An organisation is more likely to have employees committed to ethical decision-making if they have clear policies and procedures related to this (eg Code of Conduct or Ethics); see the organisational integrity values operating in practice (with senior managers 'walking the talk'); understand 'doing the right thing' - however it may be defined for an organisation - as an integral part of the organisation's values and way of working; and see it reflected in performance discussion and remuneration decisions (at all levels).

This also means that the right tone must be set at the top, with expected behaviours evidenced all the way down the corporate hierarchy. Ethical leadership is critical to an organisation 'living and breathing' it's values. Employees must see their leaders role model good behaviour and ethical decision-making, and beyond that, even learning from their experiences and insights through ongoing and regular dialogue.

However, if employees see senior leaders acting inappropriately or corruptly, it doesn't matter what Codes etc are in place, the perception will be that the espoused corporate 'values' are not really important and culture, performance and customer service will be negatively impacted. For example, if a procurement officer sees the CEO accept valuable gifts from a company currently involved in a major tender, then a low bar is set for potential bribery and corruption by themselves or others as well.

That's not to say that in organisations with an effective culture and ethical leadership there may not be the odd "bad apple". Human beings are not identical and some will have different morals and risk appetites to others; however one would hope that the opportunity for a "bad apple" in a mature, ethical organisation to effect lot of damage would be limited by the structures, policies and procedures that apply or are applied, and the value-led behaviours of those around them, such that any misconduct might be 'called out' early. However, this requires all to be constantly vigilant to potential bad behaviours and to accept responsibility for calling it out when they see it.

One of my favorite researchers in this space is Guido Palazzo who shares his view that the concept of bad apples is misleading, incomplete and often convenient for organisations, who like to blame the individual rather than facing the systemic issues.

One of the concepts we explored as an organisation with Guido was some of the elements that push 'good' people to do unethical or illegal things, which include; unachievable objectives, no speak up culture, euphemistic language, contempt for the rule of law, humiliating low performers and mixed messages. Leaders play an important part of culture within an organisation, employees watch leaders actions - what they say and do and also as importantly what they don't say and do.

When a manager ignores clear bullying, for example, such as an employee repeatedly belittling a colleague in meetings, the silence effectively endorses the behaviour.

The bully learns that their conduct is tolerated, while others see that speaking up is pointless.

This is where the tone at the top becomes critical: leaders who model integrity, intervene early, and reinforce respectful behaviour create a culture where misconduct cannot take root.

Conversely, leaders who overlook or excuse poor behaviour inadvertently normalise it, allowing systemic issues to flourish.