Ethics –A Mandatory Instrument to Ensure Good Governance of the Public Sector
Ethics –A Mandatory Instrument to Ensure Good Governance of the Public Sector

Author(s): Sorela Maria Pruteanu
Subject(s): Business Economy / Management
Published by: Editura Lumen, Asociatia Lumen
Keywords: ethics; moral conduct; civil servants; organizational climate; good governance;
Summary/Abstract: In these times, the ethics problem is more pronounced in the area of decision making, as these may have a major impact on the community, regardless of the hierarchical level within the establishment of the person who made a specific decision. This article’s roadmap outlines the path government leaders can take to prevent actions that affect the institution’s image, proving responsibility for the health of the organizational climate. Therefore, even if we’re going through the era of the new public management which is focused on prompt resolution of citizens’ needs with minimum resources consumed, organizations’ representatives can still collaborate with their subordinates, in order to support the development and the assumption at individual level of the code of ethics. An efficient implementation of the code of ethics supports the integrity of employees, as well as organization’s integrity, improving its long-term performance. Given the differences between traditional management and new public management’s perspective regarding the institutional approach, this article tries to establish how a healthy ethical climate can be implemented, in the current circumstances, in which performance is measured in economic cost-benefit terms. An objective analysis will illustrate which scenario should be assumed by the representatives of the institutions: limiting the governmental intervention in certain sectors in order to reduce the acts of corruption or the inclination towards the privatization of public services, with the risk of diminishing the transparency of public administration actions. The conclusion highlights that managers have a social responsibility, so they must maintain the organization in an ethical balance, regardless of the goals of stakeholders.

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