Creating an ethically driven organization: A model for fostering an epidemic of ethical intensity

Prior research on accounting ethics has focused on the examination of an individual's moral reasoning capabilities and/or individual acts of unethical behavior. The relevance of such research is hampered, however, by the failure to recognize the importance of organizations to the ultimate behavior of their members. The research presented in this paper focuses on the development of a model that aids in the assessment, control, and/or motivation of ethical or curtailment of unethical activity within a firm. The model blends two perspectives from recent accounting ethics research (contractarian philosophy and stakeholder ethics) with an application of epidemic theory that has recently evolved in the medical field of epidemiology. The model developed in this paper emphasizes preventing epidemics of unethical activity and encouraging epidemics of ethical activity. The ultimate result is a model designed to aid organizations in attaining a greater level of ethical behavior.