An institutional perspective on organisational integrity

In this chapter, we propose an institutional perspective on organisational integrity. This perspective is based on the premise that organisations are fundamentally dependent on and influenced by their institutional environment. Drawing on the literature on organisational values and identity, we examine what integrity entails when organisations - as distinct social actors - face institutional pluralism and as a consequence have selves that comprise multiple and potentially contradictory goals, interests, values, and identities. We present a conceptualisation of organisational integrity that encompasses three distinct forms of organisational values - espoused, embedded, and enacted - and theorise how the wholeness of these values may become compromised when organisations face competing institutional demands.