Institutional
Key Points from Cooper reading
The chapter 7 in cooper’s book examines the problem associated with upholding responsible behavior in the context of a manager. Firstly, Cooper broadens the chapter by widening the irresponsible behavior to comprise the traditional immoral conduct and the intentional poor work performance. Secondly, the chapter also focuses on the conflict that occurs between the internal and external controls as the major causes of the irresponsible behavior. Finally, the chapter also discusses on the major elements of the ethical conduct, and Cooper identifies four major elements that constitute ethical conduct.
The first element is the personal attribute. This entails the ethical decision skills, the mental approach and the proficiency values. The other element is the organizational structure. This entails clear responsibility, mutual arrangements, dispute channels, and involvement strategies. In these elements, Managers should ensure that the organization chart used by the organization is flexible and understandable. Employees should understand their chain of command and the alternate avenues in case the normal channels are inactive. The third channel discussed is the organizational culture. Cooper marks this element as significant. Societal expectations are the last and final element discussed, and this entails societal involvement in the business welfares.
The idea here is that, the societal has great expectations from individuals employed by the government. In essence, cooper says that an optimal design for accountable public administrator is the one that embraces the four elements identified as the elements of responsible administration that supports moral behavior.
Brief summary of the article - D. Radhika (2012)
The current world experiences an increase in the fields related to moral values of the independent good. Numerous studies have focused their research in this area and several scholars have revealed various moral and philosophical challenges linked to the aspect of ethics in public administration. Regardless of the increasing number of research studies that focuses on the significance of administrative ethics, there is very little research in identifying the major elements of ethics in administration. This article reviews the implications of the basic values of ethics for public administration in the context of the current new business governance and its impacts on various administration imperatives which acts as main constituents of public administration. The article focuses on the significance of ethics in the current business practices, for instance, privatization, business decentralization, debureaucratization and devolution of budgets among others. These are the emerging trends in business environments that must perform in presence of ethics and organization norms in order to succeed. An example that cited in the article is the concept of e-governance which needs an identification of an entire paradigm of moral values in public administration.
Relationship between the article and the Cooper Reading
There is a close connection between the article and cooper’s reading, in that, both discloses the impact that individuals can cause based on their organizational behaviors. If an individual’s behavior fails to adhere to the societal or rather the organizational norms, then, this negatively impacts the organization and vice versa.
What new insights do you have about this topic?
Ethical and organizational norms are not only evolved from effective decisions skills, the communal involvement, and individual attribute and so forth as discussed in the article. Rather Strong leadership is another aspect that greatly contributes towards maintaining moral values and organizational norms. The leadership qualities in question include individual commitment, sovereignty in making decisions, business loyalty and so forth. Business leadership plays a crucial role in influencing the moral conduct of the employees, and this enhances both internal and external relationship.
What are your new insights personally and/or professionally?
Personally, I believe that for the business to succeed, ethical and organizational conduct must be embraced since they determine the wellbeing of both the internal and external environment. On a professional basis, leaders must grasp relevant knowledge and skills in order to uphold the integrity and accountability in the business environment.
And what you gain from this reading.
I learn the significance of embracing ethical conduct and organization norms in business environments
References
Cooper, T. (2012).The Responsible Administrator: An Approach to Ethics for the Administrative Role, 6th Ed. Jossey-Bass.
D. Radhika. (2012 –Feb). Ethics in Public Administration, Journal of Public Administration and Policy Research Vol. 4(2) pp. 23-31 March, 2012. Available online at http://www.academicjournals.org/JPAPR
