Ethics and Values, imposing changes on people

Ethics and Values

Ethics is the differentiation of good from evil, the virtues from the vice and what is right from what is wrong. ‘It deals with the practical issues of morals and knowledge. David cooper, (1998),pg(2). While values can be said to be the maintenance of the ethics that are depicted as good, responsible conduct can be said to be living according to the set rules and regulations that are expected of an individual. In public organizations, the maintenance of responsible conduct can be either by external control or internal control.

External controls

This is the attempt to impose on people the kind of behavior you want and expect them to have. It could involve the change of a certain set of rules and regulations on the finding out of misconduct among the members in the organization. It could also involve the re-organization of the structure of the organization in order to come up with a plan that has a more careful monitoring system on what takes place in the organization. This could be through changing the supervisory roles in a department or appointing new members to such positions. This way it will be much easier to find out the individuals that are irresponsible. For example in the criminal and justice system, a number of in service training on the ethics of the organization are included as part of the programs in the police departments. This is a different approach to ethics scandal in the public office that seems to encourage professional socialization. In such a department like the police force, there are devoted training programs on ethical conduct and discussions on ethics are part of the agenda in their local meetings. Another example is the amendments that were made after the scandals in the Regan administration. The amendments were made to the 1978 ethics act and were meant to strengthen and extend the controls of the government. A new office was also formed to implement the set rules, (149)

The external controls though imply that the people working in the public service do not have the chance to make decisions on their own course. They are limited to abide by the set rules of conduct and not by what they believe is right.

Internal controls.

These are the type of controls that set the rules, observe the response of the public to the sets rules, and then adjusts the set rules to the public demand or to the public convenience. This calls for the administrators of the rules to be responsive to the people who the rules are directed to and also work according to the anticipation of the public who are the subjects. For example the American society for public administration, has a guide to the public ethics that the administrators must use. It involved the raising of questions to sensitize people about their own ethical and professional values; it therefore encourages self assessment. For internal controls to be efficient double standard should be allowed with the administrators being firm on maintaining the set rules. The internal controls will therefore involve the proper knowledge of the technical applications and also sensitivity towards the subjects who are to abide by the rules. Technical knowledge is the standard by which the administrators are accountable but this accountability can only be held by fellow technicians. Another example of the internal control is the communication of the public with their government in a democratic society like the American government. The public mostly do so in form of inquiries, suggestions and criticism which are directed to the government either directly or through the administrator. The public will demand that the administrator be responsive to their demands and preferences. The administrator on the other hand will have to keep at par with the changing trends in the society, therefore give administrations according to the preference of the society at large rather than according to his own wills.

Internal controls can therefore be said to be a set of attitudes values and beliefs that are internalized, unlike the external controls that are commanded by the power and behavior of an individual and have their origins from a particular source of power.

References

David E.Cooper, Robert L. (1998). Ethics: the classic readings. U.S.A. Blackwell publishing Ltd.