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Public Sector Managers and Ethical Dilemmas

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 September 2015

Lisa Catherine Ehrich ,
Neil Cranston  and
Megan Kimber
Lisa Catherine Ehrich
Affiliation:
School of Learning & Professional Studies, Faculty of Education, Queensland University of Technology, Victoria Park Road, Kelvin Grove QLD 4059, Australia Phone: + 61 7 3864 3038, Fax: +61 7 3864 3981, Email: l.ehrich@qut.edu.au
Neil Cranston
Affiliation:
School of Learning & Professional Studies, Faculty of Education, Queensland University of Technology, Victoria Park Road, Kelvin Grove QLD 4059, Australia Phone: +61 7 3864 3288, Fax: +61 7 3864 3981, Email: n.cranston@qut.edu.au
Megan Kimber
Affiliation:
Faculty of Education, Queensland University of Technology, Victoria Park Road, Kelvin Grove QLD 4059, Australia Phone: +61 7 3864 5417, Fax: +61 7 3864 3981, Email: m.kimber@qut.edu.au
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Abstract

Controversies surrounding the behaviour of ministers and high profile leaders seem to be commonplace in public life. That there has been a resurgence of interest in the study of ethics is not surprising. The spotlight on ethics in the public domain has been due in part to the crisis in confidence about government and a lack of public trust in organisations. Furthermore, a complex organisational environment where managers are being required to juggle a ‘multitude of competing obligations and interests’ (Cooper 1998, p. 244) has provided fertile ground for the emergence of ethical dilemmas. In this paper we put forward a tentative model that reveals important inputs that bear upon an individual, such as a public sector manager, who is confronted with an ethical dilemma. In the final part of the paper we illustrate the model's efficacy with an ethical dilemma described by a retired senior public servant to determine whether the model works in practice.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Management & Organization , Volume 10 , Issue 1 , January 2004 , pp. 25 - 37
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press and Australian and New Zealand Academy of Management 2004

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