Ethics in public sector organisations: a managerial perspective

Citation

Monfardini, P. (2009), "Ethics in public sector organisations: a managerial perspective", Journal of Accounting & Organizational Change, Vol. 5 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/jaoc.2009.31505aad.001

Ethics in public sector organisations: a managerial perspective

Article Type: Doctoral research abstracts From: Journal of Accounting & Organizational Change, Volume 5, Issue 1

Purpose – The aim of the thesis is to investigate and develop an ethical framework for public sector organisations after the New Public Management season with particular attention to managerial consequences. In particular, the main focus is on seeking the possibility for a common ethical foundation to be applied to the different kinds of public sector organisations posing the discussion on organisations as moral agents.Design/methodology/approach – Through an extensive literature review, the main public sector ethics theories are analysed to point out strength and weaknesses in their implementation. Theories have been distinguished in normative and non-normative ones emphasising that in the present debate the formers find a wider consensus. Reasons for choosing a normative theory have been placed building on the work of Peter French. The analysis of the normative theories takes into consideration the constitutional theory, the virtue theory and the citizenship theory. The first builds the ethical foundation of a society and therefore the one of the public sector organisations on the running constitution inferring fundamental principles from it. The main concerns with such approach lay on the necessity to have a certain grade of flexibility in the constitution and in the difficulties to deduce practical guidelines for behaviours from very general and broad principles. Virtue ethics theory finds founding principles for organisations behaviours in the civic virtues clarified by Aristotele. Again in the thesis concern is raised about the implementation of such approach in the real life. In the end, Citizenship theory is analysed. Its main focus in on the role of the citizen in the state and on the duty for Public Sector Administration to listen to their constituent. Moving from citizenship theory the thesis suggests accountability and citizen participation in decision making as two of the founding principles for public sector organisations ethics.Findings – New Public Management based reforms effects on accountability are investigated in order to clarify what kind of accountability do citizens deserve and about what. In particular, the chameleon nature of accountability is emphasised together with the shift toward an increasing demand for performance accountability. The duty to disclose information and the citizen’s right to transparency are now even more important considering the discretionary powers allotted to non elected public servants. The citizen participation in considered to be the second founding principle because it calls back democratic principles in their traditional shape. A citizen participation assessment model is provided together with some consideration on managerial feasibility of direct democracy in decision making. In the end the two path are considered together to analyse the role of accounting documents. Their role is unanimously considered to be double-faced. On one hand, they are traditionally used as a mean of discharging accountability, therefore in the new described scenario they need to be reframed in order to be coherent with the new accountability demand. On the other hand they are tools for decision making processes.Originality/value – Public sector organisation need to disclose different and more focused sets of information to citizens to allow them to be involved in decision making processes.

Keywords: Public administration, Ethics, Public sector, Management accountability, Information disclosure

Research type – Qualitative researchInstitution – University of Siena, Siena, ItalyContact e-mail – monfardini@unisi.it

Patrizio MonfardiniDepartment of Business and Social Studies,University of Siena, Siena, Italy