When systems are not updated to support desired change, it doesn't happen easily. It is especially policy and procedure which drive the bureaucratic middle-management levels of organizations. Failure to change these systems means that change will be actively resisted by those people driven by conformance to systems. The most common formal ethics system is the formulation and dissemination of various ethics policies . Just as important as formal systems, they are not codified and are therefore more difficult to communicate or implement with any degree of consistency.
Informal systems answer a number of fundamental questions.
The answers to these questions tell about what the organization truly values. If the informal systems support the stated philosophy, that philosophy is reinforced. If the informal systems contradict or ignore the philosophy then most people feel safe disregarding it too. Informal norms and leadership behavior shape employee behavior more effectively than stated philosophy, training or formal systems and structures. Leadership behaviors communicate organizational expectations when they are congruent with the stated philosophy and with the understood norms or informal rules for success within the organization.