In 2011, a scandal involving the sexual abuse and molestation of at least eight underage boys on the part of assistant coach Jerry Sandusky rocked the community of Pennsylvania State University. As more and more allegations followed, with increasing numbers of boys coming forward to admit their activity with Sandusky, the university culture surrounding the scandal began to grow. Furthermore, it was shown that the coverup of this sexual abuse ran high into the ranks, with famed head coach Joe Paterno even being a part of the silencing of Sandusky's misdeeds. The overall perspective on their part was that, in order to preserve the football culture and reputation of both the officials and the university, these events would have to be suppressed, with Sandusky never being investigated or punished until the scandal broke.
This event showed a massive deficit in the ethical culture of the university, particularly its sports department. It was clear that the intrinsic values of the university (i.e. the success and the reputation of the football team) were valued over the safety and well-being of the victims, both past and potentially in the future. As a result, a coverup was arranged which went on for decades, as these kinds of activities were swept under the rug in order to preserve the image of the university football team. This demonstrates a noted lack of accountability and very skewed priorities that do not mesh with the ethical standards of the university and the nation as a whole.
According to Trevino and Nelson, there needs to be a consistent ethical culture system in place in every organization. Formal and informal systems "must be alignedto support ethical behavior" (p. 154). In the case of Penn State's sports program, many different things about the organizational and ethical culture need to change. Whistleblowing must not be seen as a blow to the organization and the university, but a stand against unethical behavior. In the case of assistant coach Mike McQueary, who walked in on Sandusky raping one of his victims, he should have done more than report to Paterno simply once, and stayed apprised of the situation. As for Paterno himself, he should have followed up on at least one of the many instances where he was led to believe Sandusky was committing these unethical and immoral actions. To do otherwise is to perform a grave disservice to everyone involved, including the university and the victims.
In the wake of this scandal, the NCAA has placed penalties on Penn State's sports program - they are forced to pay $60 million over a five year period to a special endowment to fund programs to treat and prevent child abuse, and the football program is banned for four years from playing any post-season games. Furthermore, the program itself is on a five-year probationary period with the Athletics Integrity Agreement. One of the biggest goals toward maintaining an ethically sound culture around the university and its sports programs is to accept these penalties and not fight them, acknowledging their wrongdoing and complicity in the scandal.
One of the most important things that needs to be done regarding accountability and oversight in the ethical culture of this organization is to avoid compartmentalization within management. One of the reasons that Sandusky was able to get away with what he did was because so many managers and administrative officials had no idea what he was doing, due to lack of oversight. Every department was so compartmentalized, it was much easier to hide that kind of information. By increasing transparency and improving the likelihood that things of that nature will not be hidden, it will be easier to keep everyone accountable for their actions.
Reporting procedures need to be improved, as the ability for Paterno to simply skip out on reporting Sandusky demonstrates a noted weakness in that area. Passivity should not be tolerated in the new Penn State ethical culture; it is necessary for managers, athletes and coaches to be trained in how to take action and make the proper moves toward reporting unethical behavior. Shifting priorities from reputation to honesty will help the Penn State culture the most, as they will no longer wish to ignore ethically murky issues for the sake of pretending nothing is wrong.
In essence, the biggest attributes that need to be emphasized are transparency and accountability if the ethical culture of Penn State is to be improved. The biggest problem with organizations that do not practice what they preach, besides the obvious, is that the penalties when they are discovered are far more severe than if they had handled it accordingly. If Paterno had followed up on McQueary's report and taken action against Sandusky, the blowback and the scandal might likely have been minimized, and Penn State would be renowned for its decisiveness. However, due to the coverup, it faces harsh penalties, a severe blow to its reputation, and a mark of shame that will follow the university for decades to come.
References
Trevino, L.K. (2010). Managing Business Ethics. New Jersey: Wiley Publishers.
