sum of perceptions of individuals working in the organization (.p. 66)  Climate,  according to Litwin and Stringer, influences organizational decisions by creating certain kinds of beliefs about what kind of consequences will follow from various actions . (Litwin & Stringer 1968, p. 188)  Of importance to this paper was their conclusion that organizational climate properties can be perceived by members of an organization and reported on by them on an appropriate questionnaire. (p. 187).  This conclusion forms a critical assumption for this paper. 

The organizational work climate reviewed in this paper is based largel on the research conducted by Tagiuri, Litwin, and Sringer in 1968; Mauro in 1987; Victor and Cullen in 1987 and 1988; McKenna in 1993; Wyld in 1993; D’Aquila in 1997 and Forte in 2001.