This qualitative study examines the characteristics of individual, organizational, and environmental factors
affecting organizational ethics in social welfare organizations. The issues of responsibility, transparency, and
ethical management in social welfare organizations have recently become the main public interest. Fifteen
social welfare professionals, including chief directors, middle managers, and employees, participated in
individual in-depth interviews and focus group interviews. The result of data analysis shows that the most
important individual factor is personal sense of ethics, and that important organizational factors include
leader's ethical sensitivity, supervision, organizational system supporting organizational ethics, and fairness in
organizations. Major environmental factors affecting organizational ethics are unreasonable demands from the
board of directors, local governments, interest groups, and other external stakeholders, and the inevitable
compromise with the reality to work together with them. Finally, this study makes some suggestions for the
improvement of organizational ethics in social welfare organizations.