The Responsible Administrator and Ethics, the Ethics Edge Books - Essay Example

? Management Question One The book ‘The Responsible Administrator’ presents two key ideas from different chapters that seem especially powerful and useful to me. These ideas revolve around ethical issues within the organization and include conflict of authority and private sector norms. A conflict of authority may arise when two or more sources of authority impose objective responsibilities to one administrator leading to a state of ethical dilemma1. This challenging situation especially forces an administrator to balance ethical conduct with sheer obligation, as the roles assigned are usually incompatible. Private sector norms on the other hand imply that the ethical standards existing in the government sector originated from the private sector, as the former does not have complex bureaucracies therefore upholds high ethical standards than their counterpart2. I particularly find the two ideas interesting because they reflect on the reality that most people tend to disregard. Conflict of interest is prevalent especially in highly politicized working environments while private sector norms have a tendency to infiltrate government agencies and in the process creating more conflicts of authority. Therefore, it would be appropriate to insinuate that the two ethical issues have a strong correlation in that one precedes the other thereby creating a vicious cycle of ethical dilemma. This is because conflicts of authority normally erode the private sector norms that have infiltrated the government and in the process leading to more crisis3. Certainly, conflict of authority and private sector norms are fundamental concepts that have a wide variety of application in my professional work. During my everyday undertaking of my professional work, I may find myself in a conflict of authority situation and the best method to get out of this ethical dilemma is to act in accordance with the private sector norms that highly regard the incorporation of ethical codes of conduct in resolving ethical dilemmas4. Question Two Although the book ‘Ethics, The Ethics Edge’ presents several strong ethical concepts and arguments, I find two ideas namely, ethical leaders respect others and corruption as the major interesting factors. Ethical leaders ought to show respect to their peers as well as their subordinates as this motivates people in addition to promoting the inherent dignity of other persons. Corruption on the other hand, may have several meanings ranging from the moral sense of corruption to the technical aspects of the same5. In my view, the two aspects are interesting in the sense that each presents a unique perspective of ethical conducts. For example, the suggestion that ethical leaders normally respect others appears as a hypothetical phrase as more often than not, I find people in leadership positions blatantly disregarding their juniors. This could mean that ethical leadership and leaders for that matter is a rare asset in the contemporary organization settings. Corruption in contrast takes a different ethical route in that it may imply the moral sense of corruption whereby individuals have the mindset of non-accountability deeply rooted in them. The technical sense of corruption is surprisingly the most mundane one because it is the database type of corruption consisting mainly of the physical aspect. These two ideas are curiously opposite because lack of ethical respect by leaders may erode the ethical values within the organization and corruption may ensue6. Both ideas are applicable in my professional work in that as a professional who is honing my leadership skills I have an obligation to respect others irrespective of the positions they hold in society or within the organization. This will include believing in them and their personal values and in the process enhancing my skills as an ethical leader. I also learn that the vice of corruption has many facets ranging from moral to physical aspects and that only ethical leadership can eliminates incidences of corruption7. Question Three Certainly, this course has changed my thoughts and perception about public service and my career. The management course mainly discussed ethical issues especially from an organizational perspective8. Ethical standards depict the behavior and conduct expected from ethical leaders. I have realized that the ethical values are essential to all organizations especially the public sector decision making is normally a challenge9. This is because leaders are judged by others based on the ethical decisions they make or otherwise. I have also come to realize the essence of the ethical principles including honesty, integrity, promise keeping, loyalty, fairness, respect for others, and accountability. These values do not apply to the leaders only but even the subordinate staff can reciprocate. I now feel that it is every person’s responsibility to conduct him or herself in appropriate and ethical manner in order to achieve excellence both in the public and in the private sectors10. My career has taken a new dimension in the sense that I am working towards achieving ethical excellence. I have learnt from the course that it is only through ethical leadership that managerial staff can be visionary as they value their subordinates11. The public workplace is full of bureaucracies and in case I find myself in a situation of conflict of authority, it would be prudent to invoke the ethical principles of fairness and honesty as opposed to loyalty. More often than not, I will have to face ethical dilemmas and the course helped me in understanding how to deal with exactly that. The concepts of ethical leadership, organizational structures, and administrative leadership have helped shaped my perception of the work environment especially in the public service, which have consequently improved my decision-making skills12. Question Four Ethical leadership is an indispensable aspect of management that cuts across the board ranging from organizational management to the political scene. Even a political position calls for some sort of ethical decision-making as the consequences of political decisions can at times be very costly to leaders13. In as much as political leaders would want to offer impartial leadership style, they are bound to bump into ethical dilemma situations. In the case of the democrat manager who found himself in a bureaucratic political position, there was need to act rationally. This is because the manager has to balance between professionalism and respect of others as an ethical leader. He clearly exhibited professionalism by declining to attend the supposed lunch invitation that was meant to arm-twist him in his duties14. A peculiar scene of conflict of authority surfaces in the story whereby the manager has to choose between objective responsibilities emanating from the council vice-chair and his own ethical judgment. In this regard, he decides to invoke the private sector norms that he had impress upon himself prior to joining the political landscape15. From the story, it is evident that government institutions are the worst hit by the lack of ethical allegiance and corruption as the vice-chair and the chair were morally corrupt thinking that the norms would have carried the day even after changing the leadership structure16. The case fundamentally involves issues of equity and integrity whereby the manager followed the ICMA code of ethics by making decisions based equality and impartiality. Additionally, he acted according to the tenet three that stipulated him to avoid unwarranted influence by other members from within or from without. The manager undoubtedly had a professional duty to perform his task in accordance with the policy frameworks and therefore could not afford to compromise his professionalism because of being loyal to the council members who had inherent plans of doing the hiring and the firing17. Some of the concepts of the course brought out by the case of the Democrat’s council include conflict of authority, private sector norms, respect by ethical leaders, and corruption. The manager has showed respect to the vice-chair and chair of the Democrats council in that instead of showing them outright his authority to hire and to fire, he makes a wise decision not to attend the meeting. He knows fully well the intentions of the vice-chair and chair in planning the supposed lunch meeting and takes the easier move of avoiding conflicts of interest and authority instead of engaging them in unnecessary arguments18. As concerns the private sector norms, we see the manager pondering over what appears to be a strange phenomenon to him because he is from the private sector. He refuses to jump into the bandwagon of bureaucrats that are used to micromanaging the affairs of the Democratic Party19. Another concept is the conflict of interest where the council members including their leaders are hell-bent on micromanaging the affairs of the party even if the policies do not stipulate so. They project a completely different interest from that of the manager due to egocentrism. I have to admit that the events that unfolded in the end encouraged me that though the society may be full of people who believe in unethical administrative leadership styles, it only takes one person to change the whole situation20. Bibliography Cooper, Terry L. The Responsible Administrator: An Approach to Ethics for the Administrative Role. Sixth ed. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 2012. Fluker, Walter E. Ethical Leadership: The Quest for Character, Civility, and Community. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2009. Foster, Gregory D. Ethics, The Ethics Edge, ICMA, Washington, D.C.: 2006. Gilliland, Stephen, Dirk Steiner, and Daniel Skarlicki. Managing Social and Ethical Issues in Organizations. Greenwich, CT: Information Age Pub. Inc, 2007. Kimmel, Allan J. Ethical Issues in Behavioral Research Basic and Applied Perspectives. Oxford, UK: Blackwell Pub, 2007. Read More