Modern and Postmodern Society

Chapter 3:

Public Administration in Modern and Postmodern Society: The Context of Administrative Ethics

Unit Lesson

Unit III content defines leadership variables to ethical principles. Martinez (2009) states, “The image of the public administrator that emerges with the changing perspective on organizations is an autonomous actor who is not immune from the political process…” (p. 65). The image referenced is usually defined as the leader’s ability to transform values to personal outcomes or accepted organizational behavior. In some scenarios, we know that it can be very difficult to distinguish making public decisions based on personal interest or consistent with the organization’s goals. After a leader makes a decision, there can be a series of

questions to determine if the individual acted in self-interest or on behalf of the organization.

The classical flowchart that Cavanaugh, Mobert, and Valasques(1981) developed aids the decision-maker to step through the choice model and self-analyze if the ethical stance was made according to personal or group choices. Review the steps below to consider if power and politics or self-interest is prioritized through a

decision process.

Equates to your Ethical Choice

The matter of ethical decision-making does not wait for students to reach their ultimate position while they work for a successful organization. The following survey was constructed to determine students’ interpretations of acceptable and unacceptable behavior on a college campus. Mohammed, Rawwas, and

Isakson (2002) developed the directions and research questions at an unnamed academic institution.

When developing an ethics program, successful organizations need to avoid common mistakes when implementing small or large-scale ethics policies and guidance. Many organizations make a halfhearted effort reviewing, developing, designing and implementing an ethics based program. Well-defined sanctions need to be provided to deter unacceptable practices and behavior. If penalties do not deter certain behaviors, perhaps the degree of punishments are not sufficient enough to change or modify behavior. Not installing accountability devices to monitor certain processes or behavior that validate violations may be needed to confirm employee’s actions. For example, investments in installing software robust enough to monitor all employees’ web surfing actions during and after working hours on company-installed computers will dissuade employees from web surfing at the workplace.

Also, not interviewing employees and finding out questionable scenarios that come up in the workplace will also help establish appropriate responses when faced with making decisions. Important information can be retrieved by each department, focus groups, or by using questionnaires. Objectives of effective ethics programs also need to be measurable – sometimes actions can be very subjective in design, thus the selecting factors (for the good of the company) need to be explicit.

Another factor to consider when implementing an ethics program is the backing of senior leadership. All levels of executive leadership need to encourage, motivate, and reflect a positive perception towards the established ethics policy. There are many examples of current events in the media referencing violations towards ethical and legal standards. These actions break up the moral fiber in an organization that employees monitor and usually mimic at different levels. Enforcing ethical culture is nearly impossible if organizational leadership operates from a different set of standards.

A common mistake found at organizations is the lack of integration among standard operational rules. Hundreds of rules, illustrations, and checklists can be found at most institutions. There should be no conflict of interest between expectations that depend on scenario type. Narratives should portray user-friendly language amongst these documents and must reflect consistent behavior expectations by minimizing confusion or misinterpretation.

Organizations should include periodical training sessions. Lectures, scenario-based role-plays, and other engaging types of learning models need to be deployed for all levels of employees (including executives and subordinate positions). Because employees quickly note who is in attendance at various sessions, is it critical to show a unified approach that fits the entire organization.

Today, frames of reference dictate personal and public values for a leader. Lack of accountability only takes a quick moment to cause one to lose face to a group of employees, a small team project, or a colleague, as all instances can challenge one’s moral values. Using power and influence to serve the organization requires consistency and fair dealing with others.