Integrity and its antecedent: A unified conceptual framework of integrity

Integrity as a word originates from the Latin adjective integer and means the state or quality of being complete or whole. It often appears in management and business ethics literature as a coveted much sought after personality trait for leadership effectiveness. In a highly complex business environment and heightened public awareness with changing expectations of stakeholders from businesses, acting with integrity becomes crucial. While it is a well-accepted idea that businesses should act responsibly and with integrity, there appears to be no consensus amongst scholars on what does integrity mean and what does it entail. Some scholars equate integrity with actions that demonstrate high moral and ethical standards, and others call it a morally neutral term equating it with the law of gravity. The definitional ambiguities and uncertainties make integrity a desired and contested topic in management literature and many authors have called for a satisfactory unifying perspective on this integral aspect of business ethics (Audi & Murphy, 2006). This paper addresses this issue, and presents a unified conceptual framework to better understand integrity. Scholarly literature on the meaning of integrity can be broadly divided into two streams in scholarly literature–normative view which explicitly includes morality and ethics and the objectivist view which defines integrity as a morally and ethically neutral term. In developing a unified framework, this paper draws from various meanings and definitions of integrity found in management and business ethics literature. It analyzes, integrates and reconciles various conceptualizations of integrity found in management and business ethics literature and identifies intrinsic and extrinsic features of integrity. It argues that in order to achieve integrity, commitment to sound moral principles is essential and they act as an antecedent of integrity. In doing so, the paper first discusses morally neutral conceptualization of integrity also known as objectivist view and its limitations. It then discusses various notions in the broad stream of current management and business ethics literature and develops the unified conceptual framework for understanding integrity. It makes a theoretical contribution by advancing the understanding of the concept of individual integrity in management literature. It has implications for organizations and human resource managers through highlighting the critical importance of person- organization values fit and the idea of including integrity tests in the staff selection processes.