Topic 3 : Ethics in Public & Private Administration

Introduction

 Responsibilities of the public sector.

 How it should interact and interface with
the governments, with citizens, civil
society and foreign as well as domestic
corporations and private business
institutions.
 Besides, ethics and ethical principles ETHICAL DIMENSIONS OF THEIR
can help people make better decisions, DECISION MAKING
and help people evaluate the decisions NORMATIVE ETHICS
of others.

 Leaders with integrity (strong moral principles).  The study of how people ought
Public Sector Ethic  Capacity to think & act ethically. to behave.
s  For example, fraud is
wrong.
EVALUATE BEHAVIOUR AS
 Public administrator exercise decision making power on
their own, discretion (judgement) that affects peoples’ R I G H T OR W R O N G
lives in direct, lasting & sometimes profound ways.
 For example, administrative discretion in public policy
implementation or power to make certain decisions.  How can somebody decide what is right & wrong ? Ethics
 Question the legitimacy of the rules and the policy  Rules (from a recognized ruling authority ).
decision that the public administrators implement.  Why ?
 Administrator and bureaucrats should make ethical  Without such an authority, right & wrong do not
decisions. exist.  Standards of right & wrong.
 What humans ought to do.

PROFESSIONAL ETHICS
DESCRIPTIVE ETHIC
Administrator must have:  As guidelines. S
 How a person should act towards other people & institutions
in such an environment.
 For example: Honesty, respect, obedience to the law &  The study oh how people think they
D E S C R I T I O N A R Y P OW E R loyalty. should behave (peoples’ opinions).
 For example, few respondents said
they disapprove of the
administration.
 Authority (power) granted by the law to the head of state


or government.
According to legal law.
To be ethical one has to …
Demonstrate respect & Responsibility
 Avoid oppression and must be used reasonably.
 The managerial techniques of planning,
organizing & coordinating budgeting are
common to both. Activities like account
keeping, filing are uniform in both public
as well as private administration.
To obtain benefits from private sector, the
government these days are undertaking
Public Private Partnership (PPP) model in
various sectors like health, education,
Infrastructure development, housing etc.
Therefore on the basis of above
similarities one can conclude that both
Public and Private Administration are
complementing and supplementing each
other.
Both are subjected to and regulated by
governmental rules and regulations.
The principles of organization are same for
both like, hierarchy, scalar chain, span of
control etc.
Similarities
Public & Private Value
There is considerable exchange of personnel
especially at higher level in both Public
and Private sector.
The public administration has adopted and
influenced by the principles of private
administration. For example, the emergence
of public corporation. Similarly, the These days outsourcing, contracting out,
public sector is expected to follow the voluntary retirement are common in both
principles of 3E‘s that is efficiency, sectors.
economy and effectiveness as practiced by
the private sector.

THIER GOALS ARE
FUNDAMENTALLY
DIFFERENT
 The public sector is focused on serving
the general public and looking after
their interests, while the private
sector’s fundamental concern is creating
markets to enable earning profits.
 Public sector agencies can survive the
inefficient operation, while poorly run
private sector firms can go broke and end
up no longer in business.
WAY OF EMPLOYEES
ARE HIRED & FIRED
 In the private sectors, managers have
the ability to hire quickly depending
on the business cycle and the need for
more personnel. A longer process is
involved in hiring employees in the
public sector because it can take
several years to create a new position
and several months for an existing
position to be filled.
 Private sector managers can fire and
offer severance packages to employees
at any time while public sector
managers encounter a good deal of
bureaucratic red tape, requiring
extensive documentation and making the
removal process more complex and
time-consuming
PROCUREMENT PROCESS IS
DRAWN OUT IN THE
PUBLIC SECTOR
 Public organizations are owned by the government and are funded by tax
revenue. Therefore, adequate funding must be attained & disbursed,
procurement practices need to be approved by several governing bodies
& suppliers often undergo background checks & other investigations, all
of which slows down the procurement process considerably. However,
private sector benefit from a quicker procurement process. Private
organizations are able to use their revenue from sales and investments
to buy things when they need them. They are also less encumbered by
regulations dictating supplier relationships, allowing them to get
better deals and renew existing contracts to speed up the process.
PUBLIC ORGANIZATIONS
FACE UNIQUE ACCOUNTABILITY
 Public organizations are subject to a specific
Differences Public & Private Value
kind of scrutiny. This is mainly due to the
fact that they are funded by taxpayers who hold
these agencies accountable for how their money
is being spent and who view expenditures not
only for their efficiency and effectiveness
but also for the degree these address
questions of social equity and fairness. The
activities and accomplishments of these
organizations hold a greater presence in the
public eye. Meanwhile, private corporations
are not accustomed to this level of scrutiny
because they are accountable primarily to
PUBLIC ORGANIZATIONS CAN’T their board of directors and shareholders.
CHOOSE THEIR GOALS
 In the private sector, businesses set their own goals and focus their resources on
accomplishing them. The goals are set with the aim of achieving profits and capturing
market share and are the result of company strategy. Public organizations continuously
find themselves pressed by legislative mandates, facing outside forces, and often have
to try to accommodate a host of other organizations or interest groups that can have
conflicting goals. Public officials and political parties establish agendas on specific
issues that advance their interests and keep them winning elections and in office.
In this way, the goals of a public organization can see big changes driven by electoral
politics.
 Challenges of Organizational Ethics
Personal & contextual factors influence ethical conduct

Using new information technology to enhance creativity and organizational learning

Protection of whistleblowers may encourage ethical conduct

Managing a diverse work force

Managing the global environment

Training in ethical decision making may improve ethical

Managing human resources to increase competitive

Formal codes of ethics sets standards for ethical conduct

Managers acting as positive role models may motivate others toward ethical conduct