Ethics and organizational performance before and during COVID-19 in Mexican hospitals within urban areas

Abstract Objective: The purpose of this paper is to analyze the differences in the perception of ethical decision making, organizational ethical climate, and organizational performance, before and during the COVID-19 pandemic by some health professionals in public and private hospitals in urban areas in Mexico. Materials and Method: 68 health professionals answered a survey using the snowball sampling technique. This digital structured survey evaluated the demographic characteristics of respondents and 3 dimensions (constructs) divided in 53 items: ethical decision making, organizational ethical climate, and organizational performance, before the COVID-19 pandemic (year 2019) and during the pandemic (year 2020-2021). To compare the differences of the dimensions before and during COVID-19, the t-test was carried out for dependent samples. Results: In the ethical decision making and organizational ethical climate dimensions, there were no statistically significant differences in the averages before and during the pandemic. In relation to the organizational performance there is a statistically significant difference in the averages before and during the pandemic, with a decrease in performance. Conclusions: This research contributes to literature on healthcare service management suggesting to acknowledge that, in an adverse environment, the decision making process based on ethics and an ethical climate should be maintained in the organizations to avoid a more dramatic fall in performance.