Nonprofit Sector Values

Introduction The importance of public service values to public, nonprofit organizations, and to administrators are significant. These values guide administrators’ to perform their day-to-day duties and maintain the public’s trust. At some point administrators’ will find themselves in ethical dilemmas and they will need to evaluate and prioritize their personal values, while considering values that are important to the organization. I aim to describe public and/or nonprofit sector values and explain how they encourage democratically, responsible, and ethical decision-making. In this paper I will discuss what values are important to resolve ethical dilemmas in the public and nonprofit sector, explain what legitimizes these values from four different …show more content…
However, it is common for values to be in conflict or clash. This is called an ethical dilemma. An ethical dilemma involves ethical values like integrity versus accountability. Values aid public administrators resolve ethical dilemmas by introducing standards of conduct which guides action. Cooper explains how administrative responsibility is the most common cause for ethical dilemmas. Public administrators must be aware of two types of responsibility if an ethical issue presents itself: objective and subjective responsibilities. Objective responsibility involves responsibility to someone such as an elected official, the public, and/or the law, and for certain duties (accomplishing goals and overseeing subordinates), while subjective responsibilities are to values, attitudes, and beliefs developed throughout different personal and professional experiences in life (Cooper, 2012, pg. 79). The different aspects of responsibility are what guides public administrators’ decisions and influence behavior. Cooper illustrates ethical dilemma cases to his readers, which demonstrates the importance of values and how to evaluate …show more content…
The four categories are ethical values (e.g. loyalty and respect), democratic values (e.g. legality and benevolence), and professional values (e.g. service and efficiency). (Kernaghan, 2003, pg. 7120). The ethical values category can help public and nonprofit administrators determine what is right and wrong, and resolve issues involving conflicts of authority and conflicts of interest. While ethical values are essential, the combined categories of values is what enables public administrators to successfully and effectively, perform their administrative duties, and remain a legitimate