Public Sector Ethical Dilemmas

What values are important to resolve public and nonprofit sector ethical dilemmas? Values are essential to the success of public and nonprofit organizations. They serve as the building blocks of organizational vulture and a person’s character. Rokeach (1968) defines values as “a single belief that transcendentally guides actions and judgments across specific objects and situations, and beyond immediate goals to more ultimate end-states of existence” (Rokeach, 1968, pg. 160). In other words values motivate and guide individuals to choose a certain way to behave. Dwight Waldo (1984) defined public sector values as “criteria for action”, because public administration is about action. Cooper discussed the power values have in individuals’ day-to-day …show more content…
Ultimately, he turned to his subjective responsibility to gain an ethical perspective on the situation. He closely and carefully reflected on the issue, examined his responsibilities, and other possible alternatives. This is clearly an example of the public administrator examining professional values (e.g. effectiveness) and ethical values (e.g. …show more content…
A number of 52 participants chosen from different roles (executive, middle management, and front line level employees) and organizational types. The professors found that context matters when exercising values, and the top five values most important in their work are: honesty, integrity, lawfulness, benevolence and incorruptibility. These were the top picked values when a public administrator is facing an ethical dilemma. The remaining three categories of values: professional, human, and democratic values, were viewed as significant as well (Molina and McKeown ). All categories of values have been the key for public administrators “pursuing the public interest” (