Concerns about the social responsibility and ethics of organizations now occupy a more preponderant place than ever, whether in the business community, among consumers or in the media. In this rapidly growing field, HEC Montréal research teams are paving the way to put ethics on the agenda of organizations and public institutions.
Posted at 7:30 a.m.
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“15 years ago, organizations had to be convinced that business ethics were important. Today, they are the ones knocking on our door to find out how to integrate ethics into the heart of their activities,” notes Joé T. Martineau, assistant professor in the Department of Management at HEC Montréal. She is delighted that the management school now includes ethics courses in all its study programs. For example, the course Ethics, governance and business law is compulsory for all students enrolled in the Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA). “It is our responsibility to train honest and responsible managers. And the vast majority of students are already convinced of the importance of fostering a culture of ethics within organizations,” she says.
PHOTO: HEC MONTREAL
Joe T. Martineau, Assistant Professor in the Department of Management, HEC Montréal
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The research conducted by Joé T. Martineau focuses, among other things, on the action of ethics programs implemented in Quebec organizations. The main observation that emerges from his work: in terms of ethical issues, single approaches have less positive effects than diversified approaches integrating various organizational ethics practices, going beyond the code of ethics alone. or compliance practices. Also, his research confirms the importance of ethical leadership by senior executives in order to positively influence the ethical behavior of employees and managers. The diversification of ethical practices would be the keystone.
In other words, it is insufficient to simply put in place a code of ethics. We must create an organizational culture in which the ethical leadership of senior executives shines through and where we focus on the personal development of each person in terms of ethics.
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Joé T. Martineau, Assistant Professor in the Department of Management, HEC Montréal
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PHOTO: HEC MONTREAL
Celia Chui, Assistant Professor in the Department of Management, HEC Montréal
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What signals to send?
These findings are echoed in the work led by her colleague Celia Chui, assistant professor in the Department of Management at the prestigious management school. This analyzed the impact of disciplinary processes with investigations and sanctions to assess their effectiveness in preventing professional misconduct as well as their effects on whistleblowing mechanisms: “We found that, when the systems put in place signal that the ethic is taken seriously by the company, misconduct and false accusations decrease, because these behaviors are considered more immoral and less normal. »
Conversely, when an organization gives the impression that it does not take allegations of misconduct reported to it seriously or that it acts without a rigorous investigation process, inappropriate behavior increases and Peer reports decrease because these behaviors are seen as less immoral and more common. “Organizations are well advised to invest resources in their disciplinary processes, for example by establishing an ethics committee to thoroughly investigate complaints, as these systems can shape perceptions of right and wrong and influence behaviors. says Celia Chui, assistant professor in the Department of Management at HEC Montréal.
PHOTO: HEC MONTREAL
Celia Chui, Assistant Professor in the Department of Management, HEC Montréal
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Decoding contextual biases
Celia Chui and her research team have also looked at the environment that can encourage a person to cheat. Their experiments revealed that, faced with a larger pool of competitors, people are more likely to cheat. “Whether it’s getting an interview or getting a performance bonus, the more competitors there are, the more we think other participants are cheating and that we should be cheating too,” explains the researcher.
Celia Chui is fascinated by the study of contextual and organizational cues and the biases that lead people to adopt good or bad behaviors.
Our sense of morality is more malleable and more susceptible to being influenced by external factors than we would like to believe. This is why good people end up doing bad things.
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Celia Chui, Assistant Professor in the Department of Management, HEC Montréal
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Artificial intelligence: laying the foundations
At HEC Montréal, research in ethics also finds applications in the sphere of high technologies. Joé T. Martineau and his research team work closely with companies in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) to establish ethical guidelines for the development of emerging technologies. And the challenges are multiple in this still fallow territory: data governance, informed user consent, acceptability and desirability of applications that use AI, arbitrary algorithms, etc.
“Technologies are developing at a phenomenal rate in AI, which creates a great need for reflection on the ethical questions that they can generate,” says Joé T. Martineau. According to her, while research is in its infancy in this sector which is evolving at high speed, more and more start-ups are beginning to grasp the importance of responsible development of AI applications. They call on his expertise to know how, concretely, to integrate ethical principles into their practices.
My goal is to ensure that AI technologies are at the service of the common good and the improvement of the quality of life, and not that humans are at the service of these technologies.
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Joé T. Martineau, Assistant Professor in the Department of Management, HEC Montréal
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