Achala Dahal/Shiva Hari Adhikari Integrity and Ethics Professional Course on Management and Development Achala Dahal/Shiva Hari Adhikari

Presentation outline Understanding integrity A holistic approach of accountability, competence and ethical behavior

A thought……. 5/22/2019

Key questions Am I giving my best? Will my action or decisions be in the interest of or for the greatest good for the greatest number? Am I willing to stand up for and defend what is right? Am I twisting facts for personal advantages? How potential am I? Am I am performing with my full potentiality? What is my approach of decision making? Am I guided with public interest?

Integrity The word "integrity" stems from the Latin adjective ‘integer’ means whole, complete. … is the inner sense of "wholeness" deriving from qualities such as honesty and consistency of character. … is knowing right things to do and doing the right things.

Integrity … is a concept of ‘consistency’ of actions, values, methods, measures, principles, expectations, and outcomes. … is being true to oneself, i.e. acting according to own-self.

Public sector ethics and integrity Civil servant integrity Commitment to work Competency and ethical character Transparency, trust and trustworthiness Public or organisation integrity is that set of characteristics that justify trustworthiness and generate trust among stakeholders. (Integrity Action, 2016)

Integrity Integrity is the alignment of four factors: Accountability Competence Ethical Behaviour Corruption

Accountability Competence Ethical behaviour Transparency Access to information Consistency Social responsibility Clarity Open to stakeholders Professionalism Quality Effectiveness Reliability Responsiveness Stewardship Trustworthy Fairness Honesty Lawfulness Anti-corruption Social justice Respecting rights Confidentiality Without corruption ( Bribes, Patronage, Greed, Theft, Plagiarism, Exploitation, Manipulation) (with corruption control) - Integrity Action

Group Work Present your thoughts in picture/ diagram/symbol to explain what does following mean to you at your workplace: Accountability (Group 1) Competence (Group 2) Ethical behavior (Group 3) Corruption control (Group 4) I = a( A+C+E)- C (Group 5) Each group has 10 minutes to prepare and 2 minutes to present.

Accountability Enabling stakeholders to check that we do what we say we do.

Citizen Civil Servant -Entitled to receive public services -Rights to hold service provider accountable Civil Servant -Proactive (even if people are unable to ..) -Create favorable environment Accountability

Key issues Position of our people to whom we serve The intermediaries‘ role The state mechanism and its capacity What we demonstrate (community of practice, organization and peer to peer) What about agreement for mutual welfare

Ethical competency - Book on Ethical competency and perspective The knowledge and understanding of the relevant Code of Ethics or domain of ethics Morally mature and think differently Define and solve morale problem and solve the ethical dilemma

Ethical Competency-2016 OECD integrity Forum Problem identification Skills Problem solving skills Advocacy skills: Self-awareness and trust-building skills Subject-matter knowledge Attitude and commitment Developing Ethical Competence The Competency Based Education movement of the past two decades redirected the focus of instruction from seeking to impart a body of theoretical knowledge considered useful in developing a knowledge base and a range of skills, to a focus on developing a desired capacity to deliver specifically defined performance. Thus it is that the prescription of a ‘competency’ refers to what the learner should be able to do in the field of practice: ‘competence’ in this sense is based on underlying knowledge and skills, as well as the ability to mobilise ‘appropriate’ values and attitudes. 6 Applied to the task of developing ethically competent public officials, the professionalization objective aims to develop skills whereby officials can correctly identify role-relevant ethics issues accurately, and make defensible (i.e. ethically appropriate) judgments in the context of applicable core values. Set against this background, the methodology developed by the author requires a more complete account of the specific elements of ‘ethical competence’ for public officials, in the following terms: • Problem identification skills: closely related to the notion referred to in the Kohlbergian literature as ‘ethical sensitivity,’ this set of skills covers the diagnostic and analytic skills needed to identify (‘construct’) an ethically problematic situation in a role-relevant context, together with the ability to undertake a values-clarification process to test the proper application of relevant standards, to test assumptions, and to conclude whether further information might change the decisionmaker’s understanding of the matter. The performance objective here is to ensure that officials can reliably recognize where a given case, once properly understood, is or is not covered by one or more rules or norms. • Problem-solving skills: this set of skills supports the task of resolving an issue to achieve an appropriate (i.e. role-relevant) outcome, where competing and conflicting goods compete for attention. Similar to Rest’s (Rest and Narvaez 1994) ‘moral judgment’ component, this set of skills includes the ability to recognize and consider the competing and conflicting demands of ethical rules or norms, in the context of applicable law, the organization’s policy and practice, professional practice rules, ‘the public interest,’ and the legitimate interests of particular individuals or special groups. Problem-solving in this context requires both ‘moral reasoning’ ability and a ‘systems thinking’ approach to deal with reasonably foreseeable consequences of any proposed decision. • Advocacy skills: the ability to advocate effectively for a principled and reasoned view of a given matter, and to argue in favour of, or against, a proposed decision and its ethical justification. Such advocacy necessarily involves different audiences, such as ministers, media, involved parties, civil servants, review tribunals, and the public at large. It also relies 7 on the possession of specific language and argumentation skills. ‘Getting the words for things right,’ as Confucius observed, is a primary duty of rulers, and of their delegates, ‘lest the people become confused, and practices and institutions fall into confusion’. • Self-awareness and trust-building skills: ‘Doing Ethics’ is fundamentally a social activity. For public officials, this involves taking proper account of the legitimate rights and interests of other parties, including the state. Officials must develop ability to be disinterestedly selfcritical in recognizing the merits and weaknesses of their institutional position, and of the principled positions that may be taken by other officials, individuals, and interests. Holders of public office are necessarily obliged, by the nature of public office, to act fairly in relation to those over whom they exercise, either directly or as delegates, the power and authority of the state and the agency which they serve. • Subject-matter knowledge: all public officials need a good-enough grounding in the institutional ethics standards that apply to their specific role, and the institutional supports, such as law, policy, and processes that define that role in practice. They also require a goodenough understanding of the real-world context in which they seek to perform their functions, to ensure that their decisionmaking is relevantly grounded. Both de facto and de jure standards of ethical official conduct and integrity standards, together with the legal, institutional, political, and cultural justifications for those standards, must be adequately understood by public officials whose role is governed by such standards. • Attitude and commitment: perhaps the most problematic area of developmental intervention in ethics is achieving commitment to the application of standards. Notoriously, knowledge of norms does not of itself guarantee conforming conduct. Developing ‘ethical competence’ among officials aims in part to promote rational commitment to appropriate civic norms and standards, through the use of reflective learning. Such commitment may be developed in general terms, but is undermined in practice where a particular learner’s organization does not ensure that ‘appropriate norms and standards’ are observed and supported in the workplace, leading to personal and organisational cognitive dissonance.

Ethics and ethical behaviour A set of moral principles and standards of “right” behavior and conduct. Right or wrong, good or bad in actions that affects others. A group of moral principles or set of values that define or direct us to the right choice.

Higher ethical standard and practices are critical in administering work to gain public trust. Ethical behavior is the standards that you hold for yourself of the attributes of honesty, responsibility, and how you treat others in all facets of your life.

“Honesty is very expensive gift, Don’t Expect it form a cheap people.” Warren Buffet 5/22/2019

Corruption control Klitgaard (1998) UNDP (2004) C = D + M – A Where, C=Corruption, D=Discretion, M=Monopoly over power/resources & A=Accountability UNDP (2004) C = (D+M) – (A+T+I) Where, T=Transparency & I=Integrity

Key issues How supportive are the political institutions? How are the relationships among social groups and between social groups and the political system in the country? How is the socio-economic situation of the country? How supportive are the prevailing ethics, norms and values in society?

Study findings Source: CIAA Annual Reports.

Officer (%), N = 803 Non-Officer (%), N = 1213 11.0 89.0 100.0 (630) Types of Corruption Complain Position Total (N) Officer (%), N = 803 Non-Officer (%), N = 1213 Fake Document Related 11.0 89.0 100.0 (630) Illegal Benefits and Illicit Earnings 66.4 33.6 100.0 (286) Bribery 42.7 57.3 100.0 (260) Fraud 56.0 44.0 100.0 (50) Misuse of Public Property 50.1 49.9 100.0 (485) Procurement and Construction 53.1 46.9 100.0 (305) 39.8 60.2 100.0 (2016) Chi Square 353.835***   Likelihood Ratio 393.003*** Phi and Cramer's V 0.419*** Note: Table generated based on the cases published in CIAA annual reports (2006 - 2015).

Table: Statistical analysis of the gap between law and practice regarding integrity in public sector (1 = very weak and 5 = very strong) Minimum Average Value Maximum Average Value Mean Std. Deviation Integrity Provisions 1 4 2.69 .69 Integrity Practice 3.86 2.46 .65 Total (N = 54)   Source: Adhikari, 2017

Tips for building integrity Do what you say Take responsibility Take care of yourself Think of the big picture Respect others Check the mirror Be consistent for what is right and wrong

Thank you