According to the journal 'Ethics' is a difficult term to define. The meaning, nature and scope of ethics have expanded in the course of time. 'Ethics' is integral to public administration. In public administration, ethics focuses on how the public administrator should question and reflect in order to be able to act responsibly. while public administration is about actions and decisions. Accountability and ethics is a difficult task. The levels of ethics in governance are dependent on the social, economic, political, cultural, and historical contexts of the country. These specific factors influence ethics in public administrative systems. This journal will explain the implication of an ethical code for administrators and the environment of work ethics
First, the determinants of ethics in public administration with regard to the individual attributes of public/civil servants include ethical decision-making skills (Richardson and Nigro 1987), mental attitude (Bailey, 1964), virtues (Dimock), 1990;Dobel, 1990; Gregory, 1999; Hart, 1989), and professional values (Van Wart, 1998). Secondly, the organizational structure dimension is explained by clear accountability, collaborative arrangements, dissent channels, and participation procedures (Denhardt, 1988; Thomson, 1985). Third, the political organizational culture includes artifacts, beliefs and values, and assumptions (Schein, 1985). Leadership is important in the development, maintenance, and adaptation of organizational culture (Scott, 1982; Schein, 1985; Ott, 1989). Ethical behavior is encouraged when organizations have a climate where personal standards and employee education are emphasized, where supervisors stress the truth, and where employees regularly come together to discuss ethical problems (Bruce, 1995, 1994).
Code of ethics play a guiding role in the ethics infrastructure, but they also take on a controlling function since they establish and publicize boundaries of behavior and set standards for public servants. Whatever level they apply to, the development and implementation of workable codes of ethics require sound management strategy that secures genuine employee acceptance of underlying values and ethics being promoted. The creation of Codes of Ethics or other forms of policies will be counterproductive if such instruments remain as no more than a collection of slogans or nice, good looking principles. In such a case, politicians seeking to verify their intentions or proposals as 'good' or 'ethical' will make use of them. In reality such instruments can serve as means of 'covering' illegal activities and lead to not only legal but also to a cynical form of moral corruption.
Such practices will work a short time only and will they lead to the loss of public trust, which, once lost, is difficult to regain or rebuild. As Rose Ackerman has pointed out 'if public sector pay is very low, corruption tends to be a survival strategy'. Public service conditions, particularly human resource policies, directly influence conduct. The conditions may be more or less conductive to ethical behavior by public servants. For example, low payments in public sector are partly blamed for the prevalence of petty corruption and other unethical practices in low income countries.
Ethics is a comprehensive concept, encompassing all facets of administration. Emphasis on moral and ethical norms has been an integral part of our tradition. Though vices of corruption, malpractices and bureau pathologies have slowly creped in our system, the combat measures have not been very effective. Administrative reforms measures have to be holistic enough taking into their purview questions on nature of work ethics, various dimensions of ethics, foci and concerns of ethics and also the nature of obstacles to ethical accountability. For any governance system to be transparent, accountable, efficient and sensitive, a Code of Ethics in the form of service rules, procedural norms, and administrative strategies the requirement of the day is. It is not possible to bring into force a Code of Ethics if it is self-serving and is subject to constant external interference and manipulation. Moreover, globalization trends have brought in a kind of universalisation of ethical norms and values. Philosophy of governance has transcended international boundaries. Almost every rung of administration is involved in decision-making. The conflict between individual values, organizational standards and societal norms is clearly visible. Though the code may not reflect a consensus of opinion on ethical issues, it can still provide direction and advice with regard to ethical conduct and assist the administrators in analyzing their options and alternatives in the right perspective. This Unit highlighted these very pertinent features.