Ethics, Integrity and Accountability in Public Sector: Practice and Lessons Learned in Latvia Aleksejs Loskutovs, Director Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau Latvia 28 September 2006 (10 min.) The public sector in Latvia has undergone many important changes over the past decade. In mid 1990s Latvian government started a major public administration reform. This reform was one of the cornerstones on Latvia’s way to the European Union, which we joined in May 2004. Latvia made a great effort to develop legal framework that regulates the public sector, as well as relations between the public sector and the citizens. Today legislation in Latvia and internal regulations of different public institutions in various ways cover the principles …show more content…
To ensure that this policy and relevant legislation are actually implemented it was decided to establish a single, specialised anti-corruption body – the Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau. It was created by law in 2002. The Bureau is fully operational since February 2003. It is an independent institution of public administration with investigatory powers. According to the national anti-corruption policy the Bureau has a wide set of tasks starting with prevention of corruption through control of activities of public officials and financing of political parties, and education of the public to investigation of criminal offences of corruption in the public sector. Despite it is a new institution, the Bureau was recognised in 2005 as one of the most trusted institutions in Latvia. Further to this, Latvia has adopted the law on Prevention of Conflict of Interest in Activities of Public Officials. The purpose of this law is to promote the integrity of public officials, as well as transparency and accountability of the public service. The law provides for restrictions and incompatibilities in situations of combing
Many individuals in the contemporary society have trouble directing all of their efforts toward the wellbeing of the institution they work in. These people find it difficult to refrain from performing unethical acts as long as they know they can profit from the enterprise and that they are unlikely to get caught performing these respective acts. The person in the "A Story on Outside Business" video obviously has no problems with using government property with the purpose of achieving her personal goals. As a public administrator, an individual needs to make decisions that reflect on the institution he or she works in and thus has to put across ethical thinking in order to be able to perform his or her job with little to no hindrances.
When I entered this class I did not know anything about ethics or what it meant. I learned so many thing that it would take to long to list them all. I do understand the Ethics Code and the Ethical Standards for Human Service Professionals. That is one think I will have to always have with me and if I need to have a cheat sheet to look back on as I move forward. My biggest challenge was my grammar as I need to continue to work on this through out my life. I learned this was a problem for me through my assignments but am working on it. I hope some day it will come natural for me. This class was my biggest challenge as in terms of a grade. Because of this I learned that I have things to work on to improve myself moving forward.
Leaders in the public sector are expected to maintain a level of morality and integrity which serves the interests of society, while at the same time demonstrates personal responsibility, diplomacy, and truthfulness. Therefore, when attempting to arrive at appropriate ethical decisions, public administrators must possess the capacity to exercise moral imagination. However, moral imagination is not enough. Responsible administration in the public sector also requires acting based on the “right”
The roll of ethics in public administration is based on the administration; administrators should be value-free when they implement public policy. I will discuss why ethics should be based on the administration and, why it should not be based on each individual worker in the administration. I will discuss Weber’s stance on values in bureaucratic organizations, what Macintyre suggests, and what Hummel and Goodsell would conclude about values in public administration. Most people do not understand what an administration deals with everyday on an individual basis. They might think that an administration is supposed to make the best ethical choices, but that is not the case. People who are outside the administration might think that administrators are supposed to use everyday values when implementing policy, but that is also not the case.
Organizational climate is essential in developing a culture of incorruptible individuals and this climate is set by the organizations leaders. Within the SCORE unit of the Kansas City, Kansas Police Department (KCKPD) at the time of the indictment, it was not clear if leaders set a tone of ethical conduct, nor did it appear that principled conduct was the cornerstone of the command leadership philosophy. Specifically, all ethical standards for Kansas City Police Department are derived from Wyandotte County Unified Government code of ethics and the police department lacks police specific philosophies toward ethical conduct (Unified Government Ordinance, 2009). Although, the International Chiefs of Police have established a code of honor adopted by many police departments, it is unclear bases on empirical information what KCKPD leadership expected of their Police officers. For instance, it is vital for executive to formulate as stated by Martin (2011), “an agenda that explains the moral purposes of the department” (para. 6). Therefore, not making an ethics based agenda and delivering a repetitive and deliberate focus on such an agenda to all levels is one failure by leadership to have contributed to creating a perceived environment of unethical conduct. On the other hand, senior managers cannot root out corruption without captains, lieutenants, sergeants and senior officers. Middle and first-line leader are essential to the command structure ensuring high standards are
Public Finance is the role of government in the economy. Transparency and accountability in government financial management is crucial. The reading, “Understanding New York City’s Budget” references that due to government spending of taxpayer money to operate various services, several checks and balances such as Audits, City Council Oversight, Mayor’s Management Report (MMR), and Program Evaluation were put in place for accountability. The adherence to policy, procedures, rules, regulations and laws are important when compliance and integrity is the goal.
With these values in place makes sure that each person working within our organization models these characteristics. It helps establish priorities in daily work life and personal life and can help our organization grow. Effective organizations identify and develop a clear, concise and shared meaning of values/beliefs, priorities, and direction so that every employee understands and can
Since my journey here at Bryant began in September, I have changed so much. Coming here, I expected certain things such as my study habits, daily routine and friend group to be altered. One change I was not anticipating making was my approach to ethics. Over the course of the past fifteen weeks, my knowledge of ethics as well as my approach to ethics has changed. I have become more knowledgeable about the different approaches to ethics and have gained insight as to where I stand in my approach to ethics.
Leadership: Deborah inspires teamwork and continues to gain the respect of her peers through her own actions and attitude. She is always called upon by our Executive Management to complete high priority tasks.
Given the crucial role that government plays in society, public administrative values should begin with a deep commitment to these concepts. In keeping with the tenets of democratic theory, Public Administrators are presumed to share the values of the larger society and, at the same time, have an individually developed and deeply rooted commitment to the concepts of representative government. In the public sector, responsible public administration embraces and promotes ethical behavior and practices in the workplace. Since people are impacted by internal and external factors, there is also the potential for Public Administrators to be influenced to participate in or adopt behaviors that cause them
This essay will be about the importance of keeping the accountability of sensitive items. The US Army values soldiers that are accountable for their actions. The accountability of sensitive items affects the unit in many ways. AR 710-2 and AR 735-5 both cover the Army policy for property accountability. Some sensitive items are your weapon, military ID card, commo equipment, etc. Sensitive items are anything that can be used by opposing forces or the enemy to counter attack, weaken forces, and gain intel, and so on. People will sometimes get relaxed (complacent) or forgettable while not currently in a mission. If this happens it is very dangerous due to the fact that enemies are able to obtain any and possibly all of your sensitive items
Accountability is where someone holds someone else accountable for discharging a responsibility also an assurance an organisation or individual will be evaluated on their performance/behaviour regarding things which they are responsible for e.g.
There is an increasing necessity for social workers to increase their understanding of the skills and knowledge required to undertake the client’s challenges that are referred to them (Munro, 2004, p. 1076). It can be argued that evidence-based practice is the social workers ethical accountability. This is beneficial for the clients as individuals, and groups that social workers interact with (Plath, 2006, p. 59). Clients are involved as knowledgeable contributors in decision-making. Any ambiguity in the decision-making progressions is recognised (Nothdurfer & Lorenz, 2010, p.50).
SC Johnson is a company based in the U.S.A. with approximately 13,000 employees globally. They sell products in virtually every country around the world and lead the market in manufacturing cleaning products and storage for the home. SC Johnson is a company who is dedicated to the communities in which they operate and also to their innovative, high-quality products. They recognize communication among Nations can become challenging. By recognizing and defining the language barriers among the various cultures, SC Johnson is able to easily overcome the challenge of language barriers and work diligently together globally to stay on top in the industry. SC Johnsons commitment to each country they
Combating fraud in the private sector is a difficult task. Trying to combat fraud in the public sector is daunting. In 1999 15.7% of the American workforce were employed by a government entity (federal, state, and local).[1] Mirroring society, government will have its share of perpetrators. The difference from the private sector is in the scope of the fraud committed, the loss of the public trust, the blaring headlines from news media, and difficulty in making necessary changes to combat the problems.