Promoting Ethics In Public Sector Research Assignment (Essay Sample)

Promoting ethics in Public Sector
Student’s name
Institution Affiliation
MEMORANDUM
TO: CITY MANAGER
FROM: CHIEF ADVISOR
SUBJECT: PROMOTING ETHICS IN PUBLIC SECTOR
DATE: 3/01/2017
Introduction
Ethics in public sector is considered to be the most crucial and useful activity that is structured in various public offices and government institutions to ensure efficiency and proper service delivery in state entities. Promotion of ethics provides guidelines under which these agencies conduct their day-to-day operations thereby providing well-functioning of the institutions to enhance ethical behavior or conduct of individuals working in these particular entities. Ethical behavior in public service involves an application of basic principles and standards during the day-to-day activities carried out in the respective public sector. Ethics, which govern the works in the public sector, are outlined under political ethics, which explains how these ethical principles and standards can be applied to maximize the efficient and desirable services delivery in state institutions. In most public institutions, the principles and rules are outlined in a code of ethics, which acts as a reference to these guidelines provided to people who work in particular public institutions. Lack of proper code of ethics is associated with unethical malpractices in public sector, which lead to activities such as embezzlement of public funds and poor service delivery to the citizens in these public sectors (Jaccard, 1999). This essay will critically analyze various ways in which the incoming city manager can apply ethics in governing the local government to promote desirable ethical standards in his cabinet.
Formulation of a legal framework that outlines specific ethics in the local government
John Smith, the city manager, should come up with a well-detailed and formulated legal framework, which should provide an overview of various principles and standards supposed to guide workers ethically in the local government as they carry out their respective duties and responsibilities. All ethical principles and standards should be reflected in the legal framework to ensure that the workers in the local government are subject to performance appraisal of their service delivery specifically based on the particular legal framework. The public sector legal framework offers a platform for outlining communication and understanding the core values of practice to the employees in the local government headed by the city manager. It also outlines the rules and regulations governing the conduct, performance, behavior and professionalism of individuals working at the local government. The legal framework also points out disciplinary actions or prosecutions methods that can be initiated if a particular employee does not confide with the laws and regulations illustrated in the legal framework. It is mandatory that the legal framework should be openly published and easily available to each employee in the local government. A legal framework is a sufficient and efficient mechanism that can be used to adequately promote ethics in the local government and public sector in general. A legal framework should be applied in the same way a constitution is used to enforce laws in a country, this means that all ethical standards and principles should be accurately recorded in the legal framework and made available to all local government employees so as to promote an acceptable ethical conduct in the public service. (Bass, 1999).
Fostering an open and transparent decision-making process in the local government
The decision-making process is a vital and significant procedure in all public and private institutions as far as ethics are concerned, as such, the city manager should ensure that all activities and decisions made in the local government follow a well-illustrated decision-making process, which is supposed to be open and transparent to the public. Transparency in the local government decision-making process promotes accountability and investigations towards decisions made by the local government officials since these decisions affect not only the internal stakeholders in the local government but also the entire public in general. It is, therefore important to ensure that the respective public members to ensure their credibility and accountability subject these decisions to scrutiny. Democratic processes of administration and free access to public information are some of the main issues of concern to be promoted while addressing transparency and accountability issues in the local government. An open and transparent decision-making process plays a significant role in promoting ethics in public service (Bass, 1999).
Formulation of appropriate actions and sanctions to counter ethical misconduct by some workers in the local government
According to Bass, (1999), public institutions performance and conduct are usually associated with poor service delivery, inappropriate customer service to the public, embezzlement of large sums of public funds and discrimination while offering services and employment opportunities in the public sector. These activities, carried out by a smaller proportion of workers in the public sector, have serious negative implication towards promotions of ethics in public sector. It's, therefore important for the city manager, John Smith, to come up with mitigation measures to counter these illegal practices in the public sector. Disciplinary actions and sanctions are some of the various methods that can be used to punish ethical misconduct in the public sector to promote ethics in the local government. Malpractices such as corruption and embezzlement of public funds in the local government are some of the illegal and undesirable activities, which require appropriate disciplinary measures to discourage such illegal actions in the public sector thereby promoting ethics in the respective local government. Implementation of sanctions and disciplinary actions help curb ethical misconduct since employees bear in mind that each undesirable and unethical activity they undertake while carrying out their activities in the local government is subject to punishment and prosecution.
Application of effective management policies, practices and procedures to promote ethical conduct in the local government
The city manager should ensure that the local government management practices, policies, and day-to-day operations carried to the respective public should reflect the government's obligations and determination towards achieving the highest standards of ethical practices in the local government. Therefore, the management practices, policies, and procedures should be formulated and designed in such a way that they positively encourage and promote ethics in the public service delivery. The local government management headed by the city manager should ensure that management policies are formulated to inspire and encourage the workers to perform their duties in the most ethically acceptable conduct. It’s evident that with a well-structured management policies, practices and procedures which are perfectly aligned to promotion of ethics in the public service the standards of ethical practice in the public service will significantly improve. (Jaccard, 1999).
The city manager should act as role models in promoting ethical standards and conduct in the local government
Managers and officials in either private or public institutions are influential personalities whose actions while carrying out their respective duties influences the ethical behavior of the employees significantly, especially in the public service sector. The top officials in the public sector should serve as role models to encourage the other workers to perform their duties and responsibilities to the highest ethical standards. The city manager of the local government is expected to engage in daily monitoring of employees performances in service delivery and ensure that the workers are working under favorable working conditions to promote ethical standards in public sector service delivery. Consequently, if the managers and other top management officials engage in unethical actions during administration of the public service, this will eventually lead to a collapse in the ethical standards of the local government. As a result, the city manager and his counterparts in management should perform their duties in an ethically acceptable manner so as to encourage other employees (Lipsey & Chrystal, 200...