THE ROLE OF ORGANISATIONAL ETHICS MANAGEMENT WITHIN THE SOUTH AFRICAN PUBLIC SERVICE

Yıl 2017, Cilt: 9 Sayı: 2, 137 - 150, 01.06.2017

Nethonzhe Thonzhe Shikha Vyas Doorgapersad

Öz

There is a limited body of knowledge on the role of organisational ethics
management, systems and mechanisms in promoting and driving ethics on strategic,
system and operational levels. Public officials still have to be convinced of the
importance of ethics within their organisations. Getting the ethics message across
to large groups of employees in a cost-effective, yet powerful manner remains a
challenge. An in-depth conceptualisation and contextualisation of ethics is required
to strategise organisational ethics management in the public service. The article
attempts to unlock the transdisciplinary relationship of philosophy and public
administration to determine the significance of ethical reasoning in decisionmaking
structures. Due to the advent of New Public Management (NPM), Public
Administration faces a paradigmatic shift towards decentralisation and relativism
that demands more accountability and responsibility. The article aims to explore
the merits of philosophical tools and normative approaches to ensure ethical
governance in the South African public service. The main research question to be
addressed in this study is: “What is the role of organisational ethics management in
promoting good public administration and what strategies are required to combat
corruption and wrong-doing in the South African public service?” The purpose of
the article is to identify elements of organisational ethics management to enhance
an ethical administrative culture and promote sound public administration. The use
of literature review, annual reports and official documents form part of the desktop
conceptual and theoretical analysis. The article then offers suggestions for
improvement.

Anahtar Kelimeler

corruption, ethics, organisational ethics, public service, good governance