lecturer: prof. justice nyigmah bawole, ugbs contact ... · session overview • this session...

College of Education

School of Continuing and Distance Education 2014/2015 – 2016/2017

Lecturer: Prof. Justice Nyigmah Bawole, UGBS Contact Information: [email protected]

2016 / 2017 – 2017 / 2018

Session Overview

• This session introduces students to the meaning and scope of public sector ethics. The basic issues of what ethics is, the context of public sector, and the relevance of ethics in public sector management are discussed.

• With this, students will be abreast with the fundamental meaning of ethics and its application in the public sector.

PAHS 414-ICDE Slide 2 PAHS 414-ICDE 2018-Prof. Justice Nyigmah Bawole

Session Objectives

By the end of this session, students should be able to:

• Define ethics

• Clarify related concepts on the study of administrative ethics

• Why talk about Ethics?

• Examine the bases of ethics in the public sector

PAHS 414-ICDE 2018-Prof. Justice Nyigmah Bawole

PAHS 414-ICDE Slide 3

Session Outline

The key topics to be covered in this session include:

• What is Ethics?

• Why talk about Ethics?

• The basis of Ethics in the Public Sector.

Slide 4 PAHS 414-ICDE 2018-Prof. Justice Nyigmah Bawole

PAHS 414-ICDE

Reading Lists

• Read the following materials for detailed information on this session:

1. Sheeran, P. J. (1993). Ethics in public administration: a philosophical debate. Westport, Praeger.

2. Sherman, T. (1998). Public sector ethics: prospects and challenges. In Samford, C., Preston, N and Bois, C-A. (Eds.). Public sector ethics: finding and implementing values. London: Routledge, pp.13-25.

PAHS 414-ICDE Slide 5 PAHS 414-ICDE 2018-Prof. Justice Nyigmah Bawole

What is Ethics?

• The term “ethics” is often used to describe the scientific study of moral behavior (Tsalikis & Fritzsche, 1989).

• Ethics may be defined as “inquiry into the nature and grounds of morality where the term morality is taken to mean moral judgements, standards, and rules of conduct” (Hunt & Vitell, 1986).

Slide 6 PAHS 414-ICDE 2018-Prof. Justice Nyigmah Bawole

PAHS 414-ICDE

• In relating ethics to administration and management, Hosmer (1987) declares that ethics is the determination of what is right and proper and just in the decisions and actions that affect other people.

• Ethical and unethical behaviors are difficult constructs to define because they convey different meanings to different people



• More broadly, Victor and Cullen (1988) describe unethical behavior as that which is inappropriate when facing a decision that has implications for other people.

• Lewis (1985) provides a much encompassing definition “rules, standards, codes, or principles which provide guidelines for morally right behavior and truthfulness in specific situations”.



Ethical relativism

• This is known as ethical relativism.

• Ethical relativism means “there are no moral principles which constitute a complete solution for every moral circumstance” (Robbin, 1980).

• For example, it is evident by a number of studies that individuals from different countries and cultures vary in their opinions of what constitutes ethical versus unethical behavior.

• Even within homogenous cultures, opinions on the ethicality of certain behaviors appear to vary between individuals of different age, gender, and educational levels, etc.



Administrative Ethics



• Administrative ethics involves the application of moral principles to the conduct of officials in organizations.

• In essence, administrative ethics entails at least two elements

1. The rights and duties that individuals should respect when they act in ways that seriously affect the well-being of other individuals and society; and

2. The conditions that collective practices and policies should satisfy when they similarly affect the well-being of individuals and society.

Why Talk about Ethics?

• Increased corporate scandals – any eg.?

• Increased incidence of conflicts of interest

• Increased misapplication and misappropriation of public funds

• Public awareness of worker rights

• Etc?



Basis of Ethics in the Public Sector

• Often times, in organizations, there is no apparent one right way between what is right or wrong but one must choose the best in the circumstances.

• The public sector setting is no exception. Public managers in the course of their official duties are sometimes faced with decisions that create tensions between ethics and personal interest, or between their private gain and the public good.



• Any decision where moral considerations are relevant can potentially give rise to an ethical dilemma, for example:

i. A decision that requires a choice between rules

ii. A decision where there is no rule, precedent or example to follow

iii. A decision that morally requires two or more courses of action, which are in practice incompatible with each other.



iv. A decision that should be taken in one’s self-interest, but which appears to violate a moral principle that one supports.

• It is therefore the imperative to act, combined with the uncertainty of which action to take, that causes a dilemma (Robinson, 2002).

• Ethical dilemmas are difficult situations in terms of people’s ability to know what is the right thing to do and still remain successful in one’s occupation.

• However, there are various ethical theories may provide clear-cut solutions for addressing some of these ethical problems



Conclusion

We conclude this session with the following remarks:

• In the public sector, these ethical dilemmas pose difficult situations for decision making.

• However, there are various ethical theories may provide clear-cut solutions for addressing some of these ethical problems



ACTIVITY

• Why talk about ethics?

• Explain administrative ethics.

• Explain why ethics is not law.



END OF SESSION 1



lecturer: prof. justice nyigmah bawole, ugbs contact ... · session overview • this session...

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