Organizational Culture and Misconduct: A Causal Process Tracing Approach

• In Event: EUROC 8 Organisational Cultures and Compliance

Abstract

This article addresses the issue of organizational culture and its role in the emergence and development of severe misconduct and crime within organizations. Following large-scale scandals of organizational crime, emphasis is often placed on a ‘defective culture,' but a fundamental understanding of what 'toxic' organizational cultures are remains elusive. Scholars from various disciplines struggle to fully measure culture and rarely empirically link it to more extreme forms of organizational misconduct. To address these shortcomings, the current article proposes a new methodological approach, causal process tracing, to explore organizational culture in greater depth. This method offers a nuanced understanding that can investigate more facets of culture than survey instruments can, but without the intensity of traditional ethnography.

Drawing on insights from organizational psychology, management sciences, and criminology, this article demonstrates how cultural 'toxic' processes, identified through causal process tracing, can lead to serious misconduct. The article illustrates this methodology through an empirical case study of violent misconduct within an American police department. Despite prolonged supervision and interventions to correct the defective culture, this police department continues to grapple with high-profile scandals, including incidents of police violence and corruption. The article shows how we can theoretically think about causal processes, empirically measure culture based on publicly available sources, and find support for our hypothetical processes using this data. Finally, the article discusses the implications of this approach for science and interventions focused on organizational culture.

Authors

• Nina Tobsch, University of Amsterdam

• Marieke Kluin, Leiden University

• Benjamin van Rooij, University of Amsterdam