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peer1

Certainly, public office morality refers to follow the government rules and being honest. In fact, morality involves decision making and action taken regarding to the benefit of the public. Consequently, the public refers to the nation or to the country.  Therefore, the public interest comes first than private and group benefits. Basically, moral is related to decision and action taken, in the best interest of the citizens. For example, when a crime is done to enforce the law, it is considered an honor.  Ultimately, the public is the most important thing, since, they are the purpose of developing policies. Certainly, the public’s projection, nurture and defense is a symbol of inspiration and intellectual work (Stillman, 2013).

In the United States, ethical obligations and the public service concern with the source and ethical obligation that public administrators should respond regarding to the interest of the public.  In fact, Obligation to the Constitution is a mandated obligation, where an individual should respect and defend the constitution. Indeed, the constitution is the government foundation of rules and values. Second, Obligation to Law, states that laws declared under the constitution are legal and consist in ethical responsibilities. Truly, people’s identity relates to the nation’s ethical obligations.  Similarly, Obligation to Democracy is not related to obligation to the constitution, instead, it refers to a set of practices that interlace with the constitution. Public administrators grow an emotional passion for democracy, then they develop obligations. In the same way, Obligation to Organizational-Bureaucratic Norms considers generic obligations, which refers to human innate characteristics, such as, productivity, efficiency, loyalty and many others. Then, Obligation to Profession and Professionalism, discuss a persons’ changes by the practice of his/her profession, this person transforms his/her values and behavior (Stillman, 2013).  

I believe public acceptance is crucial, when it comes to organizational structure activity.   Political movement is possible because of groups that support political actions.  Public resistance affects representative’s decision making. Truly, a policy implementation is considered successful, if the public participates and benefits from it.  In fact, citizen’s characteristics, such as demographic and socio-economic, as well as the policy’s characteristics affect public acceptability (The CECILIA2050 Project, 2015).

Considerably, public organizations are political structures, they may be socio-economy, problem-solving instruments and others.  Accordingly, organizations function by the practice of power provided by politicians.  Thus, public managers should be motivated to secure and practice the assigned power.  Leaders should practice the power to motivate employees, as well as, in growing organizational relations.  Organizational power is linked to the manager’s personality and values. A public organization’s purpose is to meet the public needs, as a result, this influence economy. Certainly, it helps public administrator professionals to grow a career.  In fact, managers gain a position where they can practice the power according to their experience. In the same way, public leaders grow clientele by practicing moral values and following rules. Ultimately, politician’s projects and public administrations’ actions are based on the public’s needs (Zaleznik, 2107).

References

Zaleznik, A.; (2017).  Power and Politics in Organizational Harvard Business review 70.

Retrieved from  https://hbr.org/1970/05/power-and-politics-in-organizational-life

The CECILIA2050 project, (2015). What Influences Public Acceptance of the Current Policies

to Reduce GHG Emissions? Retrieved from http://cecilia2050.eu/publications/239

Stillman, R.; (2013). Public Morality and Private Morality.  Public Administration. Wadsworth

9 2010-01-01  

peer2  

Examine and analyze the following checklist developed by an interagency task force for choosing an organizational structure. From this list, select the criteria that you find to be the best in terms of their relevance and the way they are able to keep administrative agencies accountable to the public for results and transparency.

Evaluate and explain which ones you think are most often in conflict with each other.

• Public acceptance
• Adaptability
• Professional competence
• Participation, representativeness, and diversity
• Effective databases
• Cost and timeliness
• Promotion of private efficiency
• Accountability to the president
• Accountability to Congress
• Compatibility with state regulation

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Reviewing this list of criteria, I believe cost and timeliness is the most relevant way to keep agencies accountable to the public for results and transparency.  Analyzing how an agency spends money and their speed/accuracy of service are key indicators of their organizational health.  Therefore, professional competence could be in direct conflict with cost and timeliness.   Those managing an agency that do not have the necessary professional competencies can cause inefficiencies in spending and processes. 

I came to this conclusion researching the Government Accountability Office (GAO).  This agency exists merely for oversight of the spending and efficiencies of the federal government.  The GAO is “an independent, nonpartisan agency that works for Congress and investigates how the federal government spends taxpayer dollars” (GAO, 2017).  The GAO serves to help government agencies with transparency and accountability by auditing operations to ensure they are fiscally responsible and ethically managed.  They focus their time on ensuring tax payer dollars are spent correctly (cost) and help agencies be more efficient, effective and responsive (timeliness).   

The mere existence of this agency shows the importance placed on cost and timeliness.   There is a lot of media attention given to instances of mismanagement but I do not think enough attention is given to the work that is done to help government agencies.  In 2015, the GAO’s work provided more than 1,286 program and operational benefits which helped change laws, improve services to the public, and promote sound management throughout government (GAO, 2017).  I think most Americans would be relieved to know this agency exists and I wish there was more publicity given to the actions of this organization. 

Another reason I think cost and timeliness are the most important is because time and money are some of the biggest indicators of success.  The overall impact of an agency should be the most important indicator of success but, programs that come in overbudget and past deadline are perceived as failures.  The public expects government to be timely in delivery and that taxpayer dollars are used responsibly.  When that does not happen, there is distrust and lack of faith in the agency.   When I worked in the nonprofit sector, we were under scrutiny to make sure the funding we raised was administered ethically.  It was very important that we showed donors that the programs administered were implemented in a timely fashion, was impactful to the served population, and that spending was kept within the budget.  If this did not happen, we ran the risk of upsetting donors and losing future funding which would negatively impact the organization. 

Professional competence can conflict with cost and timeliness.  If a person does not have the competencies necessary to perform a job, the agency can suffer.  I have been in situations where my manager did not understand the scope of the project we were trying to complete.  Without her input and direction, the project just spun its wheels, and took much longer than necessary.  Everyone involved was frustrated, including volunteers and donors that were assisting with the project.  As the project progressed, participation diminished and it became increasingly difficult to complete.  ` The final results were met with a lukewarm response and the project never received the kind of traction initially hoped for.  It cost my agency not only money, but staff time and resources.  This manager did not have the competencies necessary to lead the project and the outcome was disappointing for all stakeholders. 

References:

GAO.  (2017).  Government Accountability Office.  Retrieved from https://www.gao.gov/