Case Study 

Overview:

In this case study, you will apply your Statesmanship model to a real public administration context dealing with Human Resource policies, strategies, and procedures.  Remember to discuss the importance of the following:

• Covenant and hesed
• Covenant and ethics
• Performance evaluation
• Statecraft

General Guidelines:

• Case Study scenarios must be taken from documented (published) public administration contexts; no hypotheticals are allowed.  Students can focus on one particular public administration organization or may refer to a particular situation (well-documented by the research) that many public administrators face.
• All ideas shared by the student must be supported with sound reason and citations from the required readings, presentations, and additional research.
• Integrate Biblical principles within the case analysis.
• The paper should be 4-5 pages of content in length (not counting the title page or references), double-spaced, and in APA format.
• All required readings and presentations from the assigned module must be cited.
• 3-5 additional sources must be used.  This need not be scholarly so long as they are provide relevant political and economic analysis of your chosen nation.  Wikipedia may not be used (though certainly the student is welcome to review its content), and informal blogs are not appropriate.

Case Study 4 Instructions

Overview:

In this case study, you will apply your Statesmanship model to a real public administration context dealing with Human Resource policies, strategies, and procedures.  Remember to discuss the importance of the following:

· Covenant and hesed

· Covenant and ethics

· Performance evaluation

· Statecraft

General Guidelines:

· Case Study scenarios must be taken from documented (published) public administration contexts; no hypotheticals are allowed.  Students can focus on one particular public administration organization or may refer to a particular situation (well-documented by the research) that many public administrators face.

· All ideas shared by the student must be supported with sound reason and citations from the required readings, presentations, and additional research.

· Integrate Biblical principles within the case analysis.

· The paper should be 4-5 pages of content in length (not counting the title page or references), double-spaced, and in APA format.

· All required readings and presentations from the assigned module must be cited.

· 3-5 additional sources must be used. This need not be scholarly so long as they are provide relevant political and economic analysis of your chosen nation. Wikipedia may not be used (though certainly the student is welcome to review its content), and informal blogs are not appropriate.

This paper is due on Sunday at 11:59 pm (EST) of Module 7.

Case study Grading Rubric

Criteria

Levels of Achievement

Content

70%

Advanced

92-100%

Proficient

84-91%

Developing

1-83%

Not present

0%

Total

Personal Leadership Skills

14 to 15 pts
Personal leadership skills and attributes needed for effective leadership and statesmanship.

12.5 to 13.5 pts
Mostly discusses personal leadership skills and attributes needed for effective leadership and statesmanship.

1 to 12 pts
Some discussion of personal leadership skills and attributes needed for effective leadership and statesmanship.

0 pts
Lacks discussion of personal leadership skills and attributes needed for effective leadership and statesmanship.

Statescraft

14 to 15 pts
An understanding of the
important concepts related to
government structures and
processes needed for
effective leadership.

12.5 to 13.5 pts
Mostly understands important concepts related to government structures and processes needed for effective leadership.

1 to 12 pts
Somewhat understands important concepts related to government structures and processes needed for effective leadership.

0 pts
Does not understand important concepts related to government structures and processes needed for effective leadership.

Organization of

Content

7.5 to 8 pts
Organized discussion of
content.

6.5 to 7 pts
Mostly organized discussion of content.

1 to 6 pts
Discussion of content somewhat organized.

0 pts Disorganized discussion of content.

Use of Important Ideas from Readings

9.5 to 10 pts
Thorough review and use of
important ideas from required
reading and research.

8 to 9 pts
Mostly thorough review and use of important ideas from required reading and research.

1 to 7.5 pts
Somewhat thorough review and use of important ideas from required reading and research.

0 pts
Review is not thorough and important ideas not presented.

Using real case, apply Statesmanship Model to the Public Admin Context

14 to 15 pts
Detailed and relevant discussion of public administration context.

12.5 to 13.5 pts
Mostly detailed and relevant discussion of public administration context.

1 to 12 pts
Somewhat detailed and relevant discussion of public administration context.

0 pts
Discussion of public administration context has little detail or relevance.

Integrate Public Admin and Statesmanship

Public Admin.

Context

14 to 15 pts
A logical, critical and focused
discussion of how
statesmanship concepts are
relevant to the public
administration context.

12.5 to 13.5 pts
Mostly logical, critical and focused discussion of
statesmanship relevance to public administration context.

1 to 12 pts
Somewhat logical, critical and focused discussion of statesmanship relevance to the public administration context.

0 pts
Discussion is not logical and lacks focus of how statesmanship
relevance to public administration.

Detailed Conceptual Applications

9.5 to 10 pts
Thorough and critical review and use of important ideas on from required reading and research. Vagueness is avoided in lieu of detailed conceptual applications to specific contexts.

8 to 9 pts
Mostly thorough and critical review and use of important ideas from required reading and research. Vagueness is mostly avoided of detailed conceptual applications to specific contexts.

1 to 7.5 pts
Somewhat thorough and critical review and use of important ideas from required reading and research. Vagueness is somewhat avoided of detailed conceptual applications to specific contexts.

0 pts
Review is not thorough and lacks criticality of important ideas from required reading and research. Vague applications to specific contexts.

Structure

30%

Advanced

92-100%

Proficient

84-91%

Developing

1-83%

Not present

0 %

Total

Use of Sources

From Course

9.5 to 10 pts
Use of all relevant sources
from the module/week and
previous modules/weeks.

8 to 9 pts
Use of most relevant sources from the module/week and
previous modules/weeks.

1 to 7.5 pts
Use of some relevant sources from the module/week and previous modules/weeks.

0 pts
Use of no relevant sources from the module/week and
previous modules/weeks.

Outside Sources

9.5 to 10 pts
Use of 3 to 5 outside
scholarly sources.

8 to 9 pts
Use of 2 or 3 outside scholarly sources.

1 to 7.5 pts
Use of 1 or 2 outside scholarly sources.

0 pts
Use of no outside scholarly sources.

Pages & Spacing

4.5 to 5 pts
4 to 5 pages; double-spaced

3.5 to 4 pts.
3 to 4 pages; double-
spaced

1 to 3 pts
2 to 3 pages or not double-spaced

0 pts.
Less than 2 pages or not double-spaced

Grammar & APA

11 to 12 pts
Proper grammar and current
APA format

10 to 10.5 pts
A few grammar and APA errors

1 to 9.5 pts
Several grammar and APA errors

0 pts
Grammar and APA not at graduate level

Professor Comments:

Total

/125

Copyright © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.

CHAPTER 6

The Management of Human Resources

 LEARNING OBJECTIVES

1. Understanding the value of a merit system in government employment

2. Learning about the activities of the human resources function

3. Understanding the importance of collective bargaining and labor-management relations

4. Learning about issues that affect human resources, such as diversity and discrimination

5. Understanding the relationship between the political and career administrators

 SUMMARY OVERVIEW

The concept of a merit-based civil service personnel system serves as a principal organizing

feature of this chapter. The authors address the importance of managing the people who work in

government organizations and examine the reasons behind the rules, regulations, and “red tape”

that often appear as roadblocks to effective personnel management. The chapter covers the rise of

the spoils system in the United States and the move to reform the civil service based on merit

rather than political favoritism, including the creation of the Pendleton Act, the Civil Service

Reform Act, and more recent efforts at “reinvention.” The discussion also addresses the ways in

which these reforms have been adopted at the state and local levels.

Chapter 6 also examines the main components of the personnel function, including classification

systems, recruiting, and pay systems. Conditions of employment also are addressed in this

section, as those who hire and manage government employees must be concerned with issues of

drug use, sexual harassment in the workplace, the rights of individuals with HIV/AIDS, violence

in the workplace, and processes for removing employees.

A key component of this chapter is a detailed discussion about the changes in the relationship

between labor and management in the public sector and the rise and decline of public-sector

unions. The authors trace the history of public-sector unions, outlining the conditions that led to

their development and affecting their growth. Labor-management relations at the federal level

also are contrasted with those at the state and local levels. This section offers a detailed

description of the steps in the bargaining process and discusses the implications of the decision on

the part of employees to strike. This section closes with a look at recent efforts to limit collective

bargaining rights for public employees at the federal, state and local levels.

The chapter then moves to an examination of fundamental issues of discrimination in public

employment, which includes a review of the development and purpose of equal employment

opportunity and affirmative action programs and the Americans with Disabilities Act. The

authors detail the varying approaches to enforcing compliance among employers as defined by

federal guidelines and key court decisions and discuss recent developments in attempts to correct

past patterns of discrimination against women and minorities through affirmative action. This

section also includes an examination of the problems of extending diversity throughout public

72 Chapter 6: The Management of Human Resources

Copyright © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.

organizations and the gaps that still are being experienced by women and minorities in terms of

pay, job status, and overall employment opportunity.

The final section of the chapter deals with the difficult relations between political appointees and

career executives. The authors argue that the tension between political responsiveness and

managerial effectiveness that characterizes public administration is illustrated particularly well in

the relationship between political appointees and career public executives. As appointees become

“bosses” of career civil servants, tensions may arise because the political appointee wishes to

move in new policy directions but often has little experience in government operations while the

career executive has both knowledge and expertise but, aware of potential problems, may appear

reluctant to change. The attempt to reconcile the two positions, the authors note, brings the focus

back to the question of politics and administration.

 CHAPTER OUTLINE

I. MERIT SYSTEMS IN PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT

A. Spoils versus Merit

 Public Administration in History: THE SPOILS SYSTEM

 Exploring Concepts: PRINCIPLES OF CIVIL SERVICE

B. The Civil Service Reform Act and Its Aftermath

C. Reinvention and the National Performance Review

D. State and Local Personnel Systems

II. HIRING, FIRING, AND THINGS IN BETWEEN

A. Classification Systems

B. The Recruitment Process

C. Pay Systems

D. Conditions of Employment and Related Matters

E. Sexual Harassment

F. AIDS Policy

G. Workplace Violence

H. Removing Employees

I. Personnel Reform Efforts

 Public Administration Reform: URGENT BUSINESS FOR AMERICA

III. THE CHANGING CHARACTER OF LABOR-MANAGEMENT RELATIONS

A. Steps in the Bargaining Process

B. To Strike or Not to Strike

C. Unions Redefined

IV. CORRECTING PATTERNS OF DISCRIMINATION IN PUBLIC
EMPLOYMENT

A. Americans with Disabilities Act

Chapter 6: The Management of Human Resources 73

Copyright © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.

B. Questions of Compliance

C. Affirmative Action and Reverse Discrimination

 Take Action: ADVANTAGES OF DIVERSITY

D. The Glass Ceiling

E. Relations between Political Appointees and Career Executives

V. SUMMARY AND ACTION IMPLICATIONS

 KEY TERMS

Adverse or disparate impact Criterion for showing that employment practices affect one group

more harshly than another.

Affirmative action Use of positive, results-oriented practices to ensure that women, minorities,

individuals with disabilities, and other protected classes of people will be equitably

represented in an organization.

Bargaining unit The organization that will represent employees in conferring and negotiating

various issues.

Comparable worth Notion that men and women in jobs that are not identical but require similar

levels of skill and training should be paid equally.

Equal employment opportunity Refers to efforts to eliminate employment discrimination on

the basis of race, ethnic background, sex, age, or physical handicap; ensures that all

persons have an equal chance to compete for employment and promotions based on job

qualifications.

Final-offer arbitration Technique in which both parties must present their best offer with the

understanding that an arbitrator will choose one or the other without modification.

Job description A thorough analysis of the work to be done and the capabilities for a job;

typically contains these elements: job title, duties required, responsibilities, and job

qualifications.

Lateral entry Entry into government positions at any level.

Merit pay Increases in salary and wages that are tied to actual quality of work performed.

Merit principle Concept that selection and treatment of government employees should be based

on merit or competence rather than personal or political favoritism.

Position classification Analyzing and organizing jobs on the basis of duties, responsibilities, and

knowledge and skills required to perform them.

Rule of three Provision of most merit systems that requires at least the names of the top three

applicants be forwarded to the hiring official to allow some flexibility in selection.

Sexual harassment Any unwarranted and nonreciprocal verbal or physical sexual advances or

derogatory remarks that the recipient finds offensive or that interfere with his/her job

performance.

Spoils system The ability to give government jobs to the party faithful; “to the victor belong the

spoils.”

Structured interviews Those in which a previously developed set of questions is used with each

applicant.

74 Chapter 6: The Management of Human Resources

Copyright © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.

Unit determination Decision to include or exclude certain groups in a bargaining unit.

Whipsaw tactics Argument that pay or benefits negotiated by one group should be applied to

others.

 WEB LINKS

The following are links to information on general personnel issues, human resources,

and jobs:

Office of Personnel Management: (www.opm.gov).

U.S. Equal Opportunity Employment Commission: (www.eeoc.gov).

United States Department of Labor: (www.dol.gov).

HR.Com: (www.hr.com) and (www.hr-guide.com).

LaborNet: (www.labornet.org).

American Federation of Government Employees: (www.afge.org/).

American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees: (www.afscme.org/).

International Personnel Management Association: (www.ipma-hr.org).

International Public Management Association for Human Resources: (http://www.ipma-hr.org/).

Society for Human Resource Management: (www.shrm.org).

Public Service Careers: (www.publicservicecareers.org/).

Go Public Service: (www.gopublicservice.org/Careers.aspx).

FedWorld.Gov: (www.fedworld.gov/).

Careers in Government: (www.careersingovernment.com/index.cfm).

GovtJob.Net: (www.govtjob.net/).

USA Jobs: (www.usajobs.opm.gov/infocenter/howjobsgetfilled.asp).

The Chronicle of Philanthropy: (http://philanthropy.com/section/Jobs/224/).

Opportunity Knocks: (www.opportunityknocks.org/).

http://www.opm.gov/

http://www.eeoc.gov/

http://www.dol.gov/

http://www.hr.com/

http://www.hr-guide.com/

http://www.labornet.org/

http://www.afge.org/

http://www.afscme.org/

http://www.ipma-hr.org/

http://www.ipma-hr.org/

http://www.shrm.org/

http://www.publicservicecareers.org/

http://www.gopublicservice.org/Careers.aspx

http://www.fedworld.gov/

http://www.careersingovernment.com/index.cfm

http://www.govtjob.net/

http://www.usajobs.opm.gov/infocenter/howjobsgetfilled.asp

http://philanthropy.com/section/Jobs/224/

http://www.opportunityknocks.org/

Copyright © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.

CHAPTER 7

The Ethics of Public Service

 LEARNING OBJECTIVES

1. Understanding the importance of ethics to public administrators

2. Learning how to address an ethical dilemma

3. Understanding the issues of administrative responsibility

4. Exploring the variety of issues that present ethical issues to administrators

5. Learning how to create an ethical climate in an agency

 SUMMARY OVERVIEW

This chapter considers the ethical issues faced by public managers, focusing on the fundamentals

of ethical deliberation, administrative responsibility, the moral and ethical problems that may

arise for administrators in public organizations, and the importance of providing an ethical

climate in a public or nonprofit agency. Emphasis is placed on the ability of the administrator to

understand the context in which public problems arise and to work out those problems in a

careful, reasoned, and ethical fashion. As part of this discussion, the chapter elaborates on

tensions between efficiency and responsiveness as ethical dilemmas experienced by the public

administrator.

The authors begin by defining the terms morality and ethics, noting that, although the two are

used interchangeably, the distinction between them is important not only for philosophical

reasons but also because of the deliberative aspect of ethics. The authors argue that by

understanding the context in which an action occurs, working through the arguments on all sides,

and arriving at a set of guidelines for action, public managers can act with greater clarity and

confidence; thus, the steps of ethical deliberation are discussed in detail. This discussion includes

an examination of the predominate moral philosophies or approaches to deciding on the proper

course of action, the levels of moral development through which individuals pass, and the variety

of approaches one might use to help ensure he or she is acting in an ethical manner.

The focus moves next to issues of administrative responsibility, which involve the potentially

conflicting demands on the public manager to operate as efficiently as possible while being fully

responsive to a wide variety of stakeholders. This tension between efficiency and responsiveness,

the authors argue, characterizes many of the problems that public administrators face. This

includes an examination of the limits on administrative discretion, which involves the question of

how we can ensure that administrators exercise discretion in a way that is consistent with the will

of the people. As part of this discussion, the authors explore the classic Finer-Friedrich debate

over external and internal controls on administrative discretion. This section also addresses

ethical arguments for public participation and transparency in government, and explores the

ethical issues associated with the increasing involvement of for-profit and nonprofit organizations

in the delivery of public programs.

86 Chapter 7: The Ethics of Public Service

Copyright © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.

Next, the authors turn to the kinds of ethical problems that may occur in the context of work in

public organizations. This includes an examination of the relationship between public

administrators and elected officials, which creates a unique and pervasive set of issues for the

public manager. As part of this discussion, issues of organizational authority, particularly that of

“following orders,” are addressed. Another area of potential ethical difficulties for public

administrators that is addressed is that of conflicts of interest. As the authors point out, finding

ways to avoid conflicts of interest has been central to ethics legislation at all levels of government

for decades. The authors trace the history of this kind of legislation at the federal level,

referencing details of how recent presidential administrations have approached this issue. This

section closes with an exploration of whistle-blowing, or employee disclosure of problems in

public organizations, and the prohibitions defined by law on political activities by civil service

employees.

The chapter concludes with a consideration of how managers can promote more ethical behavior

in public organizations. This includes formal controls, such as rules and regulations and codes of

ethics, and more informal means of establishing an ethical climate, such as leading by example,

valuing ethical behavior, and encouraging free and open communication throughout the

organization.

 CHAPTER OUTLINE

I. APPROACHES TO ETHICAL DELIBERATION

 Take Action: STEPS IN ETHICAL DELIBERATION

A. Reasoning, Development, and Action
1. Moral Philosophy
2. Moral Psychology
3. Moral Action

B. Post-Modern Ethics

II. ISSUES OF ADMINISTRATIVE RESPONSIBILITY

A. The Limits of Administrative Discretion

 Exploring Concepts: TODAY’S LEADERSHIP CHALLENGE

B. Avenues for Public Participation

C. Transparency in Government

 Exploring Concepts: OBAMA’S ELEMENTS OF OPEN GOVERNMENT

D. The Ethics of Privatization

III. ETHICAL PROBLEMS FOR THE INDIVIDUAL

A. Interacting with Elected Officials

B. Following Orders

C. Conflicts of Interest

D. Whistle–Blowing

 Take Action: TEN TIPS FOR POTENTIAL WHISTLE-BLOWERS

E. Prohibitions on Political Activities

Chapter 7: The Ethics of Public Service 87

Copyright © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.

 Exploring Concepts: ACTIVITIES PROHIBITED UNDER THE HATCH

ACT

IV. MANAGING ETHICS

A. Establishing an Ethical Climate

 Take Action: INTERVENTION TECHNIQUES FOR INTEGRATING
ETHICS INTO AGENCY OPERATIONS

V. SUMMARY AND ACTION IMPLICATIONS

 KEY TERMS

Cooptation Situations in which citizens are made to feel involved, but allowed to exercise little

real power.

Deontology Belief that broad principles of rightness and wrongness can be established and are

not dependent on particular circumstances.

Ethical or moral relativism Belief that moral judgment can be made only by taking into

account the context in which action occurs.

Ethics Process by which we clarify right and wrong and act on what we take to be right.

Ethics audit Evaluation of the value premises that guide an organization’s action.

Morality Practices and activities considered right or wrong and the values those practices reflect.

Neutral competence The belief that a neutral public bureaucracy following the mandates of a

legislative body will meet the requirements of democracy.

Objective responsibility Assurance of responsiveness through external controls.

Subjective responsibility Assurance of responsiveness based on an individual’s character.

Utilitarianism Philosophy of the greatest good for the greatest number of people.

 WEB LINKS

The following are links to general discussions of ethics in government:

Center for Public Integrity: (http://www.iwatchnews.org/).

Institute for Philosophy and Public Policy:

(http://policy.gmu.edu/Home/ResearchPublications/ResearchCenters/InstituteforPhilosophyandP

ublicPolicy/tabid/464/Default.aspx).

Josephson Institute of Ethics: (www.josephsoninstitute.org).

The following is a link to the primary federal agency dealing with ethics issues:

Office of Government Ethics: (www.usoge.gov).

http://www.iwatchnews.org/

http://policy.gmu.edu/Home/ResearchPublications/ResearchCenters/InstituteforPhilosophyandPublicPolicy/tabid/464/Default.aspx

http://policy.gmu.edu/Home/ResearchPublications/ResearchCenters/InstituteforPhilosophyandPublicPolicy/tabid/464/Default.aspx

Home

http://www.usoge.gov/

Public Performance & Management Review, Vol. 35, No. 3, March 2012, pp. 489–508.
© 2012 M.E. Sharpe, Inc. All rights reserved.
1530-9576/2012 $9.50 + 0.00.
DOI 10.2753/PMR1530-9576350306 489

HOw tO MEASuRE PublIc
ADMINIStRAtION PERfORMANcE

A conceptual Model with Applications for budgeting,
Human Resources Management, and

Open Government

wOutER VAN DOOREN
cHIARA DE cAluwE

University of Antwerp
ZSuZSANNA lONtI

Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development

AbstrAct: The economic crisis provides some insights on the role of
measurement systems. As shown by the ongoing discussion of credit rating agencies
by political actors and in the news media, measurement is not a neutral device, but
an active agent in societal processes. Comparative measurements of international
public administration are as frail, technocratic, and overly aggregated as bond
ratings, but nonetheless are increasingly used by journalists, aid organizations,
foreign investors, and, indeed, rating agencies to hold governments accountable.
Better measurement is needed in public administration performance. This article
builds on study reports from the OECD’s Government at a Glance project to
address the issue of how to measure public administration performance. The fields
of budgeting, human resources management, and open government illustrate both
the potential and the challenge of such measurements.

Keywords: budgeting, human resources management, open government,
public administration performance

the economic crisis provides some insights on the role of measurement systems
in society. Most notably, the role of credit rating agencies has been discussed by
political actors and in the news media.1 this discussion shows that measurement
is not a neutral device, but an active agent in societal processes. As in the case
of bond ratings, comparative measurement of international public administration
seems frail, technocratic, and overly aggregated (Arndt, 2007; Arndt & Oman,
2006; Van de walle, 2006). Nonetheless, these indicators are increasingly being
used by journalists, aid organizations, foreign investors, and, indeed, rating agen-
cies for holding governments accountable. Hence, better measurement of public
administration performance is needed. the discussion that follows builds on study

490 PPMR / March 2012

reports from the Organization for Economic cooperation and Development’s
(OEcD’s) Government at a Glance project to address the issue of how to measure
public administration performance. the fields of budgeting, human resources
management, and open government are used to illustrate both the potential and
the challenge of measuring public administration performance.

the current economic crisis is also a crisis of measurement.2 In a 2005 cartoon
by Randy Glasbergen, a banker offers a couple an interest-only mortgage, bal-
loon mortgage, reverse mortgage, upside-down mortgage, inside-out mortgage,
loop-the-loop mortgage, and a spinning double-Axel mortgage with a triple-lutz
(Mortgage cartoon Glasbergen, 2005). the cartoon appeared two years ahead of
the collapse of Northern Rock in the uK and three years before the height of the
crisis in 2008. However, Glasbergen and other, more systematic observers, such as
Roubini and taleb, were well aware of problems in the housing mortgage market.
Measurement systems of both the public and private sectors failed to detect this
undercurrent. the economic measurement models used by the national banks and
the planning bureaus did not capture the trend, just as the credit agencies failed
to adequately gauge the real value of the assets under scrutiny. today, national
creditworthiness ratings are being discussed in response to notable downgrades
of several eurozone countries along with Standard & Poor’s u.S. credit rating
downgrade.

Some critiques target the failure of measurement systems to reflect reality. An
additional step is to seek the causes of the crisis in the measurement systems. the
AAA ratings for complex collateralized debt obligations (cDOs), for instance, are
blamed for having been at least a catalyst for the crisis. crotty (2009) asserts that
the recent global financial boom and crisis might not have occurred if perverse
incentives had not induced credit-rating agencies to give absurdly high ratings
to illiquid, nontransparent, structured financial products. Interestingly, the same
mechanism of bad ratings by the agencies before the crisis and overly strict ratings
after the crisis has also been documented for the East Asian financial meltdown in
1997 (ferri, liu, & Stiglitz, 1999). Moreover, rating agencies’ power and lack of
accountability to the public was also discussed before the crisis (Kerwer, 2005).

for present purposes, there is no need for a thorough analysis of the ins and outs
of the economic crisis. Yet the crisis does remind us that measurement systems
are not neutral controls for policymakers in the cockpit of society. Measurement
systems are themselves agents, and influence behavior through their workings.
when measurement systems are used to hold organizations to account, it should
be kept in mind that they influence the behavior of account givers as well as ac-
count holders. therefore, both a critical attitude toward existing indicators as well
as continuous efforts to improve measurement seem warranted. this is also true
concerning performance measurement for public administration.

Existing indicators on public administration performance—which usually go

Van Dooren, De caluwé, and lonti / MEASuRING PublIc ADMINIStRAtION PERfORMANcE 491

under the banner of “governance indicators”—have been subject to some criticism.
this is true even at the national level, but far more so for the purpose of interna-
tional comparisons (Arndt, 2007; Van de walle, 2006). One of the main critiques
of governance rankings targets their validity—do they measure what they claim
to measure? Rankings such as the world bank governance indicators comprise
a broad and unintelligible compilation of opinion surveys, risk assessments, and
sector indicators (Arndt & Oman, 2006). typically, nonperceptual indicators on
the system’s core functions are lacking. As a result, there is a risk of constructing
an image of a country’s performance based on indicators that do not accurately
reflect its performance. If these performance indicators are used for accountabil-
ity purposes in a subsequent phase of governance, the consequences of invalid
measurement become real.

the present article does not offer further critique but, rather, proposes possible
measurement improvements. the text is based on several research reports commis-
sioned by the OEcD’s governance directorate, which is currently undertaking the
large project called Government at a Glance. the focus is on doing measurement,
rather than on further elaborating the functions and dysfunctions of measurement
(for the latter, see, e.g., Hood, 2006; Radin, 2006). No subjective stance is taken
on the utility or potentially negative effects of using performance measures.

for public administration more than for fields such as education or health, an
additional difficulty for measurement is the conceptual confusion on what public
administration performance actually means. this article begins by exploring
the conceptual foundation for indicators of public administration performance.
based on this foundation, it discusses possible performance indicators in three
areas of public administration: budgeting, human resources management, and
open government.

the conceptual Foundation of

Public Administration Performance

As suggested above, it is first necessary to sort out a number of definitional is-
sues. the primary task is to define performance. there seems to be a common
mainstream understanding of performance, but this definition is process-oriented
and nonsubstantial. In order to measure public administration performance, a
substantial definition of performance is required.

the MAinstreAM deFinition oF PerForMAnce

Performance is usually defined in terms of the outcomes and outputs that follow
from a public production process (Hatry, 1999). this model seems to provide the
dominant vocabulary used by public administration researchers and practitioners
when discussing performance. Although some terminological issues remain, and
although some analysts will primarily emphasize the importance of contextual

492 PPMR / March 2012

factors, the main building blocks have become widely accepted foci of public
administration theory and practice.

Outcomes are the result of activities that convert inputs to outputs. the transfor-
mation of inputs, such as financial and human resources, to activities is mediated
by the structure of government, cultural predispositions, and institutional and
managerial arrangements. Outputs are the goods and services that public orga-
nizations supply in response to demand. Outcomes are the consumption of the
goods and services (intermediate outcomes) as well as the effects this consumption
entails (final outcomes).

the criterion for assessing outcome is added value (Moore, 1995). the added
value of a private firm is the result of the aggregation of individual decisions to
consume a service or good at a given price. A firm’s profit can be conceptualized
as its outcome in society, since it is the sum of the values that individuals attach
to a good or service, minus the costs of production. free-rider problems3 and the
positive and negative externalities of consumption,4 however, mean that one cannot
rely on individual consumption decisions for all goods and services (Musgrave,
1959). for public services, although the criterion of added value remains intact, the
notion of public value replaces private value. In the absence of monetary profits,
it is much more difficult for public organizations to assess outcomes.

substAntive APProAches to PerForMAnce

A problem with the mainstream definition of performance is its nonsubstantial na-
ture. the definition of performance as outputs and outcomes of public services does
not tell us what these outputs and outcomes should be. Different ideologies will
have different views about public services, such as whether or not to redistribute
outputs, how many services to provide, and whether or not regulation is needed.
As such, the mainstream definition is a purely analytical concept. Different actors
can define performance differently without invalidating its conceptual definition
in terms of output and outcome (Van Dooren, bouckaert, & Halligan, 2010).

Operationalizing public administration performance calls for a “thick” substan-
tive approach to performance that includes a variety of public values. the tendency
of measurement systems to develop tunnel vision, similar to the narrow focus of
credit-rating agencies, could be countered by maintaining an open conceptual
view on what defines public administration performance. In a seminal article on
the New Public Management (NPM), Hood (1991) proposes a classification with
three clusters of public values. He makes the point that NPM reforms almost exclu-
sively stress public values of one type, often to the detriment of other values. the
public-values literature expanded further in the following decade. Jorgensen and
bozeman (2007), for instance, developed an inventory of more than 70 different
values in the public-values universe. for reasons of parsimony, Hood’s three broad
value groups are utilized, since they also seem to reflect general dimensions of

Van Dooren, De caluwé, and lonti / MEASuRING PublIc ADMINIStRAtION PERfORMANcE 493

performance (Van Dooren, bouckaert, & Halligan, 2010). three broad but distinct
substantial definitions of performance might be:

• Product performance reflects success in matching resources to defined tasks.
Government has to operate in an economical, efficient, and effective way. Product
performance reflects what Piotrowski (2010) calls mission-based values.

• Procedural performance reflects success in keeping government fair and honest.
Government has to pursue honesty, fairness, and mutuality through the preven-
tion of distortion, inequity, bias, and abuse of office. Procedural performance is
not mission-based (Piotrowski, 2010).

• Regime performance reflects success in keeping the public sector robust and
resilient. Government has to operate even in adverse “worst-case” conditions
and to adapt rapidly in response to crisis and change. Regime performance is
another form of non-mission-based performance.

It is generally easier to measure product performance than process or regime
performance (see Table 1). for production, resources are allocated to defined
tasks and indicators are a means to assess goal attainment. this is not to say
that measurement is unproblematic, but at least conceptually it is unambiguous.
Processes in production cycles are usually repeated, which allows for learning
in measurement. Measuring levels of fairness and honesty becomes substantially
more complicated. Such measures will predominantly be about the absence of
fairness and honesty, measuring fraud, corruption, favoritism, and so forth. typi-
cally, these activities are “under the radar.” they are, however, recurring events,
which makes the development of indicators somewhat easier. Indicators for ro-
bustness and resilience are even more complicated, since failures and worst-case
conditions that really put a strain on robustness are uncommon. As an alternative
to outcome measures, measures of capacity could be developed, but they are not
performance indicators (Hall, 2008).

the selected public administration dimensions discussed below touch upon two
of the three approaches to public values. Human resources management and bud-

table 1. Approaches to Performance and
consequences for development of indicators

Product Procedure Regime

How can
performance be
observed?

Sufficiency (provision
of services)

(Mostly) deficiency (absence of
fairness and honesty)

Deficiency (system
failure)

what is the
incidence of these
observations? (Mostly) repeated (Mostly) repeated One-time
Developing
indicators feasible Difficult Very difficult

Source: based on Van Dooren, bouckaert, & Halligan, 2010.

494 PPMR / March 2012

geting are typically cyclical, recurring activities. A human resources management
department has to hire, evaluate, motivate, and terminate staff on a continuous basis.
timely and accurate budgets have to be developed by budget departments every
year. Human resources management and budgeting activities have a good deal of
product performance, and hence it can be expected that measuring performance
on these dimensions is viable. the main “product” of a budget department is the
budget. for a human resources department, hires are an important product. Open
government, on the contrary, has a more procedural, nonmission focus, and hence
more difficulties can be expected in developing indicators. for regime performance,
it is not at all clear whether it is possible to develop performance indicators; and
in consequence this dimension is left out of the scope of the present article.

Public Administration Performance

the discussion in this section defines public administration performance. the
development of performance indicators for public administration requires an
understanding of two defining features of the nature of public administration.

first, public administration is about enabling rather than delivering. Public
administration almost never provides final goods and services. Public administra-
tion, however, is a precondition for the successful operation of other government
departments. It is government for government rather than government for the
citizens. that takes nothing away from its importance. Public service delivery is
a chain of inputs and outputs. clearly, public administration arrangements are to
be found earlier in the chain. Schools need to be staffed and financed before they
can provide teaching.

the chain of impact is schematically represented in figure 1. Public admin-
istration processes, including typical horizontal functions such as financing and
human resources management, are a precondition for functions performed by
line departments and agencies. Public administration outputs are inputs for the
functional processes. for instance, ethics training sessions are an output for an
ethics division but an input for a social security department. the outcome of the
training sessions is better awareness of ethics issues within the administration
of social security. In the same way, the number of administered allowances is an
output of the social security administration that is an input for societal processes.
If the allowance protects people from poverty, then it is a policy outcome.

the step from a public administration process such as ethics to a policy outcome
such as poverty in society is a rather big leap. It would be hard to demonstrate
how integrity training has an impact on poverty statistics. However, by taking
into consideration the intermediate processes in the chain, it might be possible to
bridge the gap. Public administration processes should, in the first place, improve
the quality of public administration and enable others to govern society in a more

Van Dooren, De caluwé, and lonti / MEASuRING PublIc ADMINIStRAtION PERfORMANcE 495

direct way. Public administration performance should reflect this position.
A second typical feature of public administration is its crosscutting nature.

Precisely because it is an enabler, public administration has an impact on all other
policy sectors. this also explains why it is so difficult to implement government-
wide administrative policies (Verhoest, bouckaert, & Peters, 2007). Often, such
policies are perceived to run counter to the vested interests and practices of the
policy sectors. for measurement, the crosscutting nature of public administration
complicates data collection and standardization.

Measuring the enabling and crosscutting roles of public administration has
two consequences. first, the outputs of public administration processes are the
inputs for substantive processes in line departments and agencies. In order
to identify output, it is necessary to ask what products and services public
administration processes deliver to line agencies. Second, the outcomes of
public administration primarily have to reflect its ability to facilitate policy
sectors. to identify outcome, it is necessary to ask whether public administration
processes succeed in enabling performance in other sectors.

MeAsuring Public AdMinistrAtion PerForMAnce:
budgeting, huMAn resources MAnAgeMent, And oPen
governMent

the conceptual approach described above will now be applied to three important
dimensions of public administration: budgeting, human resources management,
and open government. Maturity of measurement differs for the three dimensions.
Measurement in budgeting is quite well developed, which allows for relatively
robust and comparative indicators. Human resources management is also a dimen-
sion in which several measurement efforts exist, but these are not yet developed
for international comparative purposes. Open government is, for measurement

Figure 1. A chained Approach to outcome

496 PPMR / March 2012

concerns, a field of experimentation. Some prospects for indicator development
are discussed below. the implications for their use are considered in the discus-
sion and also in the conclusions.

Budgeting

A budget is defined as a comprehensive statement of government financial plans,
including expenditures, revenues, deficit or surplus, and debt. the budget is the
government’s main economic policy document, indicating how it plans to use
public resources to meet policy goals (OEcD, 2006). budgeting activities follow a
cycle of events or stages in making decisions about the budget, and implementing
and assessing those decisions. the cycle usually has four stages: formulation, ap-
proval, execution, and audit. what are the outcomes of these budgeting activities?
what constitutes successful and unsuccessful budgeting?

budgeting has multiple objectives (Gray, Jenkins, & Segsworth, 2001; Sterck,
2007). three conventional budget functions are authorization (legal function), al-
location (policy function), and management (management function). by approving
the budget, the legislature authorizes the executive to spend money and to collect
taxes. the question, then, is whether budgets succeed in informing executives
about the decisions they have to make. More generally, the budget has to inform
the general public about government’s spending and revenue collection inten-
tions. A second objective of a budget is to allocate resources to policy fields while
maintaining fiscal balance at the macrolevel. the question is whether the budget
is successful in allocating the right amount of resources to public services and,
at the same time, is successful in ensuring a structural balance between revenues
and expenditures. A third function is management. Managers have to use budgets
to control their organization.

Performance indicators for budgeting could first look at the variance between
projected (intended) and actual revenues and the variance between projected and
actual expenditures (colonna & Puma, 2003). these measures give an indication
of the quality of the estimates. If the variance becomes too high, the impact of
the budget as a tool for policy, management, and legislative control erodes. At
the microlevel, managers may no longer be able to plan spending and investment.
Moreover, overestimation of expenditures may lead to end-of-the-year spending—
also known as “December fever” (Douglas & franklin, 2006; tarschys, 2002).
Managers typically spend all of their appropriated budgets, partly because they
fear sanctions in the subsequent budget round. At the macrolevel, economic and
monetary policy will be based on faulty assumptions (Rubin, 1997). the Govern-
ment Performance Project (Maxwell School of citizenship and Public Affairs,
2002) uses the following measures;

a. Revenue estimation accuracy = (actual revenue – estimated revenue)/estimated
revenue

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b. Expenditure estimation accuracy = (actual expenditure – estimated expenditure)/
estimated expenditure

Expenditures and revenues can be over- or underestimated. cautious budgeting
would suggest a higher tolerance for the underestimation of revenues and the over-
estimation of expenditures. A budget in the public sector is also a tool for legisla-
tive control over the executive. the legislature’s appropriations provide authority
under law to the executive to spend public funds up to a set limit and for a specified
purpose. In this respect, a budget reflects not only a projection but also an intention
(Kristensen, Groszyk, & böhler, 2002). Overestimation of expenditures implies
that appropriated budgets are not used. this may be the result of bad budgeting,
but may also point to implementation problems and thus an infringement on the
legislature’s decision to spend a given amount on a particular program.

A second set of budget performance indicators reflects budgeting transparency.
blondal (2003) observes that the budget is the government’s principal policy docu-
ment, wherein the government’s policy objectives are reconciled and implemented
in concrete terms (i.e., the authorization function). budget transparency—openness
about policy intentions, formulation, and implementation—is therefore at the
core of good public administration and may even influence more general political
indicators, such as voter turnout (benito & bastida, 2009).

Researchers at international institutions and nonprofits, as well as academics,
have attempted to develop indices of budget transparency that combine several
indicators (Alt & lassen, 2006; De Renzio & Masud, 2011). According to blondal
(2003), transparency has three essential elements. the first is the systematic and
timely release of budgetary data. this is what is traditionally associated with bud-
get transparency. budget transparency is seen as an output, that is, the release of
budgetary data. the second element is an effective role for the legislature. It must
be able to scrutinize the budget reports and independently review them. It must be
able to debate and influence budget policy and be in a position to effectively hold
the government to account. the third element is an effective role for civil society,
through the media and nongovernmental organizations. citizens must be in a posi-
tion to influence budget policy and must be in a position to hold the government
to account. In many ways, it is a role similar to that of the legislature albeit only
indirectly. the second and third elements discuss the roles of the legislature and
society, respectively. Active scrutiny by the legislature and society may be the
result of efforts to increase budget transparency, but also of characteristics of the
polity or broader trends (Sterck, 2007).

Fiscal stability may be a third budgeting performance indicator. As argued
above, one of the key budget functions is allocation: to match spending priori-
ties with estimated revenues. Many institutional arrangements contribute to this
objective—fiscal rules, economic assumptions, expenditure frameworks, fiscal-risk

498 PPMR / March 2012

assessments, and so on. therefore, a balanced budget seems to be a valid indica-
tor of the outcomes of these processes. there is, however, a delicate balance to
maintain in practice as well as in the indicator set. Institutions for safeguarding
balanced budgets, combined with the growth of entitlements and taxing limitations,
can lead to an erosion of allocative efficiency (Marlowe, 2009).

Audits close the budgeting cycle. they are expert examinations of legal and
financial compliance or performance (Raaum & Morgan, 2001). Performance of
compliance audits might, for instance, be a decrease in the number of corrections
auditors have to put forward. the results of such performance measures, however, are
usually hard to interpret. Does a higher number of infringements imply that auditors
detect more mistakes or that they fail to help administrations to avoid mistakes?

Several supreme audit offices have attempted to measure audit outcomes (for
an overview, see lonsdale, wilkins, & ling, 2011). the uK National Audit Office
measures the financial savings due to auditing work relative to the money invested
in the auditing agency. It identified a savings of £582 million in 2007 as a result
of audit work, which exceeded the 8:1 target by some £22 million (National Audit
Office, 2007). the National Audit Office, however, stresses that many benefits are
not financial, and thus not measured. the u.S. Government Accountability Office
(GAO) reports financial benefits of $46 billion, which is a 94:1 ratio relative to every
dollar invested in audit (2007). the GAO also measures nonfinancial benefits. It
measures (1) how often agencies act on GAO information to improve services to the
public, (2) when information the GAO provides to the congress results in statutory
or regulatory changes, and (3) when core business processes improve at agencies and
government-wide management reforms are advanced by the GAO’s work. beyond
this, the GAO measures the percentage of past recommendations implemented. In
fiscal year 2007, 82% of the 2003 recommendations had been implemented. A final
outcome indicator from the GAO report relates to client satisfaction. It counts the
number of congressional hearings at which the GAO testified. the underlying argu-
ment is that congressional attention is an indication of responsiveness and impact.

budgeting has been subject to substantial international standardization, in particular
within the European union (Eurostat, 2001; united Nations, 1993). Hence, some
relatively robust international comparative-performance indicators can be derived
from the budgeting system. Most Eu countries seem to follow the Eurostat guidelines,
with the notable exception of Greece, which has resorted to unprecedented creative
accounting. the reaction of the European union seems to be to impose more control
and more intensive measurement.5 Again, an argument pro measurement.

Human Resources Management

One of the most prominent public administration issues is public personnel
management. the OEcD (2007) identifies four dimensions of human resources
management policy: (1) workforce planning and management, (2) management
of staff performance, (3) flexibility and coherence of human resources manage-

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ment rules across governments, and (4) core values. the latter were discussed
above in the section dealing with the guiding principles of outcome indicators.
the first three dimensions are used as a point of departure for the definition of
performance indicators.

(1) the objective of good workforce planning and management is “to ensure an
appropriately dimensioned, appropriately structured, and representative workforce,
able to meet changing labor needs in the context of changing demands and rapid
developments in the wider labor market” (OEcD, 2007). A number of indicators
can be derived.

the workforce needs to be appropriately dimensioned and structured, with the
right size and education. At first sight, size and education are input indicators.
Yet it is the adverb “appropriately” that gives this objective an outcome flavor.
well-functioning human resources management arrangements should bring about
a workforce that is adequately sized and educated in order to ensure undisrupted
and financially sustainable service delivery. Indicators that reflect the appropriate-
ness can be considered outcomes.

An important outcome of successful human resources management policies
in a competitive labor market is government’s being an employer of choice
(Vandenabeele, 2008). A 2002 OEcD study assessed this issue by asking
whether governments expect problems in recruitment and retention—now or
soon. the study also asked whether there are critical skill shortages (OEcD,
2002).

Duration of hiring is another potential indicator of workforce management.
the u.S. Office of Personnel Management used this indicator to assess the human
resources management performance of government agencies (2007). It defines the
indicator as the agency’s percentage of hires within a 45-day timeframe. It uses
a hiring time-frame model to uniformly define the indicator.

the u.S. GAO uses hire rate and acceptance rate to assess the impact of hu-
man resources management practices. the hire rate is the ratio of the number of
people hired to the number the agency planned to hire as defined in its workforce
plan. the acceptance rate is the ratio of the number of applicants accepting of-
fers to the number of offers made. Acceptance rate is seen as a proxy for GAO’s
attractiveness as an employer and an indicator of competitiveness in bringing in
new talent (GAO, 2007).

Many governments strive for a workforce that reflects society (Gualmini,
2008). Evidence of the impact of diversity on performance efficiency is diffuse
(Andrews, boyne, Meier, O’toole, & walker, 2005), but representation also
reflects other public values, such as social mobility of minorities. Indicators on
equal opportunities reflecting the gender balance and minority representation are
thus potential outcome indicators.

(2) the objective of good staff performance management is “to ensure a suitably
empowered and highly motivated civil service that is flexible and collaborative

500 PPMR / March 2012

and provides services in a cost efficient manner” (OEcD, 2007). this outcome
suggests a second set of performance indicators. first, consider staff satisfac-
tion. A satisfied workforce could be seen as an outcome for a human resources
department. Sick leave/absenteeism is another example. A reasonable measure
of successful human resources management is a low absenteeism rate. External
factors that need to be taken into account might include the age structure of the
workforce (younger people are healthier) and the task environment (idea-based
and relational tasks are probably less exhausting and more motivating than routine
physical jobs) (Hackman & Oldham, 1980). A third example may be indicators
on retention and turnover. Organizations invest in hiring and training people, and
thus presumably want to retain them. High retention rates may reflect workplace
attractiveness. clearly, an important external influence will be the condition of
the general labor market and the resulting degree of private-sector competition
for critical skills.

(3) the objective of a good balance between human resources management
arrangements is “to ensure that transaction costs in negotiating shared responsi-
bilities between governments are minimized, and that an active labor market is
supported for staff with distinctive public sector skills and competencies” (OEcD,
2007). A third set of indicators is implied in this outcome. An active labor market
is related to workforce mobility. first, there may be a learning effect. Mobility
broadens horizons, leads to the circulation of ideas, and in this way is an antidote
against tunnel vision. Second, mobility is in some instances a strategy against cor-
ruption and unethical behavior, especially in inspection services. the time spent
in a particular sensitive position is too short to develop unsound relations with
target groups (Abbink, 2004). third, mobility may be a matter of allocation. Some
departments may have staff shortages while others have redundancies. Internal
labor markets should sort out these imbalances.

the kinds of indicators in this field are typically found in many larger orga-
nizations, both private companies and public bureaucracies. Hence, there seems
to be fertile ground for solid international and cross-sectoral comparison. the
main problem for comparative purposes is that, unlike for budgeting, there are
no internationally agreed upon standards and definitions.

Open Government

A third field of public administration to be highlighted as a case of comparative
measurement concerns the openness of government. Open government mostly re-
lates to procedural performance, and therefore performance measurement becomes
more difficult. It is a field characterized by measurement experimentation.

the OEcD identifies four dimensions of accountability and openness (OEcD,
2001). Transparency is the ability of the government to ensure that its actions,
and those who are responsible for its actions, are exposed to public scrutiny and

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challenge. Accessibility in the public sector is achieved when the government can
ensure everyone’s capacity to obtain information and to utilize services at any
time, anywhere, and in a user-friendly manner. A responsive government is one
that can and will react to new ideas, demands, and needs of citizens. Inclusiveness
aims to ensure the broadest base of participation possible.

the four dimensions of openness and accountability are assumed to build on
each other (see Figure 2). transparent government is a precondition for accessible
government. citizens need to know their government in order to access it, and
citizens need to access government in order for government to respond to them.
Inclusiveness seems to be a different dimension, which assesses to what extent
government is transparent for everyone, accessible for everyone, and responsive
to everyone. the underlying logic of this scheme resembles Arnstein’s ladder of
citizen participation (Arnstein, 1969): the higher on the ladder, the higher the level
of participation. In this model, it can be argued, open and accountable governments
are at the top of the pyramid.

Transparency is a key tenet of contemporary performance and accountability
relations (Dubnick, 2005; Piotrowski & Rosenbloom, 2002). freedom of in-
formation laws are a key institutional arrangement for achieving transparency.
Performance indicators might reflect whether citizens (and companies and media)
actually refer to these laws or whether they remain dead letters. the catch is that in
very transparent public administration systems, there is no need to use information
laws. Interpretation of performance information in context and through dialogue
seems warranted (Moynihan, 2008).

the publication of annual reports, performance data, strategic plans, and legis-
lative timetables is a means of opening up government activity to the public eye.
Performance indicators could measure the extent to which target groups are actually
using available information. A good definition of target groups is necessary. It is
not realistic to expect ordinary citizens to read annual reports and strategic plans
in their leisure time. It is realistic, however, to expect media and interest groups to

Transparent government

Accessible government

Responsive government

Inclusive government

Figure 2. open and Accountable government: Four dimensions

502 PPMR / March 2012

scrutinize public documents.6 these mediators play a crucial role in safeguarding
transparency in democratic societies. Expert assessments are likely to be a good
way to proceed in measuring the quality of these reports.

Accessibility. countries mainly safeguard accessibility through administrative
law, but ombudsmen, citizen or service charters, and policies to reduce red tape also
have accessibility as an objective. It is very difficult to measure the direct impact
of these arrangements. Is the number of complaints handled by the ombudsman an
indication of problems with accessibility, or does it simply mean the ombudsman
is better known? A more general indication of accessibility problems may be the
length of the waiting list for services. the problem of this indicator is that waiting
lists usually cannot be attributed to open government policies. Although the latter
may help to put the issue on the agenda, waiting lists are more likely caused by
lack of capacity or extraordinary demands on a service.

Responsiveness is pursued through public consultation or active public par-
ticipation throughout the policymaking process. According to several authors,
responsiveness should be more than a mere client orientation. they stress the
importance of citizen-government collaboration (Vigoda, 2002) and coproduction
(bovaird, 2007), which reflect the quality and depth of the relationship rather than
the power or the number of participants. Measuring the performance of partici-
pation processes is thus a delicate matter. One possible indicator could measure
the range of backgrounds and personal profiles of the participants. In an optimal
scenario, participation is widespread and representative, but again, the interpreta-
tion of the results is not straightforward.

to conclude, the performance of arrangements aimed at an open and account-
able government is especially hard to measure. Outcomes can only be observed
within society—using public opinion data from citizens, businesses, and privileged
observers such as interest groups. these data are perceptual and nonstandardized.
the standardized surveys that do exist, such as Eurobarometer and the world Values
Survey, often face the problem of translating core concepts such as legitimacy and
trust (MacQuarrie, 2008). the fallback option is to measure citizens’ use of open
government arrangements under the premise that arrangements need to be used
in order to be effective. Here, international comparison is plagued by differences
in the institutional framework that arranges access to government.

discussion and conclusion

the present article began with the observation that the economic crisis is also a crisis
of measurement in the ratings industry. Yet ratings are unlikely to disappear. More
generally, measurement seems to be a key tenet of modern society (Porter, 1995;
Scott, 1998). Performance indicators are increasingly used to make complex realities
tangible and to hold actors accountable. the vast array of activities and performance

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in hospitals, schools, universities, local governments, and the like are captured by a
limited number of indicators in performance contracts, league tables, and star ratings
(bevan & Hood, 2006; Moynihan, 2009; Radin, 2006). the story of the rating agencies
also shows that the impact of these indicator regimes can be substantial. In order to
ensure that accountability for performance is providing the right effects in government
and society, the quality and diversity of indicators becomes crucial.

this is also the case for public administration indicators. the quality of public
administration indicators is often problematic, in particular when they are internation-
ally comparative. Nonetheless, they are increasingly used, among other purposes, to
inform funding, investment decisions, the rating of government bonds, and media
coverage (united Nations Development Programme, 2004). As a result, the develop-
ment of diverse and valid comparative indicators seems to be warranted. this article
builds on OEcD initiatives with a conceptual discussion of indicators in the fields
of budgeting, human resources management, and open government.

the cases show that public administration performance measurement is at
least conceptually conceivable for all three fields. there are differences between
the cases, however. for budgeting, good comparative performance indicators can
be developed. the high level of standardization and cyclical nature of budgeting
contributes to the potential. for human resources management, the development
of performance indicators is also relatively straightforward, but international
comparison may be more difficult due to the lack of standardization. for open

Figure 3. Measurement Quality and use

504 PPMR / March 2012

government, the procedural character seems to be a hindrance to the development
and interpretation of indicators. for all three fields, performance indicators will
only make sense in context, suggesting that there is need for dialogue on indica-
tors (Moynihan, 2008). Accountability for performance should not be confined
to accountability for performance indicators.

the article mainly deals with the validity and robustness of international compari-
sons of public administration. Yet, as is argued above, the use of performance indicators
is an equally important dimension. Although use was not the main object of the article,
it ends with some reflections on how measurement quality and use may interact.
figure 3 combines measurement quality and its use and gives a rough assessment
of where to locate the cases of budgeting, human resources management, and open
government. It also plots the general governance indicators (for an overview, see Van
de walle, 2006) and the credit ratings of cDOs that sparked the economic crisis.

International comparative data on open government and human resources man-
agement tend to be of relatively low quality (somewhat better on quality for human
resources management). this, however, is not problematic, because the low intensity
of use leaves room for experimentation. budgeting has higher quality, but international
comparisons of budget data are used quite intensively by international institutions. the
case of low use and high quality is mainly a missed opportunity. the most problematic
quadrant is high use of low-quality data. the credit ratings clearly were to be situated
in this category, and several governance indicators also seem to head this way.

use and quality of data are intertwined. Once data are used intensively and
have an impact, they become institutionalized. At that point, it becomes difficult
to improve quality, because changes in definitions and methods also touch upon
interests and challenge routines. Efforts to alter GDP calculations—another inten-
sively used indicator—are a case in point (Van Dooren, 2009). In other words, it is
very difficult to move upward from the lower-right quadrant in figure 3. Another
implication is that being in the lower-left quadrant should be cherished. this is the
period in which the DNA of the performance indicators can be established through
experimentation. for indicators of public administration performance, there is still
room for experimentation. finally, the admittedly rough analysis of the quadrants
may call for more longitudinal research on how indicator sets are developed over
time, how invalid data are able to construct a reality, what determines the use of
valid data, and where the indicator sets originate.

notes

1. the Obama administration has been very critical of the quality of Standard & Poor’s ratings
since the u.S. downgrade (“President Obama’s statement,” 2011). In the media, there have been
some less critical accounts of the role of rating agencies (e.g., tasker, 2011), together with more
critical and very critical perspectives (e.g., “credit-rating agencies,” 2011; Rushe, 2011).

2. the views expressed in this article are entirely those of the authors and do not reflect
any opinion of the OEcD or its member governments.

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3. A free rider is someone who enjoys the benefits of a public good without bearing the
cost. the image of someone who uses public transport without paying is illustrative.

4. Externalities are costs and benefits attributable to an activity that are not reflected in the
price of the goods or services being produced.

5. this is mainly done through the establishment of the so-called European semester, a
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countries that do not provide qualitative budget data (Europa Press Release, 2011)

6. there is a parallel with private-sector annual reports. Only a selected audience of fi-
nancial journalists, analysts, and interest groups have the time and competence to assess these
reports.

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She leads the Government at a Glance project.

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A Biblical-Covenantal

Perspective on

Organizational Behavior &
Leadership

© Dr. Kahlib Fischer, 20

10

Basic organizational behavior concepts derived from Organizational Behavior (2009), by
Robbins, Pearson Custom Publishing.

1

CONTENTS

CONTENTS …………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 2

LESSON 1: A Worldview Perspective on Organizational Behavior

………………. 5

What is a Worldview? ………………………………………………………………………………………… 5
Worldview as a Home ………………………………………………………………………………………… 5
What is Your Worldview? …………………………………………………………………………………… 6
Defining the Christian Worldview ……………………………………………………………………….. 7
Application to Organizational Behavior ……………………………………………………………….. 7
The Biblical Idea of Covenant …………………………………………………………………………….. 8
Important Covenantal Terms ……………………………………………………………………………… 8
History of Covenant …………………………………………………………………………………………… 9
A Covenantal Model for Organizational Behavior ……………………………………………….. 10
OB/COVENANT MATRIX ……………………………………………………………………………….. 12
Conclusion ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… 12

LESSON 2: Individual Behavior in the Organization

…………………………………… 13
Introduction ……………………………………………………………………………………………………. 13
Personality and Abilities …………………………………………………………………………………… 13
Values …………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 14
Ethical Perspectives …………………………………………………………………………………………. 15
Outputs ………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 15
Emotions and Moods ……………………………………………………………………………………….. 16
Perceptions ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… 17
Emotional Intelligence …………………………………………………………………………………….. 18
Job Satisfaction……………………………………………………………………………………………….. 18
Effective Job Attitudes …………………………………………………………………………………….. 19
Decision Making Constraints ……………………………………………………………………………. 20
Dealing with Constraints and Biases ………………………………………………………………….. 21

LESSON 3: Motivating Employees

………………………………………………………………… 22
Motivational Theories ……………………………………………………………………………………… 22
Early Motivation Theories ………………………………………………………………………………… 22
Contemporary Motivation Theories …………………………………………………………………… 23
Employee Participation ……………………………………………………………………………………. 23
Payment Programs ………………………………………………………………………………………….. 24

2

Flexible Benefits ……………………………………………………………………………………………… 24
Intrinsic Rewards ……………………………………………………………………………………………. 25
Biblical Summary ……………………………………………………………………………………………. 25

LESSON 4: Group Behavior and Work Teams

……………………………………………… 27
Group Behavior ……………………………………………………………………………………………….. 27
Stages of Group Development …………………………………………………………………………… 27
Group Properties …………………………………………………………………………………………….. 27
Group Decision Making ……………………………………………………………………………………. 28
Differences between Groups and Teams …………………………………………………………….. 29
Types of Teams ……………………………………………………………………………………………….. 29
Factors Relating to Successful Teams ………………………………………………………………… 30
Turning Individuals into Team Players………………………………………………………………. 34
When Should Teams Be Used? ………………………………………………………………………….. 35

LESSON 5: Organizational Communication

………………………………………………… 36
Formal and Informal Channels …………………………………………………………………………. 36
Direction of Communication …………………………………………………………………………….. 36
Interpersonal Communication ………………………………………………………………………….. 38
Organizational Components ……………………………………………………………………………… 39
Which Channel to Use? ……………………………………………………………………………………. 41

LESSON 6: Leadership

…………………………………………………………………………………… 42
Defining leadership …………………………………………………………………………………………. 42
Trait Theories …………………………………………………………………………………………………. 43
Behavioral Theories …………………………………………………………………………………………. 44
Contingency Theories ………………………………………………………………………………………. 45
Leader-Member Exchange (LMX) Theory ………………………………………………………….. 47
Inspirational Approaches …………………………………………………………………………………. 47
Authentic Leadership ………………………………………………………………………………………. 49
Defining Trust …………………………………………………………………………………………………. 49
Mentoring as Leadership ………………………………………………………………………………….. 50
Self-Leadership ……………………………………………………………………………………………….. 51
Challenges to Leadership Construct…………………………………………………………………… 51

LESSON 7: Politics, Negotiation and Conflict Resolution

…………………………… 53
Motivations for Power ……………………………………………………………………………………… 53
Dependency and Power ……………………………………………………………………………………. 55
Sources of Power……………………………………………………………………………………………… 55

3

Power Tactics ………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 57
Sexual Harrassment ………………………………………………………………………………………… 58
The Interactionist View of Conflict ……………………………………………………………………. 58
The Conflict Process ………………………………………………………………………………………… 59
Negotiation: Bargaining Strategies ……………………………………………………………………. 61

LESSON 8: Structure and Culture

…………………………………………………………………. 63
History of Organizational Perspectives ………………………………………………………………. 63
Work Specialization & Structure ……………………………………………………………………….. 64
Control, Effectiveness & Structure …………………………………………………………………….. 65
Departmentalization and StRucture ………………………………………………………………….. 66
Cultures as Shared Meaning ……………………………………………………………………………… 66
Creating a Positive Culture ……………………………………………………………………………….. 68
Spirituality in the Workplace ……………………………………………………………………………. 69

LESSON 9: Human Resource Policies

……………………………………………………………. 71
Overview …………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 71
Selection Practices ……………………………………………………………………………………………. 71
Effective Selection Processes …………………………………………………………………………….. 73
Training and Development ……………………………………………………………………………….. 75
Performance Evaluation …………………………………………………………………………………… 76
HR Policies and Labor Relations ………………………………………………………………………. 78
Managing a Diverse Workforce …………………………………………………………………………. 79

LESSON 10: Organizational Change and Stress Management

……………………. 81
The Context of Change …………………………………………………………………………………….. 81
Overcoming Resistance to Change …………………………………………………………………….. 82
Strategies for Change ……………………………………………………………………………………….. 84
Creating a Culture of Change ……………………………………………………………………………. 86
Managing Stress through Covenantal behavior …………………………………………………… 87

4

LESSON 1: A Worldview Perspective on
Organizational Behavior

WHAT IS A WORLDVIEW?

For starters, it’s important to recognize that our view on organizational behavior, and indeed
on life itself, is influenced by our worldview. A worldview is an intellectual, emotional, and
spiritual framework by which every person views reality, makes sense of life, and applies
meaning to every area of life.

Everyone has a worldview, but the sad fact is that most people don’t really know that they
have one, or how their unspoken assumptions about truth, meaning, values, and humanity
influence every decision they make and every perception they have. As a result, most people’s
worldviews are undeveloped, which means that most people are making decisions based not
upon a coherent view of reality and life, but more likely an unclear, hodge-podge collection of
vaguely defined and unverified assumptions about life. If we want to be effective leaders and
managers in our organizations, and even more importantly, if we want to be successful human
beings, shouldn’t we know what we believe and why we believe it?

WORLDVIEW AS A HOME

One way of better understanding one’s worldview and what it is made up of is to compare it
the home in which we live. Consider your home—what characteristics do you ascribe to it? Do
you think of it in terms of how many rooms it has, what type of furnishings it possesses, how
big the yard is, etc.? Those are indeed relevant descriptors, but what about the foundation and
framework of your home? When was the last time you thought about those two very
important features of your home? Most of us give very little thought to those components
because they are not visible. And yet, if either of those are structurally lacking, the house will
fall, no matter how nice the yard, how many rooms the house has or how beautifully decorated
the home is. It’s the same with our worldview perspectives—we rarely if ever give any thought
to the foundational or framework assumptions associated with our worldviews. So let’s take a
look at each of these vital components.

The foundation of your worldview is what you believe about God. Do you believe in a
personal, intelligent Creator-being who is eternal and created the universe, or do you believe
that life evolved from nothing, by pure chance? You might even believe in some sort of
nebulous God-like being who is out there but doesn’t do much to communicate with the rest of
us. Perhaps you view Nature as some sort of spiritual entity to which we are all attached in

5

some cosmic sort of way. If so, your worldview likely has more in common with an atheistic
worldview foundation than a Christian-theistic one, because in both cases there is no personal,
intelligent Creator being who interacts meaningfully and intelligently with His creation.
The framework assumptions are based upon this foundation, just like the framework of any
home is built upon the foundation. What one believes about God will determine what one
believes about truth and meaning (epistemology), values (axiology), and who we are as
human beings (ontology).

WHAT IS YOUR WORLDVIEW?

A good leader or manager, and indeed, a successful organization, is able to evaluate internal
strengths, weaknesses, and blind spots, so take a moment to evaluate any potential
weaknesses or inconsistencies in your worldview.
For starters, what do you believe about God? In the previous section, some basic options
were presented with regards to who this God might be (or might not be). But now consider the
implications of each choice, because your belief about God will greatly impact your perspective
upon meaning, values, and humanity.

For instance, epistemology is the study of how we arrive at truth and meaning. If you believe
in a personal creator-being, it is possible to believe in absolute truth and meaning, because
that God-being could communicate with us in meaningful and intelligent ways. But if you
believe in random chance as the foundation for life, or in some sort of impersonal, spiritual
“force” from which we all sprang, it should be no surprise if you’re a bit ambiguous in what you
believe about truth. You might be more inclined to believe that there is no such thing as
absolute truth or meaning, and that instead, everyone just sort of figures things out and makes
sense of life on their own. However, if that is really true, then why do we all appeal to an
inherent standard of right reasoning as we communicate with one another? Why do make
logical appeals as we seek to persuade one another? It seems like this use of logic is more in
keeping with an intelligent Creator-being than with starting point of random chance or a
vague, impersonal, spiritual “other”.

Likewise, axiology is the study of what we believe about values. If you believe in a personal
Creator being, you are more likely to believe in eternal timeless values like love, justice,
goodness and evil. If you’re not really sure what you believe about God, you might also find
that you’re not really sure about the notion of eternal, timeless values. Perhaps you see
concepts such as “love” as being more about what we do to protect ourselves—we “love”
others because those people add some sort of value to our lives. And yet, the very fact that we
understand the notion of altruistic, unconditional love and critique people who are not being
pure in their alleged love of others suggests that there is an eternal Creator-being who has
implanted in us an understanding of these eternal, timeless values. The same is true with the
fact that we all seem to appeal to an inherent sense of justice and fairness as we interact with
one another.

6

Ontology is the study of who we are as human beings. If you are not sure what you believe
about God, it could be that you are likewise not very sure about what you think about your
existence as a human. If there is only a physical universe and no God that created it, then
logically, it follows that we humans are nothing more than complex blobs of chemicals, atoms,
and physical matter. If that is true, then why are we so interested in meaning and truth? Such
yearnings and aspirations are far more consistent with the notion of a personal Creator-being
who has made us in His image.

DEFINING THE CHRISTIAN WORLDVIEW

So what IS a Christian worldview all about? Obviously the starting point for the Christian
worldview—i.e., it’s foundational presupposition—is that there is in fact a personal, intelligent
Creator being who is timeless and all-knowing. He created the universe and is separate from it,
even though He is intimately involved in and with His creation. This is contrast to more Eastern
mystical perspectives which deify nature or view God as part of nature.

Epistemologically, God does communicate with intelligence and meaning, and obviously
through the use of words. Importantly, Jesus Christ came to this earth as the living “Word of
God” (see John 1).

Axiologically, we see the God of the Bible balancing both love and justice through Jesus Christ
and His work on the cross. Since God is perfectly good, He can’t tolerate any evil. Therefore,
man, being less than perfect and bound by sin, needed to be punished. But since God is also
perfectly loving, He can’t eliminate mankind, or else His perfect love would be compromised.
The solution—Jesus Christ coming to earth and taking on flesh, and dying on the cross for our
sins. As a man, He fulfilled God’s sense of absolute justice by ensuring that man was in fact
punished for his sins. But since He was also God, He was perfect and therefore able to be the
perfect sacrifice for us, thereby ensuring that God’s love was fulfilled on the cross and
subsequent resurrection of Christ.

Finally, ontologically, we know that we humans have value, not just because of what Christ did
for us on the cross but also due to the very fact that Christ came into this world not just as God
but as man, experiencing the same pain that we experienced in this dreary and difficult world.
We do not have a God who cannot relate to our pains and struggles; on the contrary, we have a
God who is intimately familiar with who we are and how we struggle.

APPLICATION TO ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR

So how does this Christian worldview impact organizational behavior? First of all, since all
truth is God’s truth, we can confidently study and research organizational behavior issues and
concepts and at the same time apply Biblical truths to the field—the two are not mutually
exclusive but rather complimentary.

7

Secondly, we should discuss organizational behavior in terms of absolute truth and values.
Moral relativism is not an option for us as we pursue a greater understanding of organizational
behavior.

Finally, we can be encouraged that everything we do within an organizational context—
indeed in life itself—has eternal meaning and consequence. That is because we are valued in
the eyes of our loving Creator and we know that He is intimately involved in everything we do.
We should therefore act accordingly.

THE BIBLICAL IDEA OF COVENANT

Beyond these general worldview guidelines, there are some more specific Biblical applications
to the field of organizational behavior. It will be argued here and throughout the rest of the
lessons that the Biblical idea of covenant provides not only a unifying theme for understanding
organizational behavior, but also a guiding normative framework for doing so.

A covenant is a morally informed agreement among various parties to ratify and establish a
long-term, mutually-affirming relationship. This idea is largely a Biblical one. In Scripture, God
covenants with man, and in so doing, affirms the dignity of man. The result is that humans not
only have free will and importance, but also responsibility to choose wisely.

Furthermore, a covenant protects the right of all members by protecting the rights of every
individual. Mutual accountability and affirmation are key aspects of any covenantal agreement
and relationship.

IMPORTANT COVENANTAL TERMS

There are three key terms associated with the notion of covenant and covenantal behavior.
The first is the Hebrew term hesed, which means “loving fulfillment of covenant obligation.” In
Scripture, love and duty are intertwined and it is related to what Christ said when He told His
followers to “go the extra mile” in serving one another. We see in Scripture that not only did
God keep His promises to His people, but He went above and beyond His stated duties in
showing mercy, forgiving, and caring for His people. We are required to do the same. We
shouldn’t view our relationships with others as merely contractual obligations, but rather we
should see our obligations as opportunities to truly love and care for one another. The
implications for this interlinking of love and duty in an organization are significant. We all
know leaders who have abused their powers and treated employees poorly, and we all know
employees who have done the bare minimum (or worse) to collect a paycheck.

Mutual accountability describes the process of interaction in a covenant in which everyone is
accountable to everyone else. Not only are followers accountable to leaders, but leaders are

8

also accountable to followers. Regardless of the nature of the relationship, be it peer to peer or
leader to subordinate, mutual accountability is a requirement. This because in a covenant, no
one enters into the covenantal agreement without first securing this obligation. Because no
can be coerced into such a relationship, the only reason for doing so is to create a binding
relationship that assures everyone’s mutual benefit. An organization that applies this will have
greater integrity, teamwork, and decision-making because everyone is committed to serving
and caring for everyone else, and leaders, as a general rule, cannot act arbitrarily and in a
manner that mistreats employees.

Federalism is a specific term in the field of covenantal theology that describes the sharing of
power among all members of the covenant. It is therefore related to the notion of mutual
accountability and is embodied on the organizational level by the ideas of empowerment,
participatory decision making and decentralization (or more accurately, non-centralization,
which signifies a sense of teamwork and shared responsibility regardless of organizational
structure and departmental guidelines).

HISTORY OF COVENANT

Having laid that conceptual foundation, it is helpful to look at how the covenantal idea has
influenced the history of mankind by ensuring greater freedom of common people and limiting
the excesses of arbitrary leadership. In the Old Testament, the covenant idea was introduced
by God to man. As mentioned earlier, by entering into a covenant with mere mortals, God
affirmed their dignity and gave them both the freedom to choose to enter into the covenant
and the responsibility to act within the moral terms of the covenant. It is no surprise, then,
that even in Old Testament Israel, during the time of the judges and kings, that no one ruler
had all the power nor was free from the accountability of the people and the prophets. Power
was further shared among the twelve tribes, and the prophets criticized not only the king but
also the people when they forgot the terms of the covenant, became greedy, pursued idols,
and stopped caring for one another and for the poor. In the New Testament, the covenant idea
is affirmed and expanded upon by Christ, who ushered in a new covenant with God that was
now available to all of mankind, and not just the Jews. As the Gospel message spread
throughout the world, so did the notion of covenant.

During the Middle Ages, the covenantal idea was largely overlooked because Catholic
theology emphasized a more hierarchical worldview in which Popes had absolute control and
kings were not accountable to the people because they were viewed as being appointed by
God. But during the Protestant Reformation, Reformers reclaimed the covenantal idea as
they articulated the notion of the “Priesthood of a all believers.” Protestants argued that the
only priest believers needed was Christ, and therefore they could have a personal relationship
with God through Christ. This principle once again affirmed the value and dignity of each
individual, and many have argued that it played a key role in not only developing the notion of
capitalism in the West, but also contributed greatly to the notion that kings are accountable to
the people and that Popes should not try to control political affairs. In fact, John Calvin, John

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Locke, John Knox, among others argued that when leaders significantly abuse their power, a
material breach of the covenant has occurred, meaning that the people are no longer under
the kings authority because the very covenant has been absolved through the tyrannical
behavior.

This theory of civil resistance and covenantal principles in general were carried into the
American Founding Era. In an effort to flee religious and political persecution in Europe, many
Protestants fled to the New World and brought their ideas with them. Research reveals that
many of the colonies were further influenced by covenantal pacts and agreements. Often,
church covenants made by various groups of Protestants as they came to the New World
became the foundation for local governments and state constitutions. As the colonies became
more established, the American colonists continued to base their notion of political freedom
upon covenantal ideas by providing a rationale for breaking away from Great Britain based
upon covenantal principles. Furthermore the very nature of American federalism, in which the
national government shares power with the states, is a covenantal notion, as already
mentioned. In fact, the word fedis is the Latin word for covenant. So America, with all of its
political freedoms, has been greatly influenced by the notion of covenant.

The question that we ask here is, given this impressive track record in political development,
can the covenantal ideas and principles be applied to the field of organizational behavior in
some way? Certainly, there is a difference between the relationship of ruler with citizens and
business leaders with employees, but it will be demonstrated in this lesson and throughout
subsequent lessons that there are indeed many points of application. This is due in large part
because God has commanded all of us to love one another. Covenant is the means by which
we do so.

A COVENANTAL MODEL FOR ORGANIZATIONAL
BEHAVIOR

The covenantal idea provides a unifying theme for organizational behavior. First of all, the
idea of hesed provides the attitude necessary for healthy organizational behavior. This
attitude embodies notions such as servant leadership, mutual affirmation and care, teamwork,
shared vision, “big picture” thinking, and customer care and community service. Big picture
thinking is defined as organizational self-awareness, where employees understand the
organization-wide goals, constraints, and strategies and where employees furthermore see
how their job as well as their department fits into all of that.

The principle of mutual accountability provides the foundation for organizational processes,
and includes notions such as conflict resolution, participatory decision-making, empowerment,
and an active process of dialogue between leaders and employees.

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The notion of federalism provides a structure for healthy organizations, and relates to ideas
such as noncentralization, “boundaryless organizations”, organic structures.

Clearly, all of these concepts are related to one another, and this division of covenantal
principles into attitudes, processes, and structures therefore allows for a lot of overlap. The
goal of any organization should be to create a self-sustaining, healthy culture where
employees have taken ownership of organizational processes and goals and are working
together to get things done and care for one another. In the next lesson, further application of
covenantal principles to the field of organizational behavior will be demonstrated.

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OB/COVENANT MATRIX

ATTITUDE
Hesed

PROCESS
Mutual Accountability

STRUCTURE
Federalism

INDIVIDUAL Personality &
Emotions
Values &
Attitudes

Perception
Individual
Learning

Ability
Individual Decision-making

GROUP Communication
Group Decision-making

Group Structure
Work Teams

ORGANIZATION Organizational
Culture

Leadership & Trust
Power & Politics

Human Resource Policies &
Practices

Organizational
Structure & Design

Another way to look at this covenantal model is to apply those concepts in a matrix with the
levels of any organization—individual, group, and organization—combined with the various
OB concepts we will be discussing in this course. The above diagram shows who the
covenantal concepts are related to the general concepts of OB by organizational level.
Throughout the rest of these lessons, we’ll be discussing each of these concepts in some form
or another.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, a major theme of this first lesson is the assertion that the Biblical worldview
provides the most comprehensive approach for making sense of life as well as organizational
behavior. Students to not have to embrace this worldview, but they should be prepared to
gain a deeper understanding of its implications in the workplace.
Secondly, the Biblical idea of covenant will serve as a unifying theme and foundation for
understanding organizational behavior. It is offered as a normative guideline for
organizational “best practices” and will be further applied in subsequent lessons.

Back to Table of Contents

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LESSON 2: Individual Behavior in the
Organization

INTRODUCTION

Lesson 2 provides an overview of individual behavior within an organizational context, and is
divided up into two parts. Part 1 focuses on the inputs of individual behavior—the personality,
abilities, values, and ethical framework that influence us as individuals and how we behave.
Part 2 focuses on the outcomes that derive from these inputs—how we behave and make
decisions.

Before beginning with Part 1, a brief covenantal application is in order. Remember that
covenants are based upon respect for each individual entering the covenant. No one can be
coerced to enter into a covenantal relationship; rather, individuals enter into a covenant to
protect their own rights. But they do so by caring for others in the relationship and affirming
the rights of others. Therefore, mutual accountability and hesed are key motivators for
individuals who want to preserve a covenantal relationship. In this lesson, we will see that
these two components are necessary in forming productive individual behavior in an
organizational context.

PERSONALITY AND ABILITIES

As you progress through this course, you will have the opportunity to take a good amount of
personality tests, and in so doing, you will hopefully begin to understand how personality and
abilities are related, and also how they make each of us distinct from others.

Furthermore, since every strength is a weakness and every weakness is a strength, we should
be mindful of that when we interact with others. Rather than butting heads because of our
differences, we should instead learn to appreciate those differences because in many ways, we
can shore up each other’s weaknesses when we work together in a spirit of hesed and mutual
accountability. Organizations need to be aware of this interplay of personalities and abilities
in order to maximize teamwork and productivity.

Obviously, when working with others, it is easier said than done to learn to appreciate one
another’s strengths and our own weaknesses. Nobody likes to admit their shortcomings,
especially when job advancement and recognition are on the line. As a result, competition,
friction, impression management and political maneuvering characterize and undermine many
organizations. That is why it is so helpful to be reminded of Biblical truth on the matter. First
Corinthians 4:7 (ESV) says: “For who sees anything different in you? What do you have that
you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?”

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Often we become prideful because of our unique strengths and abilities, and as such we forget
that all that we have comes from God. We also forget that God is our source, loves us more
than we love ourselves, and has a perfect plan for our lives in which our strengths are
maximized. If we can remember this, we will be freed from all of the competition and
manipulation referenced above.

And we will also be freed from the bondage of needing recognition. It is easy define ourselves
by our accomplishments and the work we do. It is a subtle deception. Even if we can get past
the obvious sin of seeking fame, promotion, and self-glory through our work, and even if we
truly want to do great things for the Lord, we still can stumble on the lie that validation and
recognition on the job is proof that we are living meaningfully and doing great things for God,
and that if we aren’t receiving recognition, we must not be doing anything meaningful. It’s not
that we shouldn’t work hard, but rather that we shouldn’t work hard for the fear that if we
aren’t recognized as successful in what we do, that we therefore are failures. As mentioned
above, I Corinthians 4:7 already takes the wind out of the sails of pride when it comes to our
abilities, because they are gifts from God. Sure, we work hard to develop those gifts, but who
gave us the energy and the moral makeup to do so? We were not self-made creatures.
Secondly, idolizing recognition on the job can turn into a substitute for the Father’s acceptance
of us through Christ. We would never say that achievement and success in this world is
superior to God’s acceptance of us, but when we define ourselves by recognition from others,
and deem ourselves to be failures when we’re not recognized, and/or work feverishly for that
recognition, that is implicitly what we believe. If we can get past this deception, we can
achieve true success: learning to love and care for others, learning to recognize how God has
gifted them, and learning to work with them and for them. This is foundational to the idea of a
covenantal organization.

VALUES

Personal values comprise the next input of individual behavior. As mentioned in Lesson 1, we
live in a Postmodern world which believes that truth is relative and that meaning is created by
people in a group context. This belief lends itself to an attitude that says, “What works for
me, works for me, and what works for you, works for you.” We find this approach especially
appealing in an individualized culture like America. But ultimately, such an attitude will
undermine a healthy organization. What happens if “what works” for one person is to be lazy
on the job and not really care about anybody else? What happens if “what works” for another
is to manipulate others, consolidate power, and abuse it?

Of course, the Bible presents a different message. Absolute truth and values do exist, and they
must be followed. Deep down, we know this and we intuitively understand that any
organization that is going to succeed in the long term needs people who respect and care for
one another. Conveniently, the idea of covenant embodies both the values of love (hesed) and
justice (mutual accountability).

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ETHICAL PERSPECTIVES

Values and ethics are intertwined. Ethical perspectives provide a framework of values by
which to make decisions for society (and organizations) . There are three basic ethical
perspectives. Utilitarianism argues that the greatest good should be achieved for the greatest
amount of people. As such, it emphasizes efficiency, productivity, and high profits, but in
doing so, it can overlook the concerns and rights of individual members.

A Rights based perspective puts more emphasis on the individual rights of every member. In
an organizational context, it puts high value on the whistleblower. However, because of the
emphasis on individual rights, it can produce an adversarial culture and lead to decreased
teamwork as members are too focused on protecting their own rights above all else.

A Justice perspective emphasizes the importance of fairness and impartiality, and in particular
argues that resources and opportunities should be meted out evenly. However, this can lead
to a sense of entitlement among members and can encourage a decrease in individual
responsibility and effort.

Happily, a covenantal perspective encompasses the best of each of these approaches while at
the same time minimizing the weaknesses of each. For instance, a covenant is designed to
incorporate a sense of justice and care for all of the members as a whole. This speaks to the
concerns of both the justice and the utilitarian approach. But since it also emphasizes the
importance of each member’s rights, it also affirms the Rights approach. Mutual
accountability and hesed mandate that every member care for every other member and is
accountable to every other member. This combination addresses the weaknesses mentioned
above in three ways: 1) it ensures that no one is overlooked despite what the majority may
want (a weakness of the Utilitarian approach), 2) it changes the decision-making process from
one that is adversarial and competitive (a weakness of the Rights approach) to one that is
based upon mutual care; and 3) links personal self-interest with caring for others, thereby
removing the sense of entitlement that can exist with the Justice approach.

Personality, abilities, values and ethics all influence how we behave as individuals. Now it’s
time to take a look at the specific ways that these components influence our behavior, and so
now we move to Part II: Outputs. Behavior can be defined in the following ways: emotions,
moods, perceptions, attitudes, performance, and decision making.

OUTPUTS

Personality, abilities, values and ethics all influence how we behave as individuals. Now it’s
time to take a look at the specific ways that these components influence our behavior, and so
now we move to Part II: Outputs. In this subsequent presentation, these outputs will be viewed
in a sequential order: emotions and moods, which are the result of what we believe, lay the

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foundation for our perceptions. In turn, our perceptions impact our emotional intelligence,
determine attitudes, job satisfaction and performance, and finally our decision-making skills.
It will be important to understand this linkage.

EMOTIONS AND MOODS

Emotions and moods can be confounding aspects of our psyche. Jeremiah 7:29 (ESV) says “The
heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?” Often we
think of emotions as forces that influence us, and this is true. Our emotions inform how we
interact with others and how we react to life situations. But on a deeper level, our values,
ethics, and worldview all determine how we emotionally react to life and the world around us.
This is embodied in the cognitive-affective-behavior link: what we think and believe (cognitive)
influences how we feel (emotions and moods), which in turn influences how we act (behavior).

It is also easy to think that circumstances or people cause our emotions, but this is not true—
at most they influence our emotions. This is a big difference. Ultimately, what we believe
about life and truth (our worldview) and what values and sense of ethics we possess inform
how we emotionally react to circumstances and people. As Christians, the question we must
ask ourselves is the degree to which Biblical truth is informing our emotions as opposed to
some other worldview system. For instance, when we are overcome by stress and fear, it is not
because the difficult circumstances are “causing” those emotions but rather because on a
fundamental level, our worldview system is flawed—we really do not believe that God is in
control and that He loves us more than we love ourselves. In our implicit desire to be in
control, we reject these Biblical truths and when that happens, it is easy to feel overwhelmed
by life. But when our emotions are grounded on the truth of God’s Word, how we respond to
difficult circumstances (and people!) will instead be motivated by emotions of faith, love, and
patience. Hebrews 4:12 says “for the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-
edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and
discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” When we look deeper into our hearts
with the light of God’s Word, we see that at the root of all of our emotions is how we see
ourselves before God and whether or not we view ourselves or God as being sovereign in our
lives and in life in general.

Finally, as this topic relates to organizational behavior, it is important to remember that our
emotional state plays a large role in how we perform on the job. According to Affective
Events theory, our emotional reactions to work influence our job performance and
satisfaction. If we view our work as an act of worship to God, wherein we display His glory
through our abilities and care for our customers, supervisors, colleagues, and subordinates, our
emotions will fall in line accordingly, and we’ll find that we have much more joy in our
professions.

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PERCEPTIONS

Driving is a great example of how inconsistent we can be in our perception of ourselves and
others. When we are driving down the road and someone is tailgating us, the tendency can be
to assume that the person behind us is being rude and reckless in their driving. Perhaps we tap
on the breaks to get them to back off a bit. But when we are in a hurry, and we come upon a
slow driver in front of us, we conveniently conclude that the driver is rude, absent-minded, or
perhaps in need of remedial driving lessons. Talk about a double standard! Of course,
probably no one viewing this lecture has ever been guilty of this!

This double-standard is influenced by basic heart beliefs. What we believe about ourselves
influences our emotions, which in turn influences our perceptions of situations and
circumstances. In turn, how we perceive situations in life greatly affects our decision-making
ability, our interaction with others, and our job satisfaction and performance. Just as being
grounded in the truth of God’s Word informs our emotions, so it informs our perceptions,
particularly with regards to the many biases that taint our ability to perceive correctly.
Scripture tells us that rather than relying on our own understanding and our own perception of
reality, we should seek God’s wisdom in all that we do. But our sinful tendency is to do
otherwise. Motivated by pride, we think that we are better than we really are (perfection
error) and that we are actually smarter than we really are (intelligence error); thus we think
that we really don’t need God. These prideful assumptions lead to two sets of biases in our
perceptions. But before we discuss them, hopefully it is clear that the point of all of this is not
to beat ourselves up or to degrade ourselves. The goal is not to think less of ourselves, but to
think of ourselves less often. The goal is not to condemn ourselves as miserable wretches, but
rather to rightfully acknowledge that our own pride gets in the way of even our best intentions.
The goal is not to consider ourselves to be stupid but rather to not overestimate our own
intelligence.

The first set of biases falls stems from a perfection error—we think we are better and more
competent than we really are. For instance, the self-serving bias describes how we tend to de-
emphasize external factors when things are going well for us and over-emphasize our own
control over the results of a situation. Likewise, when things are not going so well for us or we
are failing in a situation, rather than looking at any shortcomings on our part, we tend to blame
external circumstances. How convenient, and how consistent with our very basic tendency to
reject the truth that we need God’s guidance and intervention through Christ! The
fundamental attribution error describes how harsh we are in judging others for failure when
perhaps external factors played a greater role in the situation.

Another subset of biases derive from the Intelligence Error (the tendency to think we are
smarter than we really are). For instance, we have to be careful to not rely too heavily upon our
own background and experiences in making perceptions (selective perception and
stereotyping). It’s healthy to allow for the possibility that our past experience and the
conclusions we have drawn from them are not sufficient for making an accurate perception.

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The halo effect occurs when we define a person by a single characteristic. Is it fair to do so?
The answer is no, because no one consists of just one behavioral tendency. Likewise, the
contrast effects bias describes how we inaccurately evaluate someone based upon how they
relate to someone else we’ve recently encountered who is either higher or lower in a particular
characteristic. For example, if a student has a professor who grades him one way, and then the
next quarter has a professor who grades him another way, the temptation will be to judge the
second professor in light of the first professor. But this really isn’t a very thorough or
systematic basis for evaluating the second professor’s grading practices, is it?

Having said all of that, it is good to conclude with a sober reminder of how these fundamental
errors and their related biases can hurt us in our decision-making in life, and specifically in an
organizational context. The decisions we make in interviewing job candidates, conducting
performance evaluations, defining problems, and creating expectations can all be seriously
flawed if we don’t first deal with these perception issues.

EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE

Emotional Intelligence loosely describes the ability to not only be aware and in control of
one’s own emotional issues, but also the ability to emotionally connect with and relate to
others. It speaks to a certain degree of sensitivity to and awareness of others and what they
might be thinking and feeling. Therefore, one can see how our perceptions are directly related
to our EI quotient—the more our perceptions are tainted by the intelligence and perfection
errors, the more self-absorbed we will be, and the lower our EI will be.

EI coincides nicely with covenantal behavior, because it allows us to be more outward looking
and therefore to be better equipped to care for others (hesed) and be accountable to them. It
also enables us to be more effective in conflict resolution, again because we are looking past
ourselves to better understand the concerns of others. It also improves our leadership ability
and persuasiveness, because we are able to more effectively speak to the heart issues of
those around us—the important values (such as love and justice) that can really motivate and
excite.

Finally, from an organizational perspective, there are many benefits to having high EI. Job
performance, creativity, motivation, customer service and decision-making are all positively
impacted by EI.

JOB SATISFACTION

Thus far, the case has been made that we have an important role in controlling our emotions
rather than allowing our emotions to control us and how we perceive reality. In contrast to the
theology of self-help, we do not try to manipulate our emotions first and foremost through
“positive thinking” or other such techniques, but rather by grounding our belief system in the

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truth of God’s Word. When that happens, our emotions will follow truth much like the car of
a train follows the train engine. Behind the emotion “car” on that metaphorical train comes
the “perception” car, followed in turn by the “attitude” car.

As it pertains to this lesson, a major attitude upon which we will be focusing is that of job
satisfaction. But rather than just focusing on how we are responsible for our the extent to
which we are satisfied with our jobs, it will now be helpful to shift the emphasis a bit to why
organizations should seek to improve their employees’ job satisfaction.

This is so because high job satisfaction brings many benefits to organizations. Research has
revealed a direct link between high job satisfaction and increased job performance,
organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) and customer satisfaction as well as a decrease in
absenteeism, turnover, and workplace deviance.

So how do organizational leaders enhance job satisfaction? First, it is important to note that
part of job satisfaction is dependent upon the employee’s own perception of herself and her
ability to do the job. This is known as positive core self-evaluation. If an employee is
confident in her own abilities and skills on the job, she will be more satisfied with her job.
Having said that, organizations can contribute to an employee’s positive core self-evaluation
by providing training for employees and making sure that employees are used in jobs that
draw on their strengths and abilities.

Secondly, job satisfaction is not closely related to salary level. Sure, everyone likes making a
lot of money, but in the long term, if an employee is miserable in his job, getting paid a lot of
money will not do much to increase job satisfaction. At best, it will be a consolation for having
a miserable job.

On the contrary, job satisfaction has more to do with intrinsic factors. For instance, job
satisfaction overlaps with terms such as Perceived organizational support (POS),
organizational commitment, and employee engagement. It also is tied in with job involvement
and psychological empowerment. All of these concepts tie into a covenantal approach where
leaders empower employees to contribute meaningfully to their organization and furthermore
care for employees (hesed) so that employees feel like an integral part of the organization. In
addition to these factors, organizations can increase job satisfaction (in order to increase their
positive core self-evaluation), by putting employees in challenging and stimulating jobs.

EFFECTIVE JOB ATTITUDES

Related to job satisfaction are those attitudes that will make an employee more effective in
the workplace. These attitudes can be discussed in terms of competing dyads. For starters, an
effective attitude is humility because it ensures that the employee is approachable, teachable,
and professional. This is in contrast to a prideful attitude, where an employee can be arrogant,
competitive, and un-teachable.

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A positive core-self evaluation is helpful for job effectiveness, as mentioned in the previous
section. This attitude need not involve the Intelligence and Perfection Errors; on the contrary,
it’s about confidence, not pride. On the other side, a person who always doubts himself and
has low emotional stability and insecurity will have a hard time performing well on the job.
Ironically, this low emotional stability can in fact be due to pride, because in our pride we reject
God’s control over our lives and in so doing, we try to manage every aspect of our lives. This in
and of itself can lead to emotional insecurity and instability, because deep down, we know that
even though we really, really want to be in control, we really, really fail in so doing, regardless
of how hard we try.

High self-monitors are able to adjust their behavior to what is going on around them. It is
related to EI, and involves being outward looking. In contrast, low self-monitors miss
nonverbal cues found in workplace situations. It also stands in contrast to hypervigilence and
impression management, both of which are motivated by fear and a certain degree of
manipulation, as opposed to truly connecting with others and responding accordingly.
Finally, the Big 5 attributes are helpful in a job setting. Attitudes/actions such as
dependability, thoroughness, reliability ensure that an individual is a meaningful contributor to
the job. In contrast, being a Type A workaholic can not only lead to burnout and exhaustion,
but it can alienate team members and create a dysfunctional organizational culture where
people do not feel connected to one another in meaningful ways and have significant work/life
conflicts.

DECISION MAKING CONSTRAINTS

Finally, we move to the last output—decision making. As with perceptions, there are
constraints and biases that will hinder effective decision making. The Perfection Error can
lead to overconfidence, confirmation, and/or escalation of commitment biases. In each of
these biases, the decision maker has an inflated impression of himself, causing him to overrate
his own abilities (overconfidence), only affirm information that supports past decisions
(confirmation), and increase commitment to a past decision even in the face of negative
information (escalation of commitment). The anchoring bias, availability bias, randomness
error bias, and hindsight bias are related to the Intelligence Error because in some form or
another, they all have an inflated evaluation of the decision-makers ability to process and
evaluate the information available to her.

Moving beyond these heart-level constraints, decision-makers are constrained by information
overload and limited time, which go hand in hand with one another. The rational decision-
making model assumes that the decision maker has sufficient time to identify every
component of a problem and all possible alternatives to solve the problem. It also assumes
that there is enough time to evaluate each alternative. However, in the real, rough and tumble
world, such is the rarely the case. The Bounded Rationality model acknowledges this reality,
and is related to the notion that intuition must also play a key role in decision-making.

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Decision-makers are often forced to make gut-level decisions without having all the
information they would prefer.

Finally, organizational constraints play a key role. Performance evaluation criteria, reward
systems, formal regulations, system imposed time constraints and historical precedents all put
limitations on the options and frames of reference for the decision maker, for better or for
worse.

DEALING WITH CONSTRAINTS AND BIASES

Given all of these constraints, and the proclivities toward pride that can cloud our judgment,
decision making can be a daunting process. But there are there some ways to deal with these
constraints and biases.

One way is to increase creativity. The Three Component Model suggests that creativity can be
enhanced through a combination of expertise (meaning that organizations should continue to
seek to educate, train, and retain their employees), creative thinking skills (didn’t see that one
coming…) and intrinsic task motivation (meaning that employees who truly enjoy their work
will be more apt to invest themselves fully in the decision making process). Being mentored by
creative individuals is also suggested.

Another means is to encourage “Big Picture” thinking, where decisions are made based not
just on what is good for an individual, group or department, but rather in terms of what is good
for the entire organization. This helps to overcome close-minded thinking. It might also allow
for a more comprehensive definition of the problem that needs to be solved, since “big picture”
thinking is most effective when members from different parts of the organization are
represented in the decision making process. Therefore, mutual accountability and
participative decision making come into play here.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, is the need for humility in making decisions. Decision
makers can easily fall into one of two extremes: arrogant and brash decision making or fearful,
timid, prolonged and ultimately, untimely decision making. In truth, both extremes are based
on pride. The relationship between the first extreme and pride is rather self-explanatory.
Regarding the second extreme, people who put too much stock in their own efforts and
intelligence, rather than trusting that God will guide them and take care of them regardless of
the outcome (if they will fully submit to Him) often find themselves crippled with fear and over
analysis. They are obsessed with what will happen should they make a wrong decision, instead
of waiting quietly on the Lord and making a decision with an open and humble heart.

Back to Table of Contents

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LESSON 3: Motivating Employees

Lesson 2 focused primarily upon our personal values, emotions, attitudes, etc. and what we as
individuals can do to ensure that our emotions, moods and attitudes were in line with Biblical
truth and effective job performance. Lesson 3 now puts the emphasis on how organizations
can motivate individuals to be more productive on the job.

MOTIVATIONAL THEORIES

Part 1 focuses on motivational theories that have been developed over the years to explain
how employees are motivated. Part 2 will then focus on how these ideas and concepts can be
applied to an organizational setting in practical ways. Two major themes underlie the major
motivational theories that will be presented in this lesson. The first is that intrinsic motivation
is the most effective means of motivating employees, because it speaks to who God made
them to be. The second theme is that covenantal behavior can be used to achieve intrinsic
motivation.

EARLY MOTIVATION THEORIES

Very little will be said about the early motivational theories, because for the most part, they
are not substantiated by the research. However, it is interesting to note that on an intuitive
level, all of them touch on the importance of intrinsic motivation. Two Factor theory argues
that happiness and job satisfaction are not related to external factors. Maslow’s Hierarchy of
Needs speaks of the ultimate motivator being self-actualization—which has nothing to do with
external factors such as pay, recognition but rather finding true meaning and fulfillment.
Theory X/Theory Y argued that in reality, most employees wanted to be empowered and were
looking for opportunities to grow and develop through their work. Of course, Biblically, we
know that this is not always true—not every employee wants to grow or can be trusted with
more responsibility.

McClleland’s Theory of Needs argued that employees are motivated by one of three needs:
the need for power (nPow), achievement (nAch) or affiliation (nAff). A Biblical perspective on
this theory is that living for eternity, which of course is all about intrinsic motivation, can
achieve all three of these. Caring for others and showing them the love of God (nAff) is
ultimately the best investment of one’s efforts, because the pay-off is one that is eternal
(nAch). And God empowers those who seek to do His will (nPow). On an organizational level,
covenantal behavior is also relevant here. Creating an atmosphere where your employees are
cared for (nAff), are empowered (nPow) and can achieve objectives and are honored for them
(nAch) are what covenant is all about.

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CONTEMPORARY MOTIVATION THEORIES

The contemporary theories of motivation also emphasize the importance of intrinsic
motivation and covenantal behavior (with the exception of Reinforcement theory, which
focuses solely on external motivators). Cognitive Evaluation theory posits that verbal
rewards increase intrinsic motivation and that job satisfaction increases when work goals are
done for intrinsic reasons.

Goal Setting theory argues that goals set via participative decision making increases the
likelihood that goals will be accepted. It furthermore assumes that employees are self-
motivated and have taken ownership of their organization. It requires feedback from leaders
(active dialogue).

According to Self-Efficacy theory, employees can be motivated to accomplish tasks if they are
affirmed, which increases their self-confidence. Furthermore, assigning challenging goals to
employees can convey a sense of trust in them and respect for their abilities. As seen, intrinsic
motivation—feeling self-confident and valued—plays a key role in motivation, and from a
covenantal perspective, these things can be achieved through empowerment, mentoring, and
affirmation (hesed).

Equity theory shows the interplay of intrinsic and extrinsic motivators. It argues that
employees are motivated by equal treatment. Therefore, organizational justice is crucial. An
organization that acts covenantally is more apt to achieve this justice because: 1) it is more
open to sharing bad news with employees (active dialogue) which can help to remove
employee fears about injustice, 2) it encourages big-picture thinking and teamwork to solve
problems; and 3) is more open to allowing employees to have a say in pay and bonus structures
(participatory decision making). All of these tactics can increase employee belief in the
fairness of the organization.

Expectancy theory, which is probably the one most substantiated by research, focuses on how
employees are motivated by the extent to which they can accomplish a task and in so doing,
the extent to which they will be rewarded. It also argues that ultimately, the reward meted out
by the organization will only have value insofar as it relates to personal goals (intrinsic
motivation). From a covenantal perspective, this theory should remind leaders of the value of
affirming and rewarding employees and understanding the types of rewards that motivate
employees (hesed, participatory decision making).

EMPLOYEE PARTICIPATION

Employee involvement is another word for the covenantal idea of participative decision-
making and management. An important and related term to this is “sphere sovereignty”.
Developed by Dutch covenantal theologian Abraham Kuyper, this idea asserts that people and

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institutions should be respected and empowered in their field or “sphere” of expertise and
control. In an organization, those who are going to be influenced by a decision should ideally
have a say in the decision-making process. This will not only help to motivate employees, but
it will also likely ensure that leaders have better data from those who are “in the trenches” in
making a given decision. Representative participation is also related to this notion, but in a
more formal and procedural context.

Quality Circles and Total Quality Management were some of the first perspectives that called
for greater employee involvement. Quality circles are consist of meetings in which employees
get together with management to discuss ways to improve organizational processes and
procedures in order to enhance quality. Related to this, TQM emphasized training of
employees in the notion of “quality of workmanship” and encouraged the use of quality circles
as a means of increasing quality and productivity.

It should be noted, however, that empowerment is not for everyone. Only those employees
who are willing to take ownership of the organization, employ big picture thinking (which
means they are willing to look past their own group or departmental concerns and in order to
focus on what is good for the organization as whole) should be entrusted with empowerment.

PAYMENT PROGRAMS

Payment programs are an example of the importance of extrinsic motivation. There are two
general categories. The first is more of a goal—creating an equitable pay structure. This done
to achieve internal equity—ensuring that everyone is fairly compensated within the
organization—and to achieve external equity—paying employees a fair salary in terms of what
they could be making elsewhere. The former is important to prevent internal strife and
resentment. The latter is important to ensure that an organization does not lose its qualified
employees to another company. The saying, “You get what you pay for,” is certainly relevant
here.

Variable-pay programs come in many forms. There is some research to suggest that they can
serve as valuable motivators. For instance, profit-sharing has been found to contribute to
increased profitability, and gainsharing has been found to increase productivity and positive
employee attitudes. Piece-rate pay-for-performance plans have been found to increase
productivity, but not for risk-averse employees.

FLEXIBLE BENEFITS

Flexible benefits are another type of external motivator, and allow each employee to
individually tailor his benefit package. There are three types. Modular plans are
predesigned for a specific employee type. Core-plus plans provide essential benefits plus a

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menu selection for non-essential benefits. Flexible spending plans allow employees to set
aside money tax free for potential health needs.

INTRINSIC REWARDS

The theme running throughout this lesson is that intrinsic motivators are the most powerful
form of motivation. It is therefore appropriate to talk about intrinsic rewards offered to
employees to thank them for their efforts on behalf of the organization. This should not be
viewed as an attempt to totally discount extrinsic motivators. In fact, some studies suggest
that financial incentives have better short term impact, but non-financial incentives are more
motivating in the long run.
In that vein, recognizing and affirming employees is a key aspect of intrinsic rewards,
however, such rewards cannot be arbitrary (such as using an intrinsic reward to honor
“favorite” employees). Doing so can actually lead to resentment and serve as a powerful vision
killer. It also needs to be specific and clear if it is going to have motivational power.

BIBLICAL SUMMARY

Having provided some theoretical perspectives on motivation and providing some guidelines
for motivating employees, it will be helpful to provide some concluding, Biblical thoughts on
the subject.

On an individual level, we need to remember to avoid “misplaced motivators” for doing the
things we do. If we are seeking to be promoted over others or seeking to be recognized as
ends unto themselves, than it is quite likely that we have the wrong motivations for doing the
things we are doing. Likewise if we find that we “must” be in control (as if that were just a
personality quirk rather than a fundamental statement about how we view God’s role in our
lives) then yet again we are being wrongly motivated.

What should motivate us? Living for eternity—seeing God work through us to change lives
around us. There are only three things that will last for eternity—God, God’s Word, and
people, so we should invest our time and effort into them. As Romans 2:6-8 (ESV) says: “He
will render to each one according to his works: to those who by patience in well-doing seek for
glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; but for those who are self-seeking
and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury.”

At the organizational level, leaders need to remember to emphasize intrinsic motivators.
This is not to say that extrinsic motivators such as pay are not valuable, but rather that in and
of themselves they will not have the same long-term motivational impact as intrinsic
motivators. To accomplish this emphasis, leaders need to shift their duties to affirming,
empowering, and rewarding employees. Leaders and managers who fail to appreciate the

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importance of the “people” side of their duties and instead focus primarily on just “getting
things done” will struggle with intrinsically motivating employees.

Finally, leaders need to create consensus on intrinsic, essential goals. This is done to create a
sense of shared vision and to remind everyone in the organization that “we’re in this together.”
This process can generate a lot of excitement and momentum within the organization.

Back to Table of Contents

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LESSON 4: Group Behavior and Work Teams

Welcome to Lesson 4: GROUP BEHAVIOR AND WORK TEAMS. This lesson marks a shift
from a discussion about individual behavior and motivation to group behavior.

GROUP BEHAVIOR

Part 1 discusses the general properties and tendencies of groups, specifically with regard to
roles, properties, and decision making. Part 2 will apply these concepts within an
organization setting. In both cases, the value of covenantal principles will be emphasized.

STAGES OF GROUP DEVELOPMENT

When groups are formed, they through some process of growth and development. Members
establish relationships and get used to working with one another. They create processes,
routines, and norms, and above all try to get things done. A popular way for conceptualizing
this process is to describe it as Forming (the introductory phase)-Storming (the initial conflict
among members as they get used to one another)-Norming (establishing normalcy and
familiarity with one another and with how things get done)-Performing (gaining momentum
and accomplishing goals and objectives)-Adjourning (disbanding the group, if it is a short-term
one). Obviously, not every group goes through this process in the same way, but it does
provide a helpful framework for understanding group development.

From a covenantal perspective, mutual accountablity, and hesed can strengthen the group
because both attributes are aimed at getting members to care for one another and be
accountable to one another in order protect their own rights as well as creating a lasting
relationship. These attributes can not only make the forming and storming stages less divisive
and disjointed, they also set the stage for active dialogue, “big picture” thinking, and
participatory decision making within the group during the norming and performing stages .

GROUP PROPERTIES

There are several concepts associated with Group Properties. For instance, different
members have different roles within the group. And every group has certain norms. The
question is whether or not these norms are healthy ones. How does the group resolve
conflicts? Are mutual accountability and empowerment key components of these norms? Is
conformity exalted above productivity or active dialogue?

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Every group has a certain status within an organization. Does this status lead to a sense of
elitism among group members, or in keeping with covenantal behavior, do group members see
their group as part of the greater organizational whole and whose purpose is to help the
organization accomplish its goals (“big picture” thinking)? If it is the former, than the group
will likely have problems with groupthink.

What is the size of the group? Smaller groups are better for getting things done (ideally no
more than 7 people), but larger groups are ideal for solving problems because they maximize
different perspectives as problems are defined and solutions are offered.

Is there social loafing in the group? If so, limiting the size of the group will help because doing
so requires every member to be more involved, and it enables mutual accountability to be
enforced more easily. Setting common goals for the group and encouraging active dialogue
can also help.

How cohesive is the group? Generally speaking, cohesiveness encourages higher
performance. As with the issue of social loafing, cohesiveness can be enhanced by shrinking
the size of the group and setting common goals.

GROUP DECISION MAKING

Which is better—individual or group decision making?

The benefits of group decision making is that it provides more complete information than an
individual would because it provides greater diversity of views, which in turn leads to more
accurate decisions. It also leads to increased acceptance of the decision, since consensus-
building was used to come to the decision.

The negatives is that it is more time consuming since obviously more people are involved in
the process. There can also be greater pressure to conform (especially if group norms do not
allow for healthy conflict resolution), which can stifle a true discussion of ideas. Related to this
problem is the possibility for one person dominating the group. It is therefore important for
groups to practice active dialogue in order to prevent this. On the other extreme, there can be
ambiguous responsibility in the group process, which is why the concept of mutual
accountability must be a part of the group decision-making process. In the end, it’s clear that
individuals can make quicker decisions, but when a problem needs to be solved or information
needs to be analyzed, the group decision-making process is ideal.

One particularly effective method of group decision-making which dovetails nicely with the
principle of mutual accountability is the nominal group technique. In this process, individuals
meet as a group but generate ideas individually. Ideas are then presented one at a time, and
each member takes a turn until all ideas have been presented. Then ideas are discussed for

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clarity and evaluation. Finally, members independently and silently rank each idea, and the
idea with the highest score wins. This method has been found to be more effective than
brainstorming or electronic meetings.

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN GROUPS AND TEAMS
• Work group
• Work team

Work groups interact merely to share information, make decisions, and complete tasks, but a
work team creates synergy through coordinated effort. In this case, the sum is greater than
the individual contribution of the parts. At this level, we begin to see covenant behavior and
big picture thinking.

TYPES OF TEAMS

• Problem-solving Teams
• Self-managed Work Teams
• Cross-functional Teams
• Virtual teams

Problem-solving: Teams are especially gifted at problem-solving because they allow for a
multi-faceted approach to solving a problem.

Self-managed: These teams, in essence, take on a supervisory role as they complete vital
tasks. However, the success of these types of teams is mixed. On the one hand, there is in
fact greater job satisfaction among members of self-managed teams, but there are also higher
rates of absenteeism and turnover. Perhaps this lack of absenteeism is due to a lack of
accountability because team members are accountable only to one another. To combat this,
successful teams must be “covenantal” in their approach to their activity—they need covenant-
level commitment to the process, they need to be humble and accountable to one another.
They also need to be accountable to the greater goal of the organization—the team cannot
just be a social club for the elite members therein! Success is based upon the norms of the
team, the make-up of the team, the type of tasks, and the reward structure.

Cross-functional: This type of team increases opportunities to exchange information, develop
new ideas and solve problems, as well as increase communication and “big picture” thinking.

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In one sense, this is the goal of every “covenantal” organization—to increase this type of
communication and interaction across the board. Getting to this level of communication and
interaction takes a lot of work, even at the team level. It takes time to build trust and get
everyone on the same page, and as will be discussed shortly, if the performance evaluation and
reward structure, the organizational culture, and leadership behavior do not support this type
of interaction, it will be especially difficult.

Virtual teams: These types of teams are not able to duplicate the face-to-face connection of
other teams. Perhaps they should not be relied upon, therefore, for solving problems and
creating big-picture initiatives. They are probably better served for conveying information to
the members and for the performance of more basic functions.

FACTORS RELATING TO SUCCESSFUL TEAMS

Context
• Adequate resources
• Leadership and structure:
• Climate of Trust
• Performance Evaluation/Reward Systems

Adequate resources: Organizations need to be willing to support teams with the necessary
equipment and such that will be needed to do the job. Ultimately, this falls on the leadership
team.

Leadership and structure are especially important in “multi-team” systems. Leaders need to
understand the importance of keeping all of the groups focused on big picture tasks and not
just their own responsibilities. Also, for a team approach to really work, leaders need to truly
delegate the necessary tasks to the team (empowerment), along with the authority needed to
do those tasks. Leaders also need to provide the necessary resources to help the team
accomplish those tasks, and above all, leaders need to see themselves as active facilitators in
the team process—helping teams see the big picture, and how they relate to the efforts of
other teams, and ensuring that teams don’t get into “turf wars” with other teams. This
requires the leadership team to be covenantal in their approach to team efforts, and therefore,
there must be a covenantal culture throughout the organization.

Trust can be easily undermined when leaders don’t provide the necessary resources,
information, or support for teams. Also, when leaders allow rampant conflict (back-biting,
gossip, rivalries, etc.) to breed, trust will be hindered. Within the group, members need to be
able to trust one another. If organizational leaders have created a climate where members can
truly focus on the task of the group rather than having to look after their own security and

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standing in the organization, and if the group members themselves appreciate one another’s
gifts and strengths, competition will be lessened and teamwork will increase. One way of
decreasing competition is through reward systems and performance evaluation that
encourage group behavior and accomplishment.

Performance Evaluation/Reward Systems: Organizations need to hold team members
individually accountable (to prevent social loafing) while at the same time measuring for joint
success (to increase group cohesion). Therefore the evaluation criteria used to appraise team
members performance needs to measure both individual contributions as well as group
accomplishments. Group-based appraisals, profit-sharing, gainsharing, and small-group
incentives should also be used in the reward process.

Team Composition

• Abilities of Members
• Personality of Members
• Allocation of Roles
• Diversity of members
• Size of teams: keep them at 9 or fewer members
• Member preferences: not everyone wants to be in a team!

Abilities include technical expertise, problem-solving and decision-making skills, and
interpersonal skills. High ability teams should be saved for more difficult tasks and problems
as they may become bored with mundane tasks and issues.

The personality of members is also a key issue. For instance, high conscientiousness and
openness to experience lead to better performance, and disagreeable team members can
significantly hurt the team process. Proverbs talks a lot about back-biters, lazy, arrogant, and
foolish people and how they disrupt good things and negatively influence others. These types
are far from “covenantal” in their behavior, but probably every organization has people who
are this way, as we’ve discussed in previous lectures. Research reveals that it might be better
to keep all of the conscientious, “covenantal” people on the same team separate from low
conscientious members to remove inequity and improve satisfaction.

Allocation of Roles: Furthermore, members should be selected based upon their strengths
and should be assigned tasks within the group accordingly. This increases motivation and
satisfaction for the members, but again, it requires some forethought and proactivity on the
part of the leaders.

Greater diversity does not necessarily guarantee performance and can actually negatively
affect performance of teams. Turnover can also be higher as well as conflict and power

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struggles. One study suggested that to really get things done, members in diverse groups
should focus on the task right away to build cohesion based upon a shared sense of teamwork.

Size: Remember from the previous lecture that groups and teams should be kept to a
manageable size—9 or fewer is ideal. This allows for “covenantal bonding—members can truly
get to know one another and develop relationships with one another in meaningful ways.
Team members should be comfortable enough with one another where they can challenge one
another for the purposes of increasing productivity.

Member Preferences: Not everyone enjoys working in a group (introverts?), so keep that in
mind. It’s better to get people in the group who want to be there. It should be stated,
however, that just because someone does not function well in a group does not mean that they
have the attitude issues discussed above. It just means that their talents and affinities lie
elsewhere. Again, leadership will need to be able to identify these type of people and plan
accordingly.

Work Design—think “covenantally”

• Allow for freedom and autonomy.
• Skill Variety
• Task Identity
• Task Significance

For a group to truly be a team, leaders must empower them with the freedom and autonomy
to do the job assigned to them. They must also be given the opportunity to use different skills
and talents (skill variety), as this will motivate talented employees who feel like they have a lot
to offer and are looking for the opportunity to feel challenged by their work.

Task Identity: Likewise, if leaders allow a team to complete the entire, identifiable task or
product, motivation will increase. This is related to Demming’s notion of “quality of
workmanship” because it allows for motivated team members to get excited about producing
quality workmanship. As Christians, we know that work can and should be an act of worship to
God, and task identity allows for this type of worship to happen, even among people who,
though not Christians per se, are still made in God’s image and intuitively understand the value
of quality workmanship as end unto itself.

Related to this is task significance—team members will be more motivated if the things they
are accomplishing are important and have value. Leaders need to have enough to create tasks
that are both valuable for the organization and meaningful to team members. When these
factors are in play, member satisfaction and team effectiveness are increased.

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Team Processes

• Common Plan and Purposes
• Specific Goals
• Team Efficacy
• Mental Models
• Conflict Levels
• Social Loafing

Common Plan and Purposes: Teams need to have a good plan, but once they have
established that plan, they need to be able to adjust it as necessary (reflexivity). This requires
covenant—mutual accountability and a willingness to reconsider and evaluate the plan. When
making a covenant, members not only establish the terms and goals of the covenant; they also
create a framework and process whereby the covenant can be reviewed and revised from time
to time and as need be. Teams cannot be so focused on their positive identity that they are not
willing to consider that they’re off track (group think).

Specific Goals: Having goals is basically this is accountability. Nebulous values and goals will
not lead to success!

Team Efficacy: Teams need to have confidence in themselves. Hesed, mutual accountability,
and mutual affirmation are helpful in this regard, but only in conjunction with accountability to
the stated and clearly defined goals of the group. Otherwise the team will fall into groupthink
and failure.

Mental Models: teams need a successful, accurate, and humble “psychological map” of how
work gets done and what to expect in the performance of tasks. This requires effective
communication among members, and therefore mutual accountability plays a key role here.
Team members all need to be on the same page with one another lest there be any surprises
when one member approaches the task one way and another member another way. Such
discontinuity cannot only hurt communication; it can also hurt productivity. Likewise, team
members need to be in touch with the greater reality of the job and the environment in which
they are operating. Even if the entire team is in agreement about expectations and standards,
is their mental model unrealistic? It’s easy for individuals (remember “self-inflation”
tendencies) and groups to assume the best and to assume that the work will be easier than it
really is. Teams have to be diligent in truly researching what resources of time, money, etc.
will be required to get the job done. They cannot have illusions of grandeur or ease in the
process. In other words, teams need to be wary of their own collective laziness and pride.
Professionalism is informed by humility and diligence. Professional teams have healthy and
realistic mental models.

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Conflict Levels: Functional conflict increases productivity because it challenges flaws and blind
spots in the “mental model” of the group and therefore any group think that might exist.
However, functional conflict can be undermined when members, due to pride personalize
disagreements. Relationship conflicts, therefore, are dysfunctional and take away from team
unity and productivity. Part of a healthy “mental model” of any team is the acknowledgement
that functional conflict should be an important part of the process to ensure that an accurate
and realistic description of the problem and task is in place.

Social Loafing: successful teams hold members accountable to both group goals and
individual tasks needed to accomplish those goals. A mental model that allows a member to
not do any individual work or focus ONLY on individual work is flawed. This should be
communicated at the outset. Team members should realize that not only are they responsible
for their piece of the puzzle; they are also responsible for the entire process, in order to make
sure that the mental model is effective and to ensure that everything is getting done as it
should. The idea of covenant once again is relevant here—especially in terms of hesed and
mutual accountability. Also, the very basis of entering a covenant requires more than just a
loose and vague commitment to the relationship; on the contrary, entering into a covenantal
relationship requires steadfast and active commitment.

TURNING INDIVIDUALS INTO TEAM PLAYERS

• Hire team Players
• Training
• Rewarding

Hiring Team Players: Organizations that do not understand the necessity of having a team
mindset will not hire the right types of employees.

Training: Organizations can provide training in this regard, but training in and of itself will only
result in cynicism if leadership is not committed to empowerment and servant leadership. Lip
service will not work in creating teamwork anymore than lip service would work in any type of
relationship. Being a team player needs to be modeled by leadership in terms of being open to
feedback, communicating at the “big picture” level with employees, and empowering
employees who are affected by decisions to have a say in those decisions. If that context is not
there, the ability to encourage teamwork will be limited.

Rewarding: members should be rewarded for team-building activities—helping to resolve
conflict, mastering new skills that the team needs, sharing information with teammates, etc.
Of course, in an organization where various departments do not communicate well with one
another and where leaders do not communicate well with the employees in the trenches, it will

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be hard to create a necessary reward structure to encourage team-building. On the other
extreme, if group behavior is emphasized at the expense of the individual, a lack of morale may
exist. Hard-working individuals need to be rewarded for their individual contributions.
Remember that in a covenant, individuals are affirmed and cared for and they are tasked with
affirming and caring for the other members in the relationship. This is the best way to create a
true team.

WHEN SHOULD TEAMS BE USED?

• Only if the work couldn’t be better done by one person
• When the work goal is greater than individual goals
• When members find that they are interdependent with other members

Only if the work couldn’t be better done by one person. Usually problem-solving is better served
by a team, whereas the completion of simple tasks should be left to the individual level.

When the work creates a greater goal than just the combination of individual goals. This is true at
the organizational level as well—every employee needs to see how their task fits into the big
picture.

When members find that they are interdependent with other members in the completion of their
separate tasks. In this situation, there should be communication among the members and
greater interaction.

Back to Table of Contents

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LESSON 5: Organizational Communication

FORMAL AND INFORMAL CHANNELS

Formal Channels: “official” means of communication

Informal Channels: interpersonal, unofficial, and often, the most meaningful

Formal channels are the written policies, mission/vision statements, rules and regulations,
memo’s, etc. that a company creates and expects from its employees. The informal channels
can either work against or for the company and the formal channels. For instance, the
“grapevine” often conveys a lot of information that the organization wouldn’t want conveyed.
Depending upon how leaders treat their employees and are viewed in the organization, the
grapevine can be good or bad. Rumors, gossip, and speculation are all communicated via
informal channels. The stories of how leaders either affirm or kill the vision (“vision killers”)
also get transmitted quickly through informal channels, especially through the grapevine.
However, if leader s and other members of the organization are covenantal in their behavior,
those same informal channels can be those which convey mutual affirmation and care, and
which provide momentum for what the organization is trying to accomplish. Leaders need to
be aware that informal communication is often more important than formal communication,
because informal communication falls in the sphere of interpersonal relationships, which is
where the rubber meets the road for organizational behavior.

DIRECTION OF COMMUNICATION

Downward Communication:

o Leaders should explain WHY decisions are being made.
o Leaders should seek feedback about decisions

Upward Communication: gives feedback to managers and leaders about organizational
progress.

Downward communication, like formal communication, can often be too rigid for effective
communication. If leaders don’t provide a clear rationale for decisions, employees can feel
confusion, fear, and resentment for policies and decisions which don’t make sense from their
perspective. Ideally, not only should leaders communicate the rationale behind their decisions,
they should also seek feedback about those decisions from employees before the decisions are
made, which of course is part of upward communication. This goes back to the notion of

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“sphere sovereignty” in which all relevant employees who will be impacted by a decision
should have feedback into the decision process. This is also part of “big picture” thinking.
Leaders communicate the big picture constraints, goals, and objectives to relevant employees,
and employees provide feedback “from the trenches”—so that those goals and objectives are
contextualized in the realities of customer needs and the day-to-day routine of various
departments.

Ideally, leaders should be actively seeking upward communication, but there are some
practical tips for employees seeking to engage in upward communication. First of all,
employees can reduce distractions when meeting with their superiors by meeting outside of
the boss’s office, such as a conference room. Employees should speak in “headlines”—in other
words—get to the point with your boss! Do not meander but rather serve your superior by
reducing information overload and providing clear, compelling information for why what you
have to share is relevant. Using an agenda is also helpful to help give your superior a clear map
of where employees are headed when they are communicating with superiors.

The bottom line is that employees need to be focused when trying to provide feedback to
superiors. Ideas and concerns need to be linked into the “big picture” of the organization—any
personal concerns which the employee has must be couched in the goals, constraints, and
objectives the organization is facing. And again, this is part of the covenantal process. Though
leaders should humble themselves and seek valuable feedback from employees, those same
employees are obligated to “accept the terms of the covenant”, take ownership of the process,
and think like leaders. Doing so will ensure that upward communication is far more relevant
and much more likely to be received favorably by leadership.

Lateral communication:

o Communication across departments
o Saves time and increases productivity
o Avoids “me vs. them” mentality
o Increases “big picture” thinking
o Facilitated by ad hoc, cross-functional teams.

In previous lessons, the case has been made that it is natural for humans to think in terms of
“me vs. them”, or, “I’m smart and everyone else (who doesn’t agree with me and think like me)
is an idiot.” Organizationally, this manifests itself in horizontal communication, when leaders
accuse employees of being lazy and unmotivated, and employees accuse leaders of being inept
and out of touch. In lateral communication, this same attitude is manifested as various
departments and groups can engage in turf wars with one another. Members of competing
groups chafe at the rules and regulations imposed by the other groups, considering them to be
arbitrary and useless. Meanwhile members of the other departments presume that the other

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groups are clueless. What is really going on is that each department makes rules and
regulations that maximize their own efficiency and effectiveness, without being aware of how
those same rules and regulations affect other departments and individuals in the organization.

This is where lateral communication is so helpful. As members from various groups and
departments meet together to get things done, organizational awareness increases. In that
context, it will be far more likely that members in one group will be more aware of the
constraints, needs, and goals of other departments, and so on. This of course is related to “big
picture” thinking. There are various facets of lateral communication, but one practical and
specific way to increase this type of “big picture” thinking is to use ad hoc, cross-functional
groups who meet to discuss areas where various departments and groups are having issues
and where blind spots exist in big picture thinking.

INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION

Oral Communication:

o Still the most effective way to communicate
o Passing message through a number of people can dilute the message.
o Rumor mill and grapevine

Written Communication:

o Rules remove uncertainty
o But excessive rules = less attention to those rules
o Policies must be lived our relationally

Covenantal Behavior to Increase Communication:

o “Spirit” of the law, not just the letter
o Leaders care for and empower employees
o Leaders communicate big picture
o Encourage lateral communication and teamwork

Oral communication is still the best way to communicate information because it is immediate
and because it allows for feedback and immediate clarification. However, it also can be
inefficient. As a message is communicate through more and more people, it can get more and
more diluted. To solve that problem, written communication is employed. Leaders create
policies and procedures to remove uncertainty, but in so doing, they run the risk of excessive
bureaucratization and a think rule book which no one reads. Fortunately, covenantal behavior
can address this dilemma.

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Remember that a covenant relationship involves not just rules and regulations, but also the
spirit undergirding those rules—mutual accountability and hesed. Indeed, the very notion of
hesed implies a loving fulfillment of those rules and regulations. If leaders hire quality
employees, and more importantly, if leaders act with integrity, care for and empower
employees, and do a good job of communicating the “big picture” to employees, there will be
less need to rely upon excessive written communication. This is so because employees will
understand the spirit and rationale behind what the organization is trying to accomplish. By
giving employees more responsibility and power (task identity, task significance, “quality of
workmanship), employees will be more likely to do quality work and will not need external
rules and regulations. Finally, as leaders encourage a spirit of team work and mutual
affirmation/accountability across the organizations, there will be less resistance among groups
and people will be more apt to work together to get things done. In summary, all of this
covenantal behavior contributes to intrinsic motivation. When employees are motivated
intrinsically, they need less external guidance and motivation.

ORGANIZATIONAL COMPONENTS

Formal Networks:

o Chain, Wheel, and All channel
o All have advantages and disadvantages
o Covenantal behavior is more important

Informal:

o Grapevine
o Rumor Mill
o Rumors are reduced by effective communication.

The formal network prototypes all have advantages and disadvantages in terms of effective
communication and clear leadership. The essential point here is that covenantal behavior can
accommodate a variety of network structures. It seems that horizontal communication is
based served when it runs two-ways, regardless of the structure. And the richness of that two-
way horizontal communication is aided by quality lateral communication.

As mentioned earlier, the grapevine is a powerful conduit for informal communication, about
75% of which is accurate. Similarly, the rumor mill also provides a powerful conduit for
informal communication, and usually arises when important organizational issues arise that
are ambiguous and cause employees anxiety. To reduce the low morale caused by the rumor

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mill, leaders should be quick to openly communicate potential bad news and all decisions that
are being made which might negatively impact employees. Being open about difficult
decisions and issues reduces the fear of the unknown. Furthermore, if leaders allow employees
to have input and to share concerns, this further helps to reduce low morale and rumors. So
covenantal behavior is very important during difficult times.

Electronic Communication:

o The faster the medium, the greater the ambiguity
o Networking software, blogs can provide community and personal touch
o Can be both formal and informal

Knowledge Management and Customer Relationship Management software:

o Preserves information
o Aids the sharing of information
o Requires covenantal behavior
o Must be focused to avoid information overload

Regarding the various mediums of electronic communication, the guiding principle is that the
faster the medium the greater the potential for ambiguity, both with regards to information
quality and emotional meaning. This should be taken into account when communicating via
email, instant messaging, etc.

Knowledge management (KM) technology is vital for preserving and encouraging
organizational learning and “big picture” thinking, and as such can be a valuable aid for
covenantal behavior. The key is that there must in fact be a willingness among members to
share information—a practice which runs directly contrary to the “me vs. them” attitude
discussed earlier. Therefore, similar to the strategies for encouraging group cohesiveness,
leaders must create reward systems and performance evaluation criteria which encourage
team work and the sharing information.

The same is necessary for the use of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) technology.
CRM technology collects data and information from employees in the trenches—sales and
customer service representatives—and helps preserve best practices for attracting and serving
customers. It also helps to identify customer concerns, product defects, and/or service issues.
But again, for this technology to be helpful, there must be a covenantal culture, where
employees understand the value of teamwork. For instance, sharing best practices for
attracting new customers and serving existing customers helps everyone.

Finally, KM and CRM technology work best when they help to reduce information overload.
Only vital information must be stored and shared. If used properly, these technologies can

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give a company a competitive edge as it educates its employees and improves their
productivity.

WHICH CHANNEL TO USE?

• Rule of thumb: non-routine messages need “richer” channels.
• Effective managers understand critical of non-routine messages.

There are many channels which can be employed for organizational communication, but the
general rule of thumb is that the more non-routine the message, the more rich the channel
should be. Face-t0-face communication, for example, is the richest channel of
communication. When bad news needs to be communicated, or difficult decisions need to be
hashed out, leaders do well to interact more directly with employees. The same is true in the
situation of lateral communication, when various departments need to work through issues of
conflicting goals among themselves.

Effective managers and leaders understand this important truth in part because they
understand the concerns of employees during difficult times and also because they understand
the important of “big picture” thinking and communication.

Back to Table of Contents

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LESSON 6: Leadership

Welcome to Lesson 6, which will focus on organizational leadership. We’ll begin with an
overview of some of the historical trends in leadership development, and then focus on
contemporary leadership perspectives. In so doing, we’ll find that all of the leadership trends
continue to revolve around some core concepts that just happen to be paramount to a
covenantal approach.

DEFINING LEADERSHIP

• Leadership vs. Management
• Are leaders born or made?
• Leadership as influence

Is leadership the same as management? To be sure, there is overlap between these two
functions. But for the sake of clarity and discussion, leadership will be differentiated from
management in that it is focused on creating vision, “big picture” thinking, and motivating and
inspiring employees. Managing is more focused on achieving the outcomes established by the
leadership team and in general, ensuring effectiveness and efficiency. Both practices are
necessary for successful organizations. It can be furthermore argued that managers will be
more effective if they can inspire and motivate their employees. Likewise, leaders may be
visionary, but if their vision is out of touch with organizational realities and constraints, their
vision will be of no value. So having a managerial perspective is helpful for leaders who want to
be successful. As has been discussed in previous lessons, this is a big part of covenantal
leadership—linking leadership ideas with the reality of organizational details, and linking
employee tasks, concerns, insights, and challenges into the big picture of the organization. We
will continue to focus on how covenantal behavior can help achieve that end.

Much has been offered as an answer to the question of whether leaders are born or made. The
popular consensus is that any person can be developed into a leader with proper training and
encouraging. Reality and the truth of Scripture, however, suggest otherwise. Not everyone
has the moral aptitude and the gifts necessary to lead overtly. Some people are gifted with
more charismatic personality traits and communication skills. These should not be
overlooked, for doing so undermines the fact that each human being is made in God’s image
and reflects His glory in unique ways.

However, if we describe leadership as the ability to influence, the case can be made that any
human being willing to mature spiritually and emotionally into an individual willing to take
ownership of the situation around him and care for others can be said to be a leader. In fact,

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organizations thrive when its members, regardless of their position within the organization,
possess this type of leadership aptitude, and the covenantal approach is very much concerned
with encouraging employees to take ownership of the company and care for others therein. As
will be seen in this presentation, this is a type of “self-leadership” and in later discussions, we
will talk about this type of leadership in terms of organizational culture and the success that it
can breed.

TRAIT THEORIES

• Research validates that leaders possess certain traits.
• Big 5: Extraversion, conscientiousness, and openness to experience
• Emotional Intelligence and Assertiveness
• Predicts leadership emergence, not effectiveness

Operating from the framework that leaders are in fact born, the research does in fact support
the notion that certain traits are associated with successful leadership. In fact, the “Big 5”
approach is closely related to this. Extraversion, conscientiousness, and openness to
experience are associated with organizational members who are more willing and able to
assume formal and informal leadership roles than their peers.

On a related note, emotional intelligence (EI) is seen as a valuable leadership trait, though the
research is still undeveloped on this front. At the very least, it serves a counter-point to the
research that suggests that individuals who are too assertive in their leadership style actually
undermine their own leadership over others. To be sure, assertiveness is a valuable trait in a
leader, but not when it occurs at the expense of caring for employees, being open to feedback
from employees, and being willing to veer from a chosen path based upon that feedback. It
seems reasonable that a person with a high level of EI would be more in tune with follower
needs, concerns, and insights, would be more willing to respond accordingly, and at very least,
would be more adept at framing ideas and messages in the context of those needs, concerns,
and insights. Furthermore, from a covenantal perspective, a wise leader understands the
importance of meaningful relationships with employees (hesed) and of accountability to
employees. A deficiency in these attributes can seriously undermine leadership efforts and
effectiveness.

Having said all of that, it should be noted that these traits are more likely to predict and explain
leadership emergence, not effectiveness. This should not surprise those of us informed by a
Christian worldview—we understand that leadership is comprised of a moral component which
transcends a mere possession of traits. But if these traits cannot predict leadership success,

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what can? It is hoped that a covenantal approach will help fill in the gap here and provide a
much more well-rounded perspective on leadership.

BEHAVIORAL THEORIES

Ohio State Studies/University of Michigan Studies:

o Initiating structure & Consideration (OSU) as opposed to…
o Employee-oriented and production-oriented

Blake & Mouton’s Managerial Grid:

o Concern for People
o Concern for Production
o Covenantal Behavior allows for both.

Similar to the traits approach to leadership, behavioral theories of leadership emphasize that
leadership consists of specific behaviors. The earliest efforts in this regard are the Ohio State
University and University of Michigan studies. They offered a similar framework—the OSU
studies focused on initiating structures and consideration. Initiating structures relate to the
extent to which leaders provide guidance and clarity on tasks and goals and responsibilities for
employees. Consideration pertains to the extent to which leaders relationally engage
employees as defined by mutual trust, respect, and regard for employee feelings and insight.
This latter category sounds a lot like EI. Likewise, the UM studies focused task-oriented
behaviors and employee-oriented behaviors. Building on these studies, Blake and Mouton
went on to develop the Managerial Grid, whereby a leaders can be classified by the extent to
which they balance concern for people with concern for production.

The importance of these early studies is that they acknowledge the reality that leaders have
dual roles—“getting the job done” and caring for people. It will be argued here that ultimately,
these two functions must coexist, and that in reality, caring for people actually helps with
taking care of business. As the study of leadership and organizational behavior has evolved,
there has been an increasing trend on the belief that by accessing the insights, skills, and
talents of employees not only motivates employees to become more involved in the
organizational process, it also maximizes productivity. Leaders who are too task-oriented will
undermine good will employees and also run the risk of isolating themselves from valuable
employee feedback. On the other hand, leaders who are push-overs and overly-friendly to
employees will not only undermine the task component of the process, but they will destroy
the morale of the good employees because problem employees will not be kept in line. A
covenantal approach embraces this understanding—leaders are to care for employees, but
likewise, employees are to care for leaders and for the organization.

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CONTINGENCY THEORIES

Fiedler’s Model

o Determine task or relationship-orientation
o Evaluate leader-member relations, task structure, and position power
o Match leaders to situations
o Task-oriented best for high and low-control situations
o Relationship-oriented best for moderate control situations

Another perspective on leadership is offered by various contingency theories. The basic
thrust of these theories is that leaders need to be able to adapt their behavior and leadership
style based upon employee characteristics and situational factors. We can see in this emphasis
an influences from the earlier behavioral perspective on leadership. For instance, Fiedler
proposed a model whereby leaders are classified in terms of the whether they were more task-
oriented or relationship-oriented. Then, the situation in which the leader operated was to be
evaluated in terms of leader-member relations, task structure, and position power. Based
upon that analysis, leaders were to be matched with particular situations, the rationale being
that certain types of leaders were more effective in certain types of situations. In summary,
Fielder argued that task-oriented leaders were most effective in high and low-control
situations. In other words, where tasks were clearly structured or were in need of structure,
where employee relationships were either solid or not important, and where leaders either
possessed a high or small degree of position power, task-oriented leaders would thrive. In
high-control situations, leaders would not have to focus much on employee relations, and in
low-control situations, where employee relationships were minimal, a task-oriented leader
would be unfazed and could just focus on getting tasks done. On the other hand, in situations
with moderate control—i.e., ambiguity in all three components—relationship-oriented leaders
would be more effective, perhaps because they would be better able to work with followers to
handle the ambiguity and negotiate power.

Hersey and Blanchard Situational Theory and Path-Goal Theory

o Both focus on employee abilities and mindset
o Path-Goal more focused: Directive, participative, achievement oriented, and supportive

Decision Theory: Vroom and Yetton’s Leader-Participation Model: participative decision-
making determined by various factors

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Hersey and Blanchard’s Situational Theory approach and the Path Goal Theory both focus
on employee abilities and mindset and espouse different leadership approaches based upon
those two factors. The Path-Goal approach is more focused and it advocates the use of
directive, participative, achievement-oriented, and supportive leadership styles based upon
whether or not employees had the abilities to be more involved in the process and the desire to
do so.

Neither of these theories are exact, but they do acknowledge the importance of being
connected with employees. Furthermore, it can be argued that the various leadership
approaches advocated by the Path-Goal theory overlap and can be used in conjunction with
one another. For instance, to some extent, directive leadership is needed with every type of
employee. The more motivated employees just need less of that type of leadership approach.
Likewise, if employees know that leaders care for them (supportive leadership), they may be
more open to directive leadership. Participative leadership allows employees to have a say in
the creation of goals and other organizational processes—something that might appeal to
achievement-oriented employees. Finally, related to participative leadership, Vroom and
Yetton’s Leader-Participation model emphasizes the importance of participative decision-
making, but only based upon the presence of certain factors.

Covenant and Contingency Theories:

o The need for flexibility
o The importance employee engagement

The value of contingency theories from a covenantal perspective is that they all emphasize the
importance of leaders being flexible and being in tune with their employees’ needs, abilities,
and insights. How does this relate to the idea of covenant? First of all, a covenantal
relationship is flexible—rather than creating a rigid structure and unchangeable processes,
rules, and regulations, it instead creates a framework of mutually-affirming relationships and
duties that protect each member. Provided that the rights of individuals are not undermined in
any way, a covenant can be revisited to better accomplish agreed-upon goals and to enhance
relationships.

Secondly, individuals who covenant with one another must be meaningfully engaged with one
another in meaningful ways. A covenant is more than just a contractual agreement in which
certain duties must be performed; rather those duties exist to preserve the more foundational
and important relationships among all members. So though a leader may have some
positional authority, he/she also is in a relationship with members and must be accountable to
them. In both regards, contingency theories of leadership coincide with covenantal behavior.

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LEADER-MEMBER EXCHANGE (LMX) THEORY

• Time pressures cause leaders to select “favorite” employees
• The in-group and out-group and self-fulfilling prophecy
• How can leaders develop all employees?

On a less idealistic note, Leader-Member Exchange (LMX) theory emphasizes the fact that
leaders, due to time constraints and other factors, generally choose and focus upon an “in-
group” and an “out-group.” Members in the “in-group” get more time with the leader and
more development and mentoring than those in the “out-group”. What often happens in such
a situation is that members of the in-group de facto succeed, courtesy of self-fulfilling
prophecy.

Is this fair? Perhaps not, but it is often realistic. Practically speaking, do leaders have the
ability to develop and interact meaningfully with every group of employees? Probably not.
Likewise, is every employee as equally motivated as every other employee? Again, the answer
is no.
On the other hand, covenantal leadership argues that true success is achieved when
employees throughout the organization have taken ownership of organizational processes and
care for one another. If leaders can lead covenantally, perhaps they will be more successful in
creating this type of culture and paradigm.

INSPIRATIONAL APPROACHES

Charismatic Leadership

o Motivates by inspirational vision and personal charisma
o Positive force in troubled times
o Can lead to a lack of accountability and abuse of power
o Level-5 leaders—humble and ambitious

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Later leadership approaches have focused on inspiring employees. For instance, charismatic
leadership focuses on how leaders can motivate employees via inspirational vision and
personal charisma. These types of leaders are especially effective as a positive force during
troubled times—people like Winston Churchill and Lee Iacocca come to mind. However, a
negative of these types of leaders, in becoming “larger than life”, is that they can also become
immune to accountability and therefore can become prone to abusing power.

On the other hand, Level-5 leaders, as defined by Jim Collins in his work From Good to Great,
are leaders who, like charismatic leaders, are ambitious. However, their ambition is driven by
humility—they want their employees and their company to achieve lasting and meaningful
success. Collins further relates that the impact of charismatic leaders upon organizations is not
lasting—though they might achieve short-term success for the company, once they leave the
company, success leaves with them. Collins reasons that this is perhaps due to the fact that
charismatic leaders are too focused on themselves as opposed to focusing on developing
employees and creating a self-sustaining organization. Using these classifications of both, it is
clear that “Level-5” leaders are more in tune with a covenantal approach to leadership.

Transformational Leadership

o Encourages employees to move beyond self-interest to accomplish exciting,
transcendent goals

o Builds upon transactional leadership (providing direction and clarity)
o Is it different from charismatic leadership?
o What do processes and structure look like?

Related to charismatic leadership is the transformational leadership approach.
Transformational leaders encourage followers to look beyond their own self-interest and
focus on transcendent, meaningful goals of the organization. This becomes a motivation for
the entire company, such that the very act of achieving those goals and expanding one’s
horizons becomes an end unto itself. It is important to note that transformational leadership is
not opposed to transactional leadership; rather it builds upon it. Every leader needs to
provide direction and clarity to employees; having established that foundation,
transformational leaders go beyond that to motivate employees at a deeper level.

There is some question as to whether or not transformational leadership is substantially
different from charismatic leadership. Rather than trying to resolve that debate, it would be
helpful to point out that neither leadership approaches focus on the process and structure
that would be helpful for a healthy, self-sustaining organization. This is in large part because
they are, after all, about leadership practices, not about organizational cultures or structures.
But this could in fact be the greatest defect in the inspirational leadership genre—a lack of
focus on anything beyond leadership behavior. As such, these approaches provide us with an

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incomplete picture of organizational success. On the other hand, a covenantal approach
provides not only a description of leadership behavior, but also a context for that behavior, as
defined by organizational processes, structure, culture, and employee interactions.

AUTHENTIC LEADERSHIP

• Authentic leaders
• Ethics and “Vision Killers”
• Socialized charismatic leadership

Though less inspirational, authentic leadership focuses on motivating followers through
sincerity and integrity. Given how leaders can destroy an organization’s culture and rapport
with employees through “vision killers” a leader who acts with integrity and ethical
soundness is vital for organizational success. This relates to the covenantal notion of “mutual
accountability” and is therefore quite important. Another view of authentic leadership is to
consider it “socialized charismatic leadership”—charismatic leadership that is wrapped in with
acknowledgement and concern for others.

DEFINING TRUST

Three levels of trust:

o Deterrence-based
o Knowledge-based
o Identification-based (related to covenant)

Basic Principles:

o Mistrust destroys groups and productivity
o Trust can be regained only in limited situations
o Trust begets trust
o Know thyself…

No matter how inspirational leaders are, they still must be trusted by their followers. This is
why “vision killers” can be so detrimental to effective leadership. Trust can be classified in
terms of levels. Deterrence-based trust is motivated by the threat of punishment if threat is
broken. This is more in keeping with a contractual basis for doing business. If the stipulations

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of the contract are broken, then there will be legal ramifications. One violation of trust ends
the relationship. Knowledge-based trust is based upon knowledge of the other person’s
behavior. If there is a proven-track record of good behavior, trust is enhanced. This type of
trust obviously has more longevity than the lower level of deterrence-based trust. Finally,
identification-based trust could be said to be trust based on a deeper, heart level of interaction,
and in fact, is quite covenantal. Members understand and appreciate one another’s motives
and are in deep agreement about shared goals. Such a deep level of trust is necessary in
forming a covenant relationship.

Some guiding principles exist with regards to building trust. First of all, mistrust (vision killers)
destroys groups and productivity. Once trust is lost, it can be regained, but only in limited
situations. On the other hand, trust begets trust. Just as vision killers seriously undermine
relationships and belief in leaders, acts of trust have a powerful motivational impact upon
followers. Finally, trust is ultimately based upon personal integrity, and an individual’s
willingness to look at himself and has a healthy evaluation of his own inconsistencies and
potential for missteps. A leader who is aware of that will not get trapped in his own cult of
personality and will be furthermore open to accountability for others. This is covenantal
behavior and is a solid foundation for building trust.

MENTORING AS LEADERSHIP

• Psychological rather than tangible
• Demming and employee development

Mentoring has been an emerging trend in the study of leadership. It assumes that leaders will
help followers grow personally and professionally, and in a way that helps the organization
succeed. However, research reveals that the impact of mentoring is more psychological than
tangible. Is this entirely a negative? When employees feel cared for psychologically, might
they not be more effective and more motivated? As will be seen in future lessons, ideas like
the “learning organization” are based upon the notion that leaders should help employees
develop and grow professionally in a way that helps the company develop and remain viable.
Furthemore, in his exposition on Total Quality Management, Demming argues that some of
the most important aspects of employee development cannot be measured and yet
nevertheless are necessary and valuable.

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SELF-LEADERSHIP

• Empowerment: “Super leaders” help followers lead themselves.
• Self-sustaining leadership and culture
• Basis for covenantal behavior

Related to the notion of mentoring is self-leadership, where “super leaders” help followers
lead themselves. This is similar to the notion of self-government and is necessary for self-
sustaining leadership within an organization’s culture. If a culture is not self-sustaining in a
positive way, the company will not endure.

Furthermore, in keeping with the covenant idea, the only type of person who can enter into a
covenantal relationship is one who is a “self-leader”—one who models integrity, is willing to
take ownership, and is willing to be accountable to others. The notion of self-leadership is
therefore quite important for successful organizations.

CHALLENGES TO LEADERSHIP CONSTRUCT

Attribution Theory:

o Reveals bias in leadership perception
o Perceived leadership in extreme organizational performance

Neutralizers: negate leadership influence

Substitutes for Leadership:

o Individual, job, and organizational characteristics
o Self-sustaining leadership and culture

Finally, there are some challenges to the general field of leadership. Attribution theory
argues that there is a bias in leadership perception—people de facto characterize others who
are outgoing, gregarious, intelligent and aggressive as leaders, whether or not they are
actually effective as leaders. Furthermore, there is a tendency to either blame leadership for
impressive failure or credit leaders for impressive success, whereas perhaps there are any
number of other factors and causes for either failure or success.

There are also leadership neutralizers and substitutes. Neutralizers are those factors that
totally undermine any type of leadership. Employees who are indifferent to rewards, for

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instance, would be an example of a leadership neutralizer. On the other hand, there are
individual, job, and organizational factors that can substitute for leadership. This is a good
thing, because it contributes to self-sustaining leadership and culture. If employees take
ownership of the process, for example, that means that they are self-motivated and will be less
reliant on formal leadership. In a healthy culture that encourages self-leadership, when one
leader leaves, it is more likely that the company can survive even with that absence. In a final
pitch for covenantal behavior, it can be said that these types of leadership substitutes are a key
part of a covenantal paradigm for organizations.

Back to Table of Contents

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LESSON 7: Politics, Negotiation and Conflict
Resolution

MOTIVATIONS FOR POWER

• Pride and Fear
• Impression management
• Servant leadership

The processes of politics, negotiation, and conflict resolution all revolve around how we use
power. The motivations for using power are very telling for how we involve ourselves in each
of these areas. If for instance we are motivated by pride, we will be unwilling to admit when
we are wrong (or we will always provide justifications and explanations for any mistake we
make, so as to take as little responsibility for our errors as possible), unwilling to work with
others and share resources for the good of the entire organization, and unwilling to
acknowledge that there are others in the organization who have rights. We will also be less
willing to recognize and affirm the abilities that others have, for fear that doing so might lessen
our own standing in the organization.

Motivation by fear is closely related to pride; in fact, they are often two sides of the same coin.
When we do not trust that God is in control and loves us more than we love ourselves, we also
believe that it is solely dependent upon our own efforts to advance our careers and succeed in
life. In such a scenario, it can be easy to feel that we always have to prove that we are better
than those around us for fear that will be left behind if we do not. This can lead to a spirit of
unhealthy competition and politics within an organization, where no one is really willing to
trust others, or care for and work alongside others.

Another attribute that stems from the dual-motivations of fear and pride is “impression
management” where we try to make others think the best of us and we try to hide our
weaknesses and shortcomings. Often, we do this in dishonest ways, or we are so bound by
fear of what others might be thinking of us that we resort to constant manipulation of others
and flattery in order to ensure that we are in good standing with others. Besides being
spiritually and emotionally exhausting, this type of behavior prevents us from living the life
that God has called us to live and truly being who God has called us to be. On an
organizational level, such behavior is also very harmful to the success of the company. If
individuals in the organization are motivated by pride, fear, and impression management, will
there ever be an honest and critical appraisal of where the company is falling short and where
it needs to change? This does not happen in an organization where everyone is trying so hard
to make themselves look good that they blame-shift and run from accountability!

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On the other hand, consider what happens when we start with the truth of the Gospel. First of
all, we realize that everyone has issues and shortcomings, but that is not really the main point.
The One who knows us the most—the one who sees ALL of our sins and shortcomings—sent
His Son to die for us and save us from our sins. If the one from whom we cannot hide or
deceive with impression management loves us unconditionally through Christ, then why
should we feel the need to try to deceive others? Furthermore, if the Father was willing to
send His own Son to die for us, can we not also trust His other promises to us—that He will
provide for our every need, and, if we let Him, use us for His eternal purposes? Believing these
truths requires faith (Hebrews 11:6). It takes faith to not always feel the pressure to engage in
deceitful political maneuvering and impression management to protect and advance our
careers. It takes faith to believe that even if we did not get the promotion we had hoped for, or
the “inside” connection with our boss, that God is still in charge and that His plan for us will not
be compromised. It takes faith to believe that God still has His best for us even when our lives
and our careers do not unfold as we would have hoped. In the end, it really comes down to one
question: do we trust our own perception of reality and our own sense of how things should
turn out for us, or do we trust the God who sent His own Son to die for us will arrange our
careers and our very lives to be exactly what He wants them to be, and that as such, they will
be better than anything we could have managed on our own?

If we put our hope in Christ, then we are freed from the bondage of trying to engineer every
outcome of our lives. Sure, we will work hard and try to advance our careers, but we will not
idolize success on the job and we will not despise those who are recognized for their
contributions even if our own contributions are passed over. Remember that our High Priest,
Jesus Christ promises to constantly put in a good word on our behalf to the One that really
matters, so we can rest easy even if our human bosses and supervisors do not appreciate all
that we do, and we can freely and truly rejoice with those who are honored rather than feeling
bitterness and envy. When we trust God, we can appreciate that He has gifted those around us
with certain abilities and skill-sets, and we can praise Him for that. And we can work to see
others excel and shine as well. Because we are no longer running from our own shortcomings
but instead are willing to deal with them, we create an organizational culture where people are
not afraid to admit mistakes because they know that they are cared for. This in turn creates
true synergy where people are helping each other to help the organization succeed. Rather
than blame-shifting and attacking one another, people start actually focusing on the problem
and “big picture” solutions so that the organization can succeed. In the end, we have a
covenantal organization where servant leadership is the norm instead of political
maneuvering, impression management, and flattery. It is a wonderful place to be! 

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DEPENDENCY AND POWER

Sources of Dependency:

o Importance
o Scarcity
o Nonsbutitutability/irreplaceable vs. a self-sustaining culture
o Mutual Accountability

Two things are relevant in this list of aspects that can bring power to someone. First of all, it’s
been mentioned earlier that one off-shoot of an organization that behaves covenantally is that
it has a self-sustaining culture, meaning that the culture is bigger than anyone person. In a
discussion about power, being irreplaceable is indeed a good way to gain power, but ideally,
an organization should be looking for people who share power—who invest in others, and help
them develop for the betterment of the organization. A personality-driven culture is one that
is inherently flawed.

Secondly, in a covenantal organization there is an acknowledgement that everyone needs
everyone else—members are mutually accountable to one another for the sake of team work,
mutual care and affirmation, and for identifying blind spots in the organization (part of “big
picture” thinking). So again, whereas many conceptions of power speak of the power that an
individual may hold over others, the Biblical/covenantal approach speaks of power being used
not to be served but to serve; not to build up one’s kingdom but to build and invest into others.

SOURCES OF POWER

Formal Power:

o Coercive
o Reward
o Legitimate

Personal:

o Expert
o Referent

Personal power sources are more effective.

Power vs. authority

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Motivations for use of power is the foundation for our discussion, and now that this foundation
has been laid, we can discuss related issues. For instance, there are two general sources of
power: formal and personal. Formal power derives from the authority established by an
organization or institution. Coercive power is the ability to punish, reward power is the ability
to reward, and legitimate power is the power that comes with one’s position in the company.
Obviously, these three are closely related to one another.

Complimenting these sources are the personal sources of power: expert and referent. Expert
power is that power which comes from one’s knowledge and expertise. People respect those
who know what they are doing and are knowledgeable. Referent power is the ability to
influence others and the ability to be likable. As mentioned in the previous section, this power
can be used dishonestly and manipulatively, or it can be based upon genuine motivations of
care and respect for others. This power also includes the ability to inspire others, which can
also be good or bad depending upon the motivations.

Not surprisingly, research reveals that the personal sources of power are the most effective for
persuading and influencing others. And it could be argued that referent power is the most
important power base because it makes the other sources of power all the more effective. If
people know that leaders care about them and truly want them to succeed, they will be more
open to correction that might need to administered from time to time, and they will know that
the leaders are impartial and fair in dealing with them (coercive power). People will want to
work harder for good leaders, such that their motivations will not be just about monetary
incentives (reward power). In fact, remember from previous discussions about how the most
important motivators are intrinsic ones.

Finally, it should be noted that in a Biblical worldview, power is different from authority.
Power speaks to raw ability, but authority speaks to permission. As Romans 13:1-4 discusses,
all authority is from God. Ultimately, we do not obey our leaders because of who they are
specifically, but because God has ordained authority for various reasons and to disregard that
authority is to rebel from God’s law. And leaders themselves can disregard that when they use
their power outside of the confines of God’s authority.

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POWER TACTICS

What works?

o Rational persuasion, inspirational appeals, and consultation are more effective.
o Pressure tends to be backfire.
o Soft tactics more effective than hard tactics

How do these tactics work?

o Rational persuasion works across all levels.
o Inspirational appeals is good for downward influence.
o Personal appeals and coalitions are more effective with lateral influence.

In the previous section, the case was made that referent power is the most effective, because it
based upon relationship and caring for one another. Research collected on power tactics
affirms that same basic principle. Rational persuasion, inspirational appeals, and
consultation are the most effective tactics because they are more likely to be based upon
respect for others.

Leaders can certainly use pressure to motivate employees, but that can lead to a culture of
fear rather than one of mutual respect. One challenge that leaders and managers face is trying
to encourage compliance of employees. Biblical principles and research alike confirm that if at
all possible, the means listed above, all of which could be considered “soft tactics” are more
effective than “hard tactics” such as pressure. Covenant building requires respect and care for
each individual in the relationship, and leaders need to understand the importance of that in
the context of organizational behavior.

Furthermore, rational persuasion, which is the tactic least likely to be based upon
manipulation or deceitfulness, works across all levels of an organization in upward, downward,
and lateral communication. The use of inspirational appeals by leaders can be an effective
way of motivating employees, especially if the appeal does not insult their intelligence, and if
leaders act in a way that affirm the ideals they are promoting instead of undermining them
(vision killers). Hypocrisy and inconsistency on the part of leaders leads to employee cynicism
and decreased motivation. Regarding lateral communication, the use of personal appeals and
coalitions are helpful for getting things done. As discussed in previous lectures, many
companies fail to see the value in coalition-building, or even seeking to get members from
different departments into the same room so that common problems can be solved from a
multi-faceted perspective (big picture thinking).

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SEXUAL HARRASSMENT

The true boundaries are in the heart!

These days, sexual harassment is hot issue and millions of dollars are spent on educating
employees on how to avoid it. But Christ informs us that the real issue is not in words spoken
or actions taken, but in the thoughts and motives of the heart. Learning to walk in integrity at
the heart level will keep us safe from going anywhere near any gray areas!

THE INTERACTIONIST VIEW OF CONFLICT

Functional and dysfunctional conflict

Types of conflict:

o Relationship
o Task
o Process

Conflict and covenant

In power struggles, conflict results. Those researching in the field of organizational behavior
used to believe that conflict was damaging to organizational processes, but today there is a
growing acknowledgement that not all conflict is dysfunctional. The interactionist view
argues that functional conflict can be used to create more effective solutions to problems,
build consensus and generate momentum for getting things done.

There are three types of conflict. Research reveals that relationship conflict is almost always
dysfunctional. However, many married couples, friends, and family members know that even
relationship conflict can lead to strengthened relationships if handled correctly. However, the
concern of the research spoken of here is when organizational members allow personality
conflicts to get in the way of getting things done. Part of the reason this happens so easily is
the “me vs. them” attitude mentioned in previous lectures.

Covenantal behavior is aimed at creating a healthy context for working through conflict. It
accomplishes this by affirming the value and importance of each individual in the relationship,
and requires that each individual care for and be accountable every other member of the

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covenant. If mutual care and accountability are the foundation for relationships, then any
conflict that arises about the functions and goals of work (task conflict) or how the work is
done (process conflict), can actually be quite beneficial because when members interact on
disagreements, they can often come to a better understanding of the problem and therefore
come up with more effective solutions.

The next several sections will provide a description of conflict resolution processes.

THE CONFLICT PROCESS

Stage 1: Potential Opposition or Incompatibility

o Communication
o Structure
o Personal Variables

Stage 2—Cognition and Personalization

o Perceived
o Felt

Stage 3—Intentions:

o Competing
o Collaborating
o Compromising
o Avoiding
o Accommodating

Stage 4—Behavior (overt conflict)

o Peace-faking
o Peace-breaking
o Peace-making

Stage 5—Outcomes:

o Increased Group Performance
o Decreased Group Performance

Stage 1 of the conflict process details the potential areas within an organization where
conflicts could arise. Communication breakdowns and deficiencies in organizational structures

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and processes can put people from different departments at odds with one another. Often,
leaders do not communicate well with followers, and departments do not communicate well
among themselves. Likewise, policies, procedures and structures are all created from a
narrow-minded perspective—they benefit one department or the leadership team, but they do
not benefit everyone impacted by such decisions. In both cases, conflicts can easily arise. This
is where “big picture” thinking and communication can be so helpful. With participative
decision-making, all relevant members in an organization can speak to these structural and
communication gaps. The final area where conflicts can arise is in the category of personal
variables. People get on one another’s nerves because of personality differences; they rub one
another the wrong way. Hopefully, this is where all the personality tests you have been taking
will really help you better understand your co-workers!

Stage 2 describes how people respond to these issues. When the issues become strong
enough, people become angry, fearful, and emotional. Hence, the conflict moves from one
that is perceived to one that is felt.

In step 3, as the conflict escalates, the various members involved in the conflict choose their
response. Avoiding and competing are perhaps the most destructive because they both run
the risk of destroying communication and engendering further animosity. Even in avoiding
this is true, because though the members are not verbal in their disdain for the other members,
there can still be a quiet resentment which will hinder teamwork and communication down the
road. Accommodating can be a good opportunity to serve the other members, but it can also
allow for the real root of the problem to continue to fester. Likewise, compromising is
sometimes necessary, but ideally, collaborating occurs, because it allows for a win-win
solution. The best way to encourage collaboration is with “big picture” thinking and
communication.

In Stage 4 the members carry out their intentions in one way or another. In his book, The
Peacemaker, Ken Sande discusses the options for conflict behavior from a Biblical behavior.
Peace-faking occurs when we harbor resentment toward others but do not really try to
constructively resolve the conflict. We grumble against the other person, complain about him
behind his back, but we pretend that everything is OK when we interact with that person.
Besides being dishonest, this type of passivity can be very destructive, and is an indication that
we really do not care enough about the other person to resolve the conflict in an open manner.
The other extreme is just as objectionable—peace-breaking—where we scream, yell, insult,
and otherwise do what we can to overtly harm the other person in some way. Often peace-
faking leads to peace-breaking, as pent-up anger and animosity finally explodes into a full-
blown conflict.
The Biblical ideal is peace-making, where we humble ourselves and look first and foremost to
determine how are heart attitude is. As Christ said, “get the log out of your own eye.” True
peace-makers realize that feelings of anger and resentment come from a self-righteous heart
that does not take seriously what Christ has done for it on the cross. Humility, on the other
hand, allows us to look at what we might have done to contribute to the conflict. If this type of

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humility is not practiced, conflict resolution will not be achieved because neither side will ever
be willing to consider that maybe they have done something wrong.

As it pertains to stage 5, how we handle the conflict will either lead to increased or decreased
group performance. Peace-faking and peace-breaking lead to decreased performance, as
unresolved conflict usually causes other people in the group to take sides and harbor
resentment toward the other side. Gossip, in-fighting, rivalry all occur in either case. With
peace-making, the people involved in the conflict avoid gossiping about the situation and only
interact with the other people that can solve the conflict. They do not try to malign the person
with whom they disagree by gossiping to others and they are aware of the very real possibility
that they only see their side of the conflict and therefore want to walk in absolute integrity in
making sure that both sides are heard and addressed. This is how conflict resolution can lead
to greater organizational performance as it encourages “big picture” thinking at the expense of
“me vs. them” attitudes.

NEGOTIATION: BARGAINING STRATEGIES

Distributive Bargaining:

o Zero-sum/fixed pie
o Make the first offer!
o Reveal deadlines
o Covenantal behavior

Integrative Bargaining

o Win-win
o Collaboration, not compromise
o Tips

Related to conflict resolution is the official process of negotiating. There are two types of
bargaining available in the negotiation process. The first is distributive bargaining, where
there is generally a winner or a loser. The best case scenario with such bargaining is
compromise, where both parties concede some of their desires in order to get the items they
really want. Distributive bargaining is based upon a “zer0-sum/fixed pie” scenario, where
resources and options are limited. If such a scenario is really the case, it need not mean that
the parties are acting hatefully or manipulatively, but such situations can certainly lead to such
behaviors. In the case of zero-sum bargaining, it is based to make the first offer, as that will
frame the terms of the negotiation and provide an anchor in the final resolution that is closer
to your terms. It is also helpful to reveal any deadlines that you are under, as such research
helps to motivate the other side to come to an agreement. Ideally, in the covenantal process,

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both parties think in terms of what is good for the organization, not just for them. But a “me
vs. them” attitude will not allow for such covenantal thinking.

In integrative bargaining, on the other hand, both parties try to achieve a “win-win” solution.
Collaboration, not compromise is the means of doing so. Compromise can actually stymie
such efforts. With collaboration, both parties listen to what the other side really wants, and
seeks an understanding of their true motives. It could be that what they really want can be
achieved in more than way, thereby allowing for greater flexibility and greater options
available for viable solutions. It is clear then that integrative bargaining is based upon “big
picture thinking.” As such, there are some tips that might encourage integrative bargaining:

1) Bargain in teams to generate more ideas and more options
2) Include more issues in the process—do not just focus on one issue at a time. The more

issues available for negotiation, the more likely it is for there to be flexibility in allowing
for both sides to focus on what they really want.

3) Ask questions of the other side to truly understand what they want.

Back to Table of Contents

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LESSON 8: Structure and Culture

HISTORY OF ORGANIZATIONAL PERSPECTIVES

• Bureaucratic Model
• Human Relations
• Human Resources
• Systems Theory

Organizational structure and culture has been viewed in four basic lenses the last 50 years or
so. The first one is the Bureaucratic model which described organizational behavior in terms
of functions, chain of command, and efficiency. This view prescribed that to maximize
efficiency and effectiveness, companies should use job specialization.

The Human Relations model came next, and it began with the acknowledgement that there
might be a human component to organizational behavior and something that leaders should
take into account. This lead to the Human Resources approach, which argues that by treating
employees with respect and allowing them to have a high degree of empowerment and
creativity in their job duties, that efficiency and effectiveness will be maximized. Leadership
theories like transformational leadership and servant leadership are couched within this
paradigm.

Another perspective—systems theory—is not offered so much as a contrast to the Human
Resources approach, but rather as an alternative view. Systems theory views every
organization as a composition of sub-systems within sub-systems. Indeed, the organization
itself is a subsystem within the system of its community and economy. The point to this
approach is that leaders should be aware of how a company’s environment impacts it and how
employees within various departments—the various subsystems interact with one another to
learn, develop, and react to the environment. Ultimately, it is hoped that with systems theory,
a company will learn to not only react to the environment, but also be proactive in anticipating
environmental developments.

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WORK SPECIALIZATION & STRUCTURE

• Specialization and SOP’s
• “Quality of Workmanship” & Total Quality Management
• Covenant

As mentioned in the previous section, job specialization was a key means for American
businesses in the post-WW II era to maximize efficiency. Along with job specialization comes
standard operating procedures (SOP’s) which are put in place to reduce defects in products
and deficiencies in customer service quality. This emphasis on control has certainly yielded
benefits, but as the rest of the world caught up with American businesses, increasing
competition has shown that more is necessary to maximize the competitive edge. This is
especially true given what most of us likely know about job specialization—routine and
repetitive job functions can seriously undermine employee morale.

When Demming introduced his notion of Total Quality Management, his ideas were highly
regarded by Japanese businesses—it was only after Japanese businesses proved to be staunch
competitors that American companies began to take his ideas more seriously. One of the main
attributes that Demming advocated stands in contrast to the notion of job specialization to
some degree. Demming argued that to really achieve success in an organization, leaders and
manages should allow employees to enjoy “quality of workmanship”. In other words,
employees are not just robots on an assembly line performing minimal tasks but rather they
play a key role in developing whole products and services and have the privilege of seeing their
efforts form into something tangible—something done with excellence. This, Demming
argued, would actually enhance productivity. In many regards, Demming’s ideas have been
verified today as companies seek to give employees greater responsibilities. Furthermore, the
rigid chain of command that was necessary in earlier times is less necessary today due to the
incredible developments in information technology. Likewise, this notion of “quality of
workmanship” does not remove SOP’s, but rather prevents SOP’s from being reductionistic. It
acknowledges that some components of quality cannot be quantified and reduced to a multi-
step plan. However, if a company trains an employee in big picture thinking—thereby giving
them an understanding of what quality looks like—and empowers leader with greater control
over their work, leaders will find that not only will employees follow the basics of the SOP’s,
they will exceed that and produce even greater quality.

Covenantal behavior affirms this view of “quality of workmanship” because it affirms the
individual members that are involved in the covenant. It also acknowledges that duties
performed in the covenant are more than just duties—they are based upon relationships and
an attempt to aspire to a greater, shared meaning. Allowing for “quality of workmanship”
allows employees to have more meaning in their work, and to have greater say in how the
company behaves. Assuming that the employees are properly motivated and trained, such

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behaviors, along with empowerment, participatory decision-making, and “big picture”
thinking, should all be encouraged.

CONTROL, EFFECTIVENESS & STRUCTURE

• Rapid access to information has changed the structure
• Emphasis on wider spans of control
• Decentralization allows for greater employee decision-making
• The popularity of self-managed and cross-functional teams

Related to this concept of specialization is control. The degree of control that management
has certainly affects structure. How much control do employees have versus management?
Several factors have played into the argument that employees should have more control. First
of all, as mentioned earlier, rapid access to information has changed the structural
requirements—organizations can be flatter and more decentralized now that information is
more readily available to employees.

With better flow of information comes the ability to widen the span of control—more
employees under less managers which decreases both departmental rigidity and the cost of
management (since there are less managers), and increases interaction among employees as
well as employee autonomy. With this decentralization comes more opportunity for
employee decision-making. This is ideal especially in large companies, where employees are
more in touch with customer needs as well as environmental constraints/opportunities than
management. Giving them greater decision-making ability allows the company to be more
reflexive and allows for better quality of service and products (“quality workmanship”).

Furthermore, self-managed and cross-functional teams are growing in popularity among
companies. Self-managed teams, as mentioned previously, allow for greater autonomy and
more rapid decision-making on the part of employees. Cross-functional teams encourage “big
picture” thinking and help to break down the barriers among departments, along with the “me
vs. them” attitude that can come with rigid departmentalization.

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DEPARTMENTALIZATION AND STRUCTURE

• Deparmentalization
• Cross-Functionalism
• The Boundaryless Organization

Beyond this more general, philosophical view of how to structure an organization, there are
practical issues in play. Companies structure themselves according to the following categories.
First, they can departmentalize by function. For example, it would have a separate
department for each function of the business process—accounting, finance, marketing, etc.
Or, the company could departmentalize itself according to product, so that each product a
company sells has is its own entity with its own decision-making. Departmentalization by
geography is another, related way of structuring the company. Finally, a company can
structure itself in terms of its various types of customers.

However, as mentioned earlier, what is becoming increasingly clear for many companies in
today’s ultra-competitive environment is the need to have cross-functional units in their
companies, in order to increase “big picture” thinking. Practically speaking, this could come in
the form of using “matrix” structures, using cross-functional teams (whether ad hoc or
permanent), or becoming a “boundaryless” organization.

This latter option is certainly the most ambitious one and it involves the use of self-managed
teams, limitless spans of control in conjunction with the removal of vertical boundaries, cross-
hiearchical teams, participative decision-making, and 360 degree performance evaluation
(which goes nicely with the idea of mutual accountability).

CULTURES AS SHARED MEANING

• Structure and culture
• Culture as shared meaning and interaction
• Dominant culture
• Subcultures
• Strong culture and rules

Structure and culture closely align. If leaders want a covenantal culture, then they need to
structure the organization accordingly. Also, a company’s culture can go a long way to
addressing structural deficiencies in terms of covenantal behavior as will be seen shortly.

Ultimately, culture is about shared meaning and interaction. Leaders can say they want a
particular culture, and can make official statements to that effect, but until they have buy-in

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from employees, such efforts will be limited at best. Leaders may set the tone with regards to
creating a culture, but how employees respond to such efforts is also part of what the
organization’s culture becomes. If leaders are thinking covenantally, they can work to create
an atmosphere of teamwork and community.

Every organization has a dominant culture which pervades how people interact with one
another and accomplish tasks. Ideally, in a covenantal organization, this dominant culture is
based upon mutual affirmation and accountability, hesed, participative decision-making, and
empowerment. Beneath this dominant culture is the potential for subcultures that might exist
in various departments or groups. A dysfunctional culture can exist when these subcultures
run counter to dominant culture in a subversive manner, undermining positive attributes.
Leaders need to be aware of this, and can combat it via servant leadership and the
encouragement of big picture thinking and empowerment. But if the dominant culture is a
negative one, employees at lower levels can encourage covenantal behavior through
subcultures by taking ownership and caring for one another. Sometimes, in discouraging
situations where the dominant culture is lacking, this can be a positive force for change in an
organization.

As mentioned above, a strong, healthy culture can supplement a successful organizational
culture and can do much to encourage productivity. Covenantal behavior encourages self-
sustainability, where people take ownership of organizational goals and processes and truly
care for one another. When this happens, companies will find a natural momentum for
achieving productivity and excellence.

This is far superior to using rules and other authority maneuvers to encourage productivity
for two reasons. First, using external motivators (rules, regulations, punishments, etc.) can
only provide short-term and limited force, as discussed in the lecture on motivation. Secondly,
as discussed in the unit on organizational communication, rules and regulations can become so
numerous in a dysfunctional culture that ultimately, they become at best stifling and at worst
disregarded. Leaders do well to remember this and to focus on building a covenantal culture,
ensuring that intrinsic motivation of employees is the driving force for productivity.

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CREATING A POSITIVE CULTURE

• Integrity of leaders
• Build on employee strengths
• Reward more than punish
• Emphasize vitality, growth and learning (Iearning organization)

There are several ways that leaders can create a positive, covenantal culture. First and
foremost is through integrity. Leaders need to back up their lofty pronouncements about
teamwork and vision by their own actions. Many employees can tell stories of when leaders,
through poor communication and conflict resolution skills, disregard of employees’ feelings
and insights, and poor management have totally undermined any stated organizational vision
or corporate purpose. These negative behaviors are called “vision killers” and when these
vision killers are in play, the organization’s dominant culture will suffer.

Secondly, leaders should build on employee strengths. Covenantal building requires a sense
of hesed, teamwork and mutual accountability. Learning to access and draw on employees
strengths through empowerment, participative decision-making, and the practice of “quality
workmanship” are great ways to do so.

Leaders should also focus more on rewarding rather than punishing. Doing so acknowledges
employee contributions, which shows employees that leaders care and actually have a clue
about the employees’ impact on the organization. It further speaks to the need to provide
intrinsic motivators for employees—most people want to know that they are valued members
of a team and have skills they can offer to help the team accomplish goals. The use of rewards,
even if they are not always intrinsic ones (in fact, intrinsic rewards are good in combination
with extrinsic ones so that employees know that leaders are not just trying to be cheap), can
help encourage that understanding.

Finally, leaders can encourage vitality, growth, and learning. In fact, this goes a long way to
encouraging a covenantal organization. First, it recognizes the value of each employee and
focuses on the human desire to grow and excel. This is a type of intrinsic motivation that can
keep employees focused on excellence. When leaders than focus this learning on
organizational goals and help employees see how their skills and talents will fit in with the
goals and objectives, “big picture” thinking will be enhanced. As an aside, these ideas in a
formal sense are embodied in Senge’s concept of the learning organization.

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SPIRITUALITY IN THE WORKPLACE

• Spirituality in the Workplace (SIW) and Postmodernism
• Not about advancing a particular religion
• Christianity and SIW
• Covenant and SIW
• Insincerity and SIW

A related component to a “covenantal culture” is that of Spirituality in the Workplace (SIW),
wherein leaders encourage employees to find inner meaning through their work (quality of
workmanship), and includes a sense of shared meaning with others (which is what a covenantal
culture is all about), and mutual care and accountability. In today’s Postmodern culture,
people are looking for a more spiritual approach to life, and this idea seems to fit in with this
desire.

However, spirituality in the workplace is not about advancing a particular religion in the
workplace. There will be problems if that is the case (some even legal), and as Christians
know, true religion and faith in God cannot be coerced. If however the notion of spirituality in
the workplace is more associated with the notion that people working together to achieve
excellence is a good goal, and that people should find fulfillment and a sense of community
from work, then these criticisms are lessened.

In fact, there are significant differences between a proclamation of Christianity and SIW. First
of all, it should be noted that there are many Christian business leaders who have effectively
and respectfully shared their faith with their employees and customers. This is a good thing,
but the point here is to note that SIW is not directly focused on Christianity per se. In fact, as
Christians, we know that true spirituality is linked to a personal relationship with God through
Jesus Christ. We know not to substitute relationships with others for the most important
relationship we can have with Christ, nor do we force this on others.

Having said that, there is overlap between the two ideas. We affirm our faith in Christ as we
love our coworkers, encourage them, and support them, and all of this can occur within the
context of a “spiritual” workplace. Furthermore, the notion of spirituality in the workplace is
very much related to the Biblical idea of covenant insofar as we are called to live covenantally
with one another and recognize that our actions and decisions affect those around us. We do
not live in a vacuum. Biblically, the most important thing we can do is care for others as an act
of worship and devotion to God. We can’t forget that—there’s a sense of community, mutual
care, and teamwork.

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On a final note, it should be pointed out that an organization’s insincere attempts at caring for
employees can undermine spirituality in the workplace. This goes back to the idea of integrity
and “vision-killers”.

Back to Table of Contents

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LESSON 9: Human Resource Policies

OVERVIEW

HR Functions:

• Recruitment and Selection
• Training
• Performance Evaluation
• Labor Relations
• Managing a Diverse workforce

Linking Extrinsic and Intrinsic Motivators

Human Resource policies are vital to an organization’s success. They involve not only the
effective recruitment and selection of employees, but also training and effective
performance evaluations. There is also the issue of labor relations as well as managing a
diverse work force.

In previous lectures, we’ve discussed the relationship between intrinsic and extrinsic
motivation. In the end, leaders who motivate their employees intrinsically are more
successfully, and we’ve discussed how covenantal behavior can allow leaders to more
effectively motivate and empower employees. However, intrinsic motivation that is not
supported by extrinsic factors such as fair pay and just performance evaluation procedures can
come off as insincere, therefore serving as “vision killers” and demotivators. As will be
discussed in this lecture, a solid human resource strategy can ensure that the extrinsic factors fuel
intrinsic motivators.

SELECTION PRACTICES

• Covenant and the Hiring Process
• Impression Management and Proverbs
• Wisdom, Humility and Professionalism

Part of hiring of a successful hiring process is finding not only people who are qualified for the
job, but also those who are committed to the values, culture, and goals of an organization.
Remember that part of the covenantal process is ensuring that every member understands

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the vision, terms, and stipulations of the covenant. One cannot enter into a covenantal
relationship without understanding the notions of hesed, mutual accountability, and mutual
care. Likewise, part of the hiring process is to ensure that the individuals who are hired
understand what they are getting into and what it will take to succeed in an organization.

The challenge of doing so is that people are on their best behavior when during the interview
process. Impression management is in full effect and everyone is saying the right things to
impress others. Biblically, there are some general principles that can be used to ensure that
impression management does not confuse the interview process. In fact, the book of Proverbs
has much to say about certain types of people as determined by their behaviors, attitudes, and
words. For instance, people who flatter are to be avoided. The book of Proverbs is chalk-full of
warnings about those who flatter others—they are cast as manipulative and deceitful. These
are the type of people who will flatter the boss and come off as loyal employees but who will
attack, undermine, and destroy anyone else who might get in their way. Likewise, those who
are full of arrogance, self-promotion, and “big talk” are marked as prideful, un-teachable, and
dishonest. They will say anything they need to say to get the job, and generally the more hype
surrounding their words, the less truth can be found in them.

• Proverbs 6:12-15 (ESV): “A worthless person, a wicked man, goes about with crooked
speech, 13 winks with his eyes, signals with his feet, points with his finger, 14 with
perverted heart devises evil, continually sowing discord; 15 therefore calamity will
come upon him suddenly; in a moment he will be broken beyond healing.”

• Proverbs 26:28: “A lying tongue hates its victims, and a flattering mouth works ruin.”

• Proverbs 29:5: “A man who flatters his neighbor spreads a net for his feet.”

Furthermore, an arrogant person will be less likely to work with others and listen to feedback
from superiors, co-workers, and subordinates. This cannot be overstated—Proverbs is clear
that a foolish, scornful person rejects wisdom from others and moves on with poor decision-
making that will only bring them—and the compnay they work for!—to ruin. If you ever find
that you are unwilling to receive correction from others, be warned.

• Proverbs 9:8: “Do not reprove a scoffer, or he will hate you; reprove a wise man, and he
will love you.”

• Proverbs 29:1: “He who is often reproved, yet stiffens his neck, will suddenly be broken

beyond healing.”

Proverbs also warns about the sluggard, who will not work hard and only seeks his own
comfort and ease. An organization, therefore needs to avoid big talkers who are either
arrogant and manipulative in their ambition or lazy and selfish in their desire to collect a
paycheck and seek only what is best for them.

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• Proverbs 10:26: “Like vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes, so is the sluggard to

those who send him.”

• Proverbs 26:16: “The sluggard is wiser in his own eyes than seven men who can answer
sensibly.”

In the Biblical worldview, there is a strong link between humility, wisdom, and professionalism.
A wise person fears the Lord and realizes that no human has all the answers or even most of
the answers. Ideally, the selection process should bring out the people who are humble,
teachable and realistic in their understanding of job complexities. They are confident in their
abilities, but are too wise and humble to offer vague and hyped expectations of the job they
can do. These type of people, because they have a realistic understanding of the job and
because they are humble and therefore willing to work with others, will likely be more
successful in their efforts in the position for which you are hiring. They respect others and are
willing to work hard. Their wisdom and humility, therefore, undergird their professionalism. In
contrast, the fool makes bold promises he cannot keep. Likewise, only a fool would presume
to look down on others and disparage those who might disagree with him.

• Proverbs 1:7: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise
wisdom and instruction.”

• Proverbs 12:15: “The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to

advice.”

• Proverbs 25:12: “Like a gold ring or an ornament of gold is a wise reprover to a listening
ear.”

• Proverbs 27:12: “Be wise, my son, and make my heart glad, that I may answer him who

reproaches me.”

EFFECTIVE SELECTION PROCESSES

• Written tests (job-fit, organization-fit)
• Performance-simulation tests
• Behavioral Structured Interviews
• Contingent Selection
• Internal Recruitment vs. External Recruitment

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Thankfully, there are some strategies available to prevent a bad hiring decision caused by
impression management. First of all, many organizations require some sort of written test to
assess a potential hire’s aptitude, attitude, and abilities for the job. Tests such as these can be
good not only for determining job fit, but also organizational fit as well—tests that measure
“organizational citizenship behavior” for example.

Performance simulation tests, as the name indicates, require potential employees to
demonstrate their abilities in a work simulation. Likewise, behavioral structured interviews,
in which potential hires have to answer questions about how they would respond in a particular
scenario, are a good way to get past big talk and subterfuge. Finally, many organizations offer
contingent selection such as drug tests, as a means of ensuring that they have made an
appropriate hiring decision.

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TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT

• Planning, Workflow Analysis, Job Analysis and Participative Decision Making
• Internal Recruitment, Training, and Delegation
• Defining the Training Problem/Need and Return on Investment Analysis
• Big Picture Thinking, Participative Decision Making, and Quality of Workmanship

A big part of any training program is of course knowing what the company needs to make
money. Therefore, one important part of HR planning is workflow analysis, which determines
what kinds of jobs are necessary to allow each value chain to perform efficiently and effectively
in the future. Likewise, job analysis focuses on the tasks and responsibilities necessary to
complete each job in the company. And again, participative decision-making which involves
employee insights could really enhance both processes.

Another aspect of HR policy is the training and development of employees, and it goes hand
in hand (or at least it should) with internal recruitment processes. Internal recruitment should
be emphasized along with external recruitment. Employees working for an organization want
to know that their hard work and faithfulness to the company will be rewarded. They want to
know that they are valued and are in an environment where they can continue to develop their
skills and grow. These are key aspects of intrinsic motivation. Companies who show their
loyalty to their own employees via internal recruitment will likely see greater morale and more
of a covenantal culture in the workplace. Remember too that a covenantal organization has a
self-sustaining culture. Leadership is not dependent upon one person but upon many, all who
have taken ownership of the process and the organization. Companies need to encourage this
type of behavior by developing a strong process of internal recruitment.

One way this can be done is through effective delegation. One study revealed that most
delegation involves the assignment of menial tasks to subordinates, and nothing more.
Effective delegation, on the other hand, involves empowering employees to handle major
aspects of the organization’s processes and decision-making. It goes hand in hand with
participate-decision-making, because it gives employees greater responsibility and ownership
over their tasks and allows them to participate in the formulation of policies and strategies.
Through mentoring and training, delegation can be a major means of encouraging “big
picture” thinking. Besides, turnover, recruitment, and training are all costly processes. The
more you can promote from within, the better!

A key aspect of any organizational training is its effectiveness—will it really help the company?
There are two important steps to ensuring success of any training program. The first step is to
ensure that the problem which the training is supposed to address is accurately defined. If the
problem is not properly defined, then the company will be throwing away money. Secondly, it
is helpful to conduct a Return-on-Investments (ROI) analysis. An ROI analysis links training

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initiatives into the bottom line and asks if the training will actually increase profit in the
compnay. ROI analysis therefore, measures training success in ways that go beyond whether
or not the employees felt it was helpful. At the very least, it involves measuring to see if the
training lead to specific behaviors that have been shown to be conducive to serving customers,
increasing sales, improving productivity, etc. Ideally, it also can evaluate impact as measured
in dollar amount. Obviously, this is type of analysis can be quite difficult to achieve, but it is a
helpful goal and along with accurately defining the training problem/need, provides focus and
accountability in deciding upon training initiatives.

Ideally, any training initiative should include “big picture” thinking. Employees should see how
the successful performance of the tasks and duties for which they are being trained are
relevant to helping the company profit and succeed. Part of such a perspective is allowing
employees, where relevant, to have a say in the type of training that they are receiving. It
could be that employees “in the trenches” have a greater understanding of what they actually
need to perform their duties. If training is assigned from the top down without any degree of
participative decision-making, not only might the company spend money on a flawed training
initiative, but it also runs the risk of engendering frustration and low morale among employees
who just wish that the leadership team would listen to their insights every once in awhile!
Again, this type of participate decision-making MUST go hand in hand with “big picture”
thinking—employees need to understand organizational goals, constraints, and how their
duties fit in all of that before they can truly be qualified to participate in decision-making of any
sort. Related to this is the “quality of workmanship” goal. Training initiatives need to speak
to the greater goal of helping employees produce quality work.

PERFORMANCE EVALUATION

• What should be evaluated: outcomes, behaviors or traits?
• Who should conduct the evaluation: supervisors, peers, subordinates, or self-

evaluation?
• How should evaluations be conducted?
• Covenant: “Loving Accountability” as the foundation

There are three essential questions that are associated with performance evaluations. The first
is the question of what should be evaluated. Ideally, employees should be evaluated on the
outcomes they create through their work efforts. This is the most objective means of
evaluation and provides clear expectations for employees in terms of what to expect.
Behaviors are the second most effective means and sometimes is the only option because
outcomes cannot always be attributed to a specific employee. Evaluating for traits, such as a

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good attitude, work ethic, etc. is the least effective means because it can be the most
subjective and also the most difficult to link with specific results on the job.

The second question focuses on who should conduct the evaluation. Because many
organizations today consist of self-managed teams, telecommuting employees, etc., an
immediate supervisor might not be the most qualified person to conduct the evaluation.
Many employees are therefore being asked to evaluate themselves as part of the process. This
has significant problems—much as it would be if students were allowed to grade their own
work! However, if it is used as a means of beginning a dialogue with the employee and
involving them in the process, it has value. In other cases, peers and subordinates as well as
supervisors are also being brought into the evaluation process to more accurately assess
employees. This is known as 360 Degree performance evaluations. Of course, this has its own
problems—employees might inflate their evaluations of one another in the spirit of quid pro
quo, or “you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours”.

The final question is perhaps the most important—how should evaluations be conducted?
There are many ways to conduct evaluations: written reports, critical incidents, graphic rating
scales, behaviorally anchored rating scales, and forced comparisons are some of the more
popular means. In and of themselves, they have little value if there is not good communication
at the foundation. Employees need to know exactly what is required of them, and should
never be caught off guard when walking into a performance appraisal by hearing about
problem issues from their supervisor for the first time! Also, supervisors need to do provide
clear and constructive feedback on an employee’s actions and outcomes. Ideally, this should
come before the official performance evaluation, and should be part of a relationship based
upon mutual care and respect. As supervisors come across issues with employees, they should
be quick to address those issues, to keep the problems from growing and affecting other
employees within the team or department. Furthermore, such efforts should again be based
upon mutual care and respect. Finally, interventions should be well-documented not only to
protect the company from lawsuits, but also to show the employee that actual efforts are
being made not only to hold them accountable but also to work with them and help develop
into more successful employees.

In the end, an effective performance evaluation needs to be based upon the covenantal
attribute of “loving accountability”. Supervisors who are not providing detailed, specific, and
clear feedback to employees as part of an on-going dialogue with them or who furthermore
are not open to accountability themselves will severely undermine team morale and
productivity. When that happens, the performance evaluation process can serve as a vision
killer.

Likewise, employees who are un-teachable and unwilling to embrace “big picture” thinking are
part of the problem and need to be dealt with. Supervisors need to clearly define expectations
at the outset—employees should know what is expected of them when they are hired. There
should be no ambiguity there. And we know that part of entering into a covenantal
relationship is a clear definition of the terms, so such communication is vital for ensuring

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justice. So when an employee does not live up to those expectations, and shows a continued
lack of desire to make improvements, supervisors must deal with that the employee lest other
members of the team get the message that poor behavior and lack of teamwork are the norm.

HR POLICIES AND LABOR RELATIONS

• Unions in Today’s Global Context
• HR Policies, “Vision Killers” and the Labor Relations Rift
• Integrative Bargaining and Covenantal Behavior

In today’s global context, where American companies are having to compete with businesses
throughout the world, and are growing into huge, multi-national corporations, a legitimate
question arises about the future of unions. Companies with unions usually find that their cost
of doing business is higher than those without unions. Good or bad, such is often the case, and
in an era of increasing global competition, the presence of unions could be a serious challenge
for companies doing their best to stay afloat.

But the very notion of a union was predicated on the fact that in the past and still today,
management has sought to exploit and abuse employees in various ways, all of which are
examples of “vision killers”. As mentioned earlier, how a company treats its employees is often
manifested in its HR policies and procedures. A company with policies and procedures that
are perceived as unfair by employees can be more prone to facing unionization if it did not
already have a union, and a labor relations rift, with all of the unpleasantries that are
associated with such a rift.

When such a rift exists, and negotiations are in order, wise companies embrace integrative
bargaining in order to provide win-win solutions as much as possible. Certainly this is in
keeping with covenantal principles. But more to the point, if companies truly care for their
employees, empower them, share decision-making with them, and are accountable to them,
they might find that many of the issues underlying the drive for unionization and labor
relations rifts will be largely removed.

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MANAGING A DIVERSE WORKFORCE

• Community and Work-life Balance
• Workaholism in the Biblical Context
• Postmodernism, Multiculturalism and Covenantal Behavior

In today’s society, especially in America and other Western nations, we are seeing the
evaporation of many of the community structures that were in place in years gone by.
Neighborhood involvement, church-life, and other community interactions have lessened
significantly in conjunction with what seems to be an increase in individualism. Many people
today do not know their neighbors very well or really much of what is going on in their own
community. Combined with this is an increase in work involvement, such that many
employees find their lives consumed with work, even to the point that they take work home
with them. Recently, there has been a growing trend to improve this work-life balance, and
companies have developed HR policies to allow for employees to make more time for family
life and community involvement. Policies such as flex-time, telecommuting, vouchers for child
care, etc., are some of the many examples of companies trying to better care for their
employees in this regard.

Biblically, we know that as humans made in God’s image, we are called to be more than just
worker drones. We are supposed to be actively involved in our families and in our churches.
We are supposed to know and care for our neighbors as much as possible, and to be the salt
and light in our communities. Ultimately, it is up to us to not become workaholics. We have to
trust that ultimately God is the one who provides our needs, so as we make the commitment
to truly care for our families, raise our children, and bless our neighbors, God will take care of
us. But wise companies also understand that they have a part to play in not creating a culture
of workaholism. Ultimately, encouraging employees to be well-balanced in their lives is good
for the company, because happy employees who know they are cared for by their company are
intrinsically motivated to be more productive and are also more loyal to the company, which
cuts down on recruitment and training costs.

Another related issue is that of the growing ethnic diversity in the workplace. This is
particularly true in an age of multinational corporations. We live in the Postmodern era, which
rejects any sense of absolute truth and argues that the only meaning that exists is that which is
created by people interacting with one another in various cultures and sub-cultures. From a
postmodern context, multiculturalism is therefore about encouraging individuals to celebrate
differences in culture and understand that what they think is true might not work for members
in other cultural groups. But from a Biblical perspective, we know that there IS in fact absolute
truth—Jesus Christ came to us as the Living Word of God to fulfill God’s ultimate and
transcendent sense of justice and love—truths which go beyond cultural boundaries.
Therefore, we appreciate cultural diversity, but we do so because we can appreciate how each

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culture in its own unique and special way, can speak to God’s glory and the dignity of human
beings. So we celebrate multiculturalism because first and foremost, we celebrate God as the
ultimate source of Truth and one another as being made in His image.

So how does all of this impact the workplace? Wise companies should appreciate that
members from different cultural groups have unique ways of looking at things and making
sense of life. Rather than embracing moral relativism, which is not in keeping with Biblical
truths, organizational leaders should nevertheless encourage employees to appreciate how
their own worldview has its own strengths and weaknesses, and therefore to appreciate the
need to work with others to shore up those weaknesses. Diversity training can often be viewed
as a political correct means of doing this. Motivated by the moral ambiguity associated with
postmodern multiculturalism, such training bends over backward to affirm that “no one way is
right” and that all cultures should be respected and valued. All of this can seem like a waste of
time to many employees. However, if diversity training instead focuses on celebrating
different cultures and the fact that everyone has different intellectual, conceptual, and
emotional strengths and weaknesses that derive from one’s personality, culture, and
worldview, the end result will hopefully be an increase in “big picture” thinking and an
understanding of how individual and unique human beings, from wonderfully different cultural
backgrounds, can learn to work together, lean on one another, be accountable to one another,
and care for one another. This is what covenant is all about, after all, and more to the point,
what life should be all about.

Back to Table of Contents

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LESSON 10: Organizational Change and
Stress Management

THE CONTEXT OF CHANGE

• Global, ultra-competitive, and fast-paced environment
• Past success doesn’t matter!
• Rapid technological changes
• Customer demands
• Covenantal Behavior and Change

There are at least three reasons why today’s companies need to be aware of change and the
need for change. As the economy becomes increasingly global, companies have to compete
not only with local and national competitors but now multinational ones. This has lead to an
ultra-competitive atmosphere where many companies cannot just assume that current
success will lead to future success. On the contrary, past success can often set the stage for
future failure because successful companies become complacent in their efforts and do not
assume that competitors will emerge to take away their business. Companies have to be wary
of this and the fast-paced nature of the business world.

Rapidly changing technology can also dramatically impact an organization. The dramatic
developments that we have seen in the Information Age have meant that companies can do
wonderful things to advance their brand and products or services and maximize efficiency and
effectiveness. Maintaining a technological advantage (or at the very least staying even) with
one’s competitors is a vital necessity in today’s competitive climate. But often, technological
innovations can cause a dramatic reshaping of how a compnay does business. These changes
can even affect its culture.

Likewise, with the high degree of competition in the business world, customers have come to
expect a constant rate of improvements among products and services, and a wide array of
products or services from different companies from which to choose. Companies have to be
aware of this and therefore need to be proactive in developing and improving products and
services which will keep their customers happy.

Having said all of that, when change is necessary, companies need to proceed with a solid
game plan instead of being motivated by fear and knee-jerk reactions. Covenantal behavior
ensures that big-picture thinking is in place. In this case, hopefully the company will be aware
of changes in the environment with regards to technology, changing customer needs and
wants, and new competition in enough time to not only react, but respond proactively.

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Ultimately, what a company wants is an organizational culture that is proactive, self-aware,
and flexible. Covenantal behavior can help achieve this.

OVERCOMING RESISTANCE TO CHANGE

Covenantal behaviors:

o Communication
o Dialogue
o Participatory Decision-making
o Empowerment
o Selection of people who select change

Potential Vision Killers:

o Manipulation and Cooptation
o Coercion

The problem with any change initiative within a company is that there can be pockets of
resistance during the process—employees, managers, etc. who do not like the process or the
eventual outcome. Leaders need to be able to overcome this resistance and build consensus
for the future.

The most effective means of doing so fall in the category of covenantal behaviors, the first of
which is communication. Leaders need to effectively communicate why the change is
necessary. This involves “big picture” training, where employees are made aware of change
and understand all of the implications associated with the change, the impact of the change,
and the potential dangers that might exist if change is not made. Leaders also need to
understand that communicating change is a constant process where they give frequent
updates to employees about what is going on. Remember that the fear of the unknown has
great power. Leaders can remove that fear by being in touch frequently with employees. And
really, to communicate effectively, a dialogue pr0cess with employees is necessary. Ideally,
leaders and employees are already in communication with one another about what is going on
with customers and the competition, and what possibilities may exist to expand the business.
As leaders communicate the need for change, they need to engage in active listening, where
they truly hear, absorb, and respond to the concerns and feelings of employees. This is
important for two reasons. First, as mentioned in previous lessons, employees often have
valuable feedback and information about what is going on “in the trenches” in the
organization. Any plans to implement change must include this valuable information.

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Secondly, leaders need to be aware how employees are reacting emotionally to the proposed
changes. When it comes down to it, employees just have to what the leadership team says,
but if leaders do not really care what employees are feeling, they will find that their proposed
initiatives for change will only be carried out half-heartedly and begrudgingly by employees.
To be sure, leaders should have no tolerance for employees who are trouble causers or lazy.
But change can cause a lot of consternation even among good employees and leaders need to
do a good job of constantly staying in touch with employees and updating them on what is
going on and how it will affect their jobs.

Ultimately, communication and dialogue should lead to participative decision making, where
as much as possible, employees should have insight into the nature of the change and how the
change should be carried out. This again assumes that employees are thinking in terms of the
big picture as opposed to just their own parochial concerns. Providing employees with this
power (empowerment) can create a lot of buy-in for the change. Ultimately, what all of these
covenantal behaviors are about is turning resistance into a positive force, in two ways. First,
resistance can be a source of valuable feedback for leaders, potentially identifying blind spots
and incorrect assumptions on the part of the leadership team. Secondly, the very act of truly
listening to and acting upon employee concerns is a power in and of itself, because it shows
employees that leaders really care about them and their insights. This can really lift up the
morale of employees and get them motivated for change.

The counterpoint to all of this is that some employees are neither motivated to truly embrace
change nor willing to look beyond their own interests. In such cases, leaders do well to
recognize and further empower those employees who are willing to embrace change and
lead the way in the change. After all, companies should always be looking to reward and
develop their most promising and engaged employees. This is one way of doing so.

There are also ways to enforce change that run the potential of being vision killers, even if
they accomplish the purpose of creating buy-in. Manipulation, for example, seeks to persuade
organizational members of the need for change in ways that are less than forthright. Even if
this manipulation is initially effective, it could so easily backfire and therefore should be
avoided. Likewise, cooption involves some level of buying out members of the resistance by
giving them a key role in the change process. This is different from having true dialogue and
participative decision making and letting all employees share their concerns, especially if other
employees feel like it was all about political maneuverings which overlooked the “little guy.”
All of this can breed resentment, which in turn poisons the culture of the organization.

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STRATEGIES FOR CHANGE

• Lewin’s Three-Step Change Model
• Action Research
• Kotter’s Eight-Step Plan

Organizational Development:

• Sensitivity Training
• Survey Diagnostic Feedback
• Process Consultation
• Team Building
• Intergroup Development
• Appreciative Inquiry

There are many strategies out there for implementing change. Lewin’s Three-Step Change
Model, for instance, includes unfreezing the status quo, movement to a desired end state, and
refreezing the new change to make it permanent. This approach is slightly reductionistic, as
there will always be the need to evaluate any changes made and to make further changes as
necessary. But it is helpful in identifying a basic process for change and in identifying
restraining forces to change and driving forces for change.

Action research provides a scientific, focused model for identifying changes and proceeding
with addressing those problems. It includes an evaluation of the change and incorporates
employee feedback (participate decision-making) into the planning phase of the process.

Kotter’s approach is far more detailed and seems to focus more on the “people” side of the
change process—identifying the importance of effective communication, consensus-building,
empowerment, etc. But it also involves evaluating the change and making necessary
adjustments and reinforcing the change by showing how the new behaviors set in place as a
result of change leads to organizational success. This final point again goes back to the
importance of having a continuing among between leaders and employees, and furthermore is
very much related to “big picture” thinking.

Finally, whereas the three approaches discussed above represent clear processes, the
Organizational Development (OD) approach is more of a broad perspective on how changes
should be made. It is based upon the following principles: respect for people, building trust
and support, sharing power, confrontation (i.e., an open and honest discussion about problems
and issues in the organization), and participation. These concepts are quite “covenantal” in
their nature, and really are ends unto themselves in terms of how a company should operate.

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Based upon these general principles the OD perspective offers are variety of specific strategies
for encouraging change. For instance, sensitivity training is a process of unstructured group
interaction that allows group members to build-consensus, identify group blind spots and
weaknesses, and get everyone on the same page intellectually, emotionally, and strategically.
Survey feedback can be used within a group or within the entire organization to measure
employee assessments of processes, decision-making, goals, communication, teamwork, etc.
Both of these processes encourage “big picture” thinking, and both help to increase
organizational self-awareness by helping organizational members to identify weaknesses and
blind spots.

Likewise, process consultation involves the use of a consultant who works with an
organization to help organizational members identify blind spots and move forward with
change. In one sense, the use of a consultant is a form of accountability, because
organizational members are opening themselves up to critique and assistance from an outside,
objective source. As such, it is an acknowledgement that merely conducting business as usual
without any evaluation is not healthy.

Team building activities, as the name suggests, are designed to encourage greater
communication, trust and mutual support among members within a group. This can be an
especially important process for companies who rely upon self-managed teams to get things
done. At a higher level, intergroup development encourages various groups and departments
to work together as one unit, getting them to look past their own group or departmental
concerns, and removing competition and conflict among groups/departments (mutual care
and accountability). This process furthermore encourages groups/departments to
acknowledge their perceptions of one another, to share the rationale behind each
group/departments goals and policies, and to ensure that these goals and policies are not at
cross purposes with one another (which of course can be a huge source of conflict and
resentment in any organization). Ultimately, groups/departments involved in this process
should work to ensure that all of their goals and policies are geared towards what is best for
the organization and not just their own group/department (“big picture” thinking).

Whereas all of the above strategies focus on identifying problems, weaknesses, and blind
spots, Appreciative Inquiry (AI) encourages organizational members to focus on the positive
things the organization can accomplish when everyone is working together (consensus-
building and big picture thinking). It encourages members to share their experiences and
memories about what makes the organization special to them, and what makes their work
fulfilling. This process of sharing generates excitement among all of the members about the
organization, and then focuses them to look for the exciting possibilities that would
encapsulate for them what the organization should be about. This is not just a fluffy emotional
process; the AI process should lead to specific items for change that can help the organization
succeed in real and practical ways. The AI process therefore is about generating positive
change and motivating organizational members with excitement rather than focusing on
organizational problems. However, AI should not be used to gloss over problems; if employees

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see it as an attempt by leadership to distract them from unaddressed problems, it could breed
resentment and resistance (vision killers).

As seen, all of these OD strategies are in keeping with covenantal behavior, as mentioned
earlier, the entire thrust of OD is really about creating an organization that is covenantal in its
processes, goals and strategies. It focuses not just on the change initiative itself, but on how
an organization achieves change and in general how it conducts itself with its own members
and customers. In the end, that really is the point—creating a self-sustaining, healthy
organizational culture. The next section will provide further ways to create a healthy culture
that embraces change and growth.

CREATING A CULTURE OF CHANGE

Encouraging Innovation:

o Structural variables
o Cultural variables
o Human Resource variables

Creating a Learning Organization:

o Double-loop learning
o Removing fragmentation, competition, and reactiveness
o Covenantal behavior

These two concepts are related. The first is a bit more focused on a specific type of change—
innovation. Companies that encourage innovation will be more likely to develop new products
and services which will keep them ahead of the competition in meeting customer needs. To do
so, certain variables need to be in place. Structurally, organizations need to be more organic
and less bureaucratic. Organic organizations encourage flexibility, adaptation, and cross-
fertilization. Also, companies need to develop managers and keep them with the company, to
build up a long-term base of knowledge, insight, and intuition. Having to constantly hire and
train new employees stymies innovation. Culturally, organizations need to encourage
experimentation. Failures should not be punished but should be viewed as learning
opportunities which will eventually lead to success. In terms of human resource policies and
planning, organizations need to incorporate policies aimed at developing their employees by
increasing their knowledge of subject matters related to their jobs, encouraging them to think
outside the box, and identifying and encouraging idea champions who get excited about
innovation and are who are willing to take risks.

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A more ambitious cultural perspective is that of creating a learning organization. This
approach goes beyond merely encouraging innovation to a more general focus on enhancing
adaptability and proactivity in embracing change. The first way this is accomplished is through
double-loop learning, which focuses not just on solving a particular problem, which could be
just a symptom, but also on addressing the causes of the problem, which often exist in
organizational policies, procedures, strategies and goals and other deeply rooted (and
therefore rarely evaluated) assumptions of the organization. Obviously, this is consistent with
“big picture” thinking.

Double-loop learning seeks to address three critical problems that can beset organizations:
fragmentation (also known as rigid compartmentalization, wherein various departments are
inward looking and therefore do not really interact meaningfully with one another to achieve
common goals), competition, where members are too busy preserving their own stake and
power in the company to truly identify weaknesses and solve problems, and reactiveness,
which focuses more on removing problems as opposed to proactively creating a positive, self-
sustaining organizational culture of teamwork and innovation.

Recommendations exist for creating a learning culture. For starters, leaders should
communicate a new strategy of learning to members in addition to adopting a more organic
structure. Leaders should also reshape the organization’s culture by encouraging risk-taking
and experimentation and attacking fragmentation, competition, and reactiveness. This brings
us back to the importance of covenantal behavior. These changes really cannot be
implemented unless leaders are accountable to followers and vice versa. Mutual accountability
encourages active dialogue and participative decision making. It also prevents “vision killers”
which can undermine any beneficial changes.

MANAGING STRESS THROUGH COVENANTAL
BEHAVIOR

• Communication, Dialogue, and Participative Decision Making
• Empowerment
• Goal-setting
• Job-Fit
• HR policies
• Conflict Resolution

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Impending change can of course cause stress, but in addition, there are any number of
stressors that can hurt employee morale and undermine productivity. An organization that
acts covenantally can significantly reduce stress. For instance, consistent communication,
active dialoguing, and participative decision-making can not only help employees feel more
valued and care for, but can give them a greater sense of control over their environment.
Likewise, empowering employees by giving them greater control over their work (which is also
related to “quality of workmanship”) can help to reduce stress.

The use of goal-setting, especially when done with employee participation, reduces
uncertainty for employees and increases intrinsic motivation. Specifically, remember that the
performance evaluation process can be a great source of stress if employees are unaware of
what is expected of them and are not getting any helpful and timely feedback from
supervisors. Goal-setting can help reduce this source of stress.

Putting the right employees in the right positions (job-fit) acknowledges that each individual is
uniquely gifted and should be put in a position where he is most likely to succeed. This is a key
element of covenantal behavior—acknowledging the value of each member, and being in a
position that does not draw on an employee’s strengths can certainly be a source of stress!

HR policies can also be used to remove stress. Allowing for flexible work schedules,
telecommuting, and implementing wellness programs are a way of caring for employees and
acknowledging that they are more than just worker drones. These types of policies can also
help employees resolve the work-life conflict.

Finally, organizations whose employees are trained in effective conflict resolution will have
less stress because conflict will become functional and positive. As discussed earlier, functional
conflict can actually provide a lot of momentum for solving problems and getting things done
in an organization. Furthermore, remember that a covenant is more than just performing
contractual duties; it is about creating and maintaining a relationship of mutual care and
support. Companies that create and encourage a covenantal culture will therefore be a
happier place to work for employees as opposed to a source of stress and discouragement.

Back to Table of Contents

88

CONTENTS
LESSON 1: A Worldview Perspective on Organizational Behavior
What is a Worldview?
Worldview as a Home
What is Your Worldview?
Defining the Christian Worldview
Application to Organizational Behavior
The Biblical Idea of Covenant
Important Covenantal Terms
History of Covenant
A Covenantal Model for Organizational Behavior
OB/COVENANT MATRIX
Conclusion
LESSON 2: Individual Behavior in the Organization
Introduction
Personality and Abilities
Values
Ethical Perspectives
Outputs
Emotions and Moods
Perceptions
Emotional Intelligence
Job Satisfaction
Effective Job Attitudes
Decision Making Constraints
Dealing with Constraints and Biases
LESSON 3: Motivating Employees
Motivational Theories
Early Motivation Theories
Contemporary Motivation Theories
Employee Participation
Payment Programs
Flexible Benefits
Intrinsic Rewards
Biblical Summary
LESSON 4: Group Behavior and Work Teams
Group Behavior
Stages of Group Development
Group Properties
Group Decision Making
Differences between Groups and Teams
Types of Teams
Factors Relating to Successful Teams
Context
Team Composition
Work Design—think “covenantally”
Team Processes
Turning Individuals into Team Players
When Should Teams Be Used?
LESSON 5: Organizational Communication
Formal and Informal Channels
Direction of Communication
Interpersonal Communication
Organizational Components
Which Channel to Use?
LESSON 6: Leadership
Defining leadership
Trait Theories
Behavioral Theories
Contingency Theories
Leader-Member Exchange (LMX) Theory
Inspirational Approaches
Authentic Leadership
Defining Trust
Mentoring as Leadership
Self-Leadership
Challenges to Leadership Construct
LESSON 7: Politics, Negotiation and Conflict Resolution
Motivations for Power
Dependency and Power
Sources of Power
Power Tactics
Sexual Harrassment
The Interactionist View of Conflict
The Conflict Process
Negotiation: Bargaining Strategies
LESSON 8: Structure and Culture
History of Organizational Perspectives
Work Specialization & Structure
Control, Effectiveness & Structure
Departmentalization and StRucture
Cultures as Shared Meaning
Creating a Positive Culture
Spirituality in the Workplace
LESSON 9: Human Resource Policies
Overview
Selection Practices
Effective Selection Processes
Training and Development
Performance Evaluation
HR Policies and Labor Relations
Managing a Diverse Workforce
LESSON 10: Organizational Change and Stress Management
The Context of Change
Overcoming Resistance to Change
Strategies for Change
Creating a Culture of Change
Managing Stress through Covenantal behavior

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Ethical Values and the Human Resources Behaviour

in Public Management

Armenia ANDRONICEANU1

Abstract: The role of ethical behaviour in public management is crucial for the

public organizations’ results and for the citizens’ satisfaction. This idea is already

demonstrated by several studies and the practitioners share it. There are limited knowledge

about how the newly emerged politico-administrative dichotomy in the Balkans has

influenced the formation of ethical behaviour along the management process and how this

should be updated, taking into account that it is permanently influenced by regional

cultures, by public managers and politicians. The main objectives of this paper are: (1) to

identify some features of the human

resources

behaviour during the management process;

(2) to underline the main reasons for unethical behaviour, (3) to identify some

recommendations for creating and maintaining an ethically-oriented behaviour. The

research methodology was based on questionnaire and included forty persons from the

central government level. The paper concludes with some recommendations for improving

the ethical behaviour of the human resources involved in the public management process at

the central Romanian government.

Keywords: ethics; human resources; public management

JEL: J21; J24; D23.

Introduction

The research starts from the assumption that decisions and behaviours are

influenced by values. People often have different values and ways of behaving.

Although these different values make people behave differently, yet they should

work together in organizations that have common values and ethical behaviour. A
key role in this adaptation process have public managers. They have to set up the

values and to follow them in the management process. It is necessary for the public

managers to foster common value systems within their structures, if they want

decisions and human behaviours to be consistent with their objectives. This

consistency is possible if the organizations’ values are known and agreed by every

employee. It should be a sort of “soft” partnership based on ethical values.

(Burlacu, 2011).

The word “ethics” is often in the news nowadays. Ethics is a philosophical

term derived from the Greek word “ethos” meaning character or custom (Calciu,

1 Professor PhD, The Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Faculty of Administration and

Public Management, Bucharest, Romania, e-mail: armenia.androniceanu@man.ase.ro

mailto:armenia.androniceanu@man.ase.ro

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2009). This definition is linked with effective leadership in organizations.

(Bovaird, Hughes, 1995).

Certain organizations will commit themselves to this philosophy through a

formal pronouncement of a Code of Ethics or Standards of Conduct. Other private

organizations, however, will be concerned with aspects of ethics of greater

specificity, usefulness, and consistency. Formally defined, ethical behaviour is

morally accepted as “good” and “right” as opposed to “bad” or “wrong” in a

particular setting (Androniceanu, Abaluta, 2008). Organizations face a variety of

changes and challenges that will have a profound impact on organizational

dynamics and performance (Halachmi, 1995). A long-standing tradition of ethical

behaviour is based on the principles of honesty, integrity and trustworthiness.

The ethical climate of an organization is composed by a set of beliefs about

what correct behaviour is and how ethical issues will be handled. This climate sets

the tone for decision making at all levels and in all circumstances (Androniceanu,

2011). Some of the factors and variables presented below were involved in the

survey in order to emphasize the fact that ethical behaviour of the human resources

is strongly influenced by ethical organizational environment which is based on

ethical core values of each person involved in the management process. The main

attributes included in the survey are the following: personal self-interest; public

interest; operating efficiency; individual friendships; team interests; social

responsibility; personal morality; rules and standards of procedure; laws and

professional codes.

Standards for what constitutes ethical behaviour lie in a “grey area” where

clear-cut right-versus-wrong answers may not always exist. As a result, unethical

behaviour is sometimes imposed on public organizations by the formal

environment (Popescu, R.I., 2008). However, ethical behaviour is in many cases

strongly influenced by values in which public managers and the politicians believe.

Their personal behaviour gives the others possibility to make a comparison

between what the public managers and the politicians are saying about core ethical

values of the public organization and how they apply these values in the

management process. The research survey demonstrates that there are enough

differences between these two dimensions. The differences are influences by

several factors and variables. Identifying and knowing the content and the causes

of these factors and variables may lead to the identification of ways to improve the

ethical behaviour of human resources who are working in a public organization.

The effective management of ethical issues requires that public

organizations ensure that their public managers, politicians and the civil servants

know which are the ethical values – and how to deal with ethical issues in their

everyday work (Moldoveanu, Sabie, 2009).

1. Empirical survey on specific ethical values and ethical behaviour of
public managers, civil servants and politicians

It is now necessary for the Romanian public managers and for the

politicians to reconsider their fundamental values and beliefs, to see which

ADMINISTRATION AND PUBLIC MANAGEMENT  20/2013

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51

represent now deviates from what we think we set out to be, and what we would

like public employees to see us to be. Ethical behaviour is acknowledged as a

necessity in modern governments.

There are some recent research studies conducted by different scholars. In

the period 15-20 February 2006, one Romanian academic group working inside the

International Research Centre for Public Management from the Bucharest

University of Economic Studies initiated an empirical survey on the ethical

behaviour in the Centre of the Romanian Government (CRG). We set up this

survey having the main objectives to know what the people understand by ethical

values and ethical behaviour and to identify the main reasons for unethical

behaviour occurrence in the CRG. Based on this, we made some recommendations

for improving ethical behaviour, taking into account the general principles for

managing ethics in the public sector. The survey was replicated in 2012 and the

current paper includes the main findings. The purpose of the survey was to identify

the main changes of human resources ethical behaviour. The results have been used

afterwards for making recommendation regarding the appropriate essential ethical

values and the needed changes for the Romanian public administration and

especially for the central government body.

The main dimensions of ethical behaviour considered and the meaning of

each of them are the following:

 Utilitarian view of ethics — greatest good to the greatest number of
people;

 Individualist view of ethics — primary commitment to one’s long-term
self-interests;

 Moral-rights view of ethics — respects and protects the fundamental
rights of all people;

 Justice view of ethics — fair and impartial treatment of people
according to legal rules and standards.

Forty persons from the CRG have answered to the questionnaire,

conceived having in mind the identification of the ethical profile of the people at

this level of the Romanian public administration. The sample consisted of

40 people including 32 men and 8 women. The structure by age group was:

23-30 years – 10%; 31-40 years – 20%; 41-50 years – 40%; over 50 years – 30%.

Structure grouped by level of education and the last graduate school was the

following: graduate studies – 85%, post graduate studies – 10% and meanwhile

college studies – 5%. Regarding the experience in public administration it is

notable that most participants (55%) have 15 years of experience in central public

administration, followed by other 20% represented by people with an experience

between 5 and 14 years. The rest of them (25%) have less than 4 years experience

(between 1- 4 years).

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Ethical Values and the Human Resources Behavior in Public Management

52

41-50

year

s

40%

over 50

years

30% 31-40

years

20%

23-30

years

10%

Figure 1. The sample structure by age

Figure 2 shows the group structure on both political and administrative

levels while figure 3 details the structure of the political group composed by

10 persons including 6 executive directors and 4 counsellors or advisors of the

ministers.

0

20

40

60

80

100

Political Level

Administrative Level

Figure 2. Sample structure on administrative and political levels

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

Cabinet directors

Councellors

Figure 3. The specific structure of the political level

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Ethical Values and the Human Resources Behaviour in Public Management

53

Figure no. 4 presents the structure of the group from the administrative

level: 30 persons -7 executive directors, 10 head of functional departments, 10 civil

servants and 3 contracting people.

0
2
4
6
8
10

Executive Directors

Head of Departm ents

Civil servants

Contracting people

Figure 4. The structure of the administrative level

In our survey, we have considered the following three categories of values

as influencing the ethical behaviour of the human resources:

a) Personal values – family influences, religious values, standards, and
needs;

b) Government values – supervisory behaviour, peer group norms and
behaviour, policy statements and written rules;

c) Environment values – government laws and regulations, societal
norms and values.

It is found (see Figure 5) that most of the people from the administrative

level which have been questioned feel a strong influence on their ethical behaviour

coming from the last two categories of values. On the opposite part is the opinion

of the people from the political level, who consider that their ethical behaviour is

influenced by other factors and variables from the first category plus their political

values.

The main specific values considered in our survey were: political self-

interest; individual friendships; team interest; social responsibility; personal

morality; rules and standards procedures; laws and professional codes. Concerning

the understanding of ethical values and behaviour through our survey, we

discovered that more then 80% of the investigated people do not know much about

the ethical values and behaviour.

Figure 5 shows the extent to which each specific value influences the

ethical behaviour of subjects during the management process: political self-interest

– 30%; individual friendships – 15%; team interests – 5%; social responsibility –

5%; personal morality – 10%; rules and standard procedures – 30%; laws and

professional codes – 5%.

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Ethical Values and the Human Resources Behavior in Public Management

54

Political self

interest;

30%

Individual

friendship; 1

5%

Team interest;

5%

Personal

morality; 10%

Rules and

procedures;

30%

Laws and

professional

cod

es

5%

Social

responsibili

ty

5%0%

5%
10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

P
ol

it
ic

al
s
el

f
in

te
re

st

In
di

vi
du

al
f
ri

en
ds

hi
p

T
ea

m
in

te
re
st

P
er

so
na

l m
or

al
it
y

R
ul

es
a

nd
p

ro
ce

du
re

s

L
aw

s
an

d
pr

of
es

si
on

al
c
od

es

So
ci

al
r
es

po
ns

ib
ili

ty

Figure 5. Values that influence ethical behaviour

More than 80% of the people involved in the survey mentioned that their

ethical behaviour is strongly influenced by many other individual factors and

variables: personal perceptions, own belief, education, rules, administrative

procedures and their status in the central public administration (see figure 6). The

remaining respondents believe that their behaviour is influenced by their position

and status in the central government body.

Status at the

central level;

17%

Rules; 2

2%

Education;

18%

Admin.

procedures;

37%

Own belief;

3%

Personal

perception;

2%

Figure 6. The main factors and variables that influence the behaviour of the human

resources

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Ethical Values and the Human Resources Behaviour in Public Management

55

All people from the political level considered the first and the second

factors as the most important in influencing their ethical behaviour. The rest of the

investigated people appreciated that their ethical values and the behaviour are

strongly influenced by the administrative procedures, which had the highest rank

followed by rules and education. Only 5% from the administrative level considered

that their ethical behaviour is influenced by their personal perceptions and beliefs.

As can be seen there is a strong difference between the political and the

administrative level from the perspective of ethical values. Nobody refer to the

clear system of ethical values for the people who are working at the level of the

government. More than 90% of the investigated people declared that they know the

ethical values and follow them in their daily activities because they understand how

important are in their relations with others and for the image of the institution they

are working for.

As demonstrated by our empirical research, people look at their leader and

say, ‘should I follow this person?’ One very important attribute is Integrity. When

the leader loses legitimacy, the entire basis of an effective body comes down –

fairness, equality and long lasting values. The proper governmental culture will

collapse, and that is something no public manager or politician can afford.

If one government is known to hold corrupt structures with bad image and

non-ethical behaviour of their politicians and public managers, no one would like

to co-operate with such government. In the longer run, citizens and the business

environment do not want to be associated with such structures. Once a government

or the public management representatives are regarded as corrupts, their level of

legitimacy declines.

The corollary is that, in a system where one government subverts the law,

it becomes much harder for other public organizations to operate “cleanly”. This is

why ethical behaviour and ethical leadership are a necessity. The experience proves

the fact that is a real need for public managers and politicians to set up clear ethical

values and build a sustainable and effective system of practices to implement them.

Following the results of our empirical study, credible leaders and

politicians challenge the process by experimenting and taking risks in their work as

a means to finding new and better ways of doing things. They inspire a shared

vision among employees by envisioning the future and enlisting others to bring

about that vision. They enable others to act by fostering collaboration and

strengthening others.

Nearly half of public managers involved in research are credible leaders

that encourage people by recognizing individual contributions and by celebrating

their accomplishments. That means an ethical behaviour based on ethical values

and morality. Most of the subjects considered that ethical behaviour is absolutely

necessary when leaders attempt to implement reforms that are transformational in

nature.

The survey pointed out that there are two categories of leadership

competences related with public managers and with politicians: one category called

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56

“soft skills” and the second called “strong/technical skills”. It has been

demonstrated that there are some critical leadership competencies confirmed as

baseline for promoting ethical behaviour inside the centre of the government:

understanding the policies of other departments; understanding the particularities

of the ministries and their environment; building relationships and networks;

managing change; managing the public; managing the relationship with the media;

influencing, motivating, developing, retaining talent and creative human resources;

managing conflict and dealing with problems of employees.

According to the survey results, most of the public managers are focused

most of the time on their department activities only and therefore fail to identify the

necessary links with other departments for the success of their work. The survey
highlights the fact that leaders both civil servants and politicians need to fully

understand how their departments: (1) fit into and support the larger government

policy process and (2) enable their jurisdiction/agency to serve stakeholders.

We can conclude that the ethical behaviours and the performance

expectations are strongly influenced by the leadership knowledge, skills, attitudes,

and individual abilities. Most of the investigated people mentioned that there is a

special internal code containing the main ethical values, but the problem is how to

create an internal mechanism for meeting them along the management process. The

code of ethics for the civil servants has been approved few years ago, but the effect

is minimal. The public managers and the civil servants are much more motivated to

follow the legal framework and the job description than to make an effort for

integrate the ethical values in their daily activities. Most of them said that if their

initiatives are legal, that means they are ethical too. Nobody explained them the

difference between rules, legal framework and ethical values and how could be

possible to integrate all of this in their daily ethical behaviour. The majority of our

respondents pointed out the lack of an internal mechanism with ethical standards

for public sector. They mentioned that respect ethical values remain at the

discretion of each employee which should comply with internal and regulatory

framework only. They know the obligations from the job descriptions, but most of

these documents are very similar. So most of them have the same rights and

obligations.

Concerning the political commitment for the ethical values it depends on

the politicians, Cabinet Directors and also the personal counsellors of the ministers.

Some of them, in a very empirically way, try to have an ethical behaviour, but not

all the time. They are politicians and feel public institutions like a temporary

placement of their political carrier. They are not very much interested to build a

consistent and effective commitment of ethics to reinforce ethical conduct of

people who are working in public institutions.

Related with the decision making process, the survey identified a poor

consultation between the politicians and the public managers. Usually, the dialogue

between the politicians, executive public managers and the civil servants at the

centre of the government is very poor. Most of the time the people working on the

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57

administrative level are very much involved in the implementation process of

public policies not in the decision-making process. In this context the ethical values

are not enough part of the politician working life. They consider these subject like

secondary and because of that they are not interested for spending time in

designing a functional mechanism for ethical values. Research has shown that

people involved in the management process at the central government level have

different opinions about the ethical values. The people from the administrative

level are interested in having an ethical values system and they want to follow them

together with the representatives from the political levels while politicians prefer

not to have it. In conclusion, the people that were directly involved in management

process at the CRG level do not have a unitary and coherent vision on these ethical

values and behaviour. Based on the research results, in the next section of the paper

were proposed several recommendations for increasing the ethical behaviour at the

centre of the Romanian government.

2. Recommendations for increasing ethical behaviour at the centre
of the Romanian government

One of the greatest challenges confronting any leader in this twenty first

century is bridging the gap between strategy and getting people to execute. Leaders

(politicians, executive public managers) direct people to focus on the right strategic

issues. Too often people cannot identify with a government’s strategy and likewise.

Sometimes leaders are disconnected from the realities that people must face within

the organization. If the leaders can properly bridge this gap (strategic vs.

organizational capacity), then they should be able to create value.

The decision making process at the centre of the government should be

based on a strong dialogue between leaders and their people. If the right people are

engaged, then everyone should be able to cut their way through the strategic jungle.

If leaders fail to engage people in strategic execution, then creating value through

leadership will be exceedingly difficult. Although it is true that most people are not

good strategic thinkers, it is also true that people want to contribute to a larger

purpose that only the leader can convey. Therefore, communication is at the

cornerstone of creating value through leadership. And given great communication,

leaders from the centre of the government can close the gap between strategy and

strategic execution.

Although governments have sometimes different cultural, political and

administrative expectations, they often face similar ethical challenges, and the

responses in their ethics management show common characteristics. The

participants to the management process at the central government level need to

have a point of reference in their approach. A consensus regarding the content of

the ethical values is needed. Leaders, politicians and public managers should be

open and flexible along the management process and to follow the same values,

rules and regulations. In the next paragraphs are presented some recommendations

for building an efficient system of ethical values in public institutions.

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58

2.1. Training on the specific values concerning ethics and ethical behavior

The training programs should be designed to help participants to

understand ethical aspects of their work, their status and also the ethical aspects of

the decision making process inside the public institutions. It should help them to

know how to incorporate high ethical standards in their daily organizational life.

During the training program people should learn how to deal with ethical issues

under legal and political pressure. Professional socialization should contribute to

the development of them necessary judgment and skills enabling people to apply

ethical principles in concrete circumstances. The participants should learn how to

behave in order to get an impartial advice that can help the public managers and the

politicians to create an environment in which people are more willing to confront

and resolve ethical tensions and problems then to rise conflicts and dissatisfaction.

Guidance and internal consultation mechanisms should be set up and explained in

order to help the human resources to apply basic ethical standards in the workplace.

2.2. Setting up a special department in public institutions to monitor
ethical values and behaviour

The name of this special team could be “moral quality circles” and can

work at the centre of the Romanian government as an independent body based on

the same principles like “management quality circles”.

2.3. Designing and implementing a special ethical accounting mechanism
in public organizations

The internal mechanism should be based on the following values:

 Respect for human dignity meaning to create culture that values
employees, citizens, politicians; to produce safe public policies;

 Respect for basic rights meaning to protect rights of employees, public
managers, citizens, and communities; to avoid anything that threatening safety,

health, education, and living standards;

 Respect for good public leadership meaning: to support social interest;
to work inside the government and institutions to support and protect the public

interest.

Public leaders should be accountable for their actions to the public.

Accountability should focus both on compliance with rules and ethical principles –

and on the results achievement. Accountability mechanisms can be internal or can

be provided by civil society. Mechanisms promoting accountability can be

designed to provide adequate controls while allowing for appropriately flexible

management.

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The main steps for creating such mechanism are:

o Clarifying the vision and mission statement, setting goals and
objectives;

o Presenting the principles and designing the core ethical values and the
ethical standards at the workplace;

o Disseminating, motivating and communicating the ethical standards and
values;

o Building teams oriented on ethical values and results;
o Measuring performance;
o Developing human resources;
o Increasing participative management;
o Preparing for transition to the new public management model based on

ethical values and competitive leadership in public organizations.

2.4. Create a code of moral principles

That means to establish set standards of “good” and “bad” as opposed to

“right” and “wrong”. Public servants need to know what their rights and

obligations are in terms of exposing actual or suspected wrong doing within the

public service. These should include clear rules and procedures for politicians and

executive public managers to follow – and a formal chain of responsibility. Civil

servants and some of the politicians also should know their rights and obligations

related to ethical values.

2.5. Create an ethical role model

Following the experiences from other developed countries, usually top

public managers and the politicians serve as ethical role models. All public

managers and politicians can influence the ethical behaviour of people who work

for and with them. The practice rose that excessive pressure can foster unethical

behaviour. Because of that, public managers should be realistic in setting

performance goals for others (Ojo and Adebayo, 2012). They also must observe the

ethical values through their daily life inside the public organizations. In this way

they can become models for others around them.

2.6. Create a special codes of ethics for all people who are working for the

centre of the government and also for other public organizations

That means a formal statement of the centre of the government and also an

organization’s values and ethical principles regarding how to behave in situations

susceptible to the creation of ethical dilemmas. It should be reflected in the legal

framework too. The Public Management Committee and the OECD Council

recommended that the member countries have to take actions to ensure well-

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60

functioning institutions and systems for promoting ethical conduct in the public

service. This can be achieved by:

 developing and regularly reviewing policies, procedures, practices and
institutions influencing ethical conduct in the public service;

 promoting government action to maintain high standards of conduct and
counter corruption in the public sector;

 incorporating the ethical dimension into management frameworks to
ensure that management practices are consistent with the values and

principles of public service;

 combining judiciously those aspects of ethics management systems
based on ideals with those based on the respect of rules;

 assessing the effects of public management reforms on public service
ethical conduct;

 using as a reference the Principles for Managing Ethics in the Public
Service to ensure high standards of ethical conduct.

The idea of this approach is to create a set of HR practices that work

together to identify, develop, and promote talented people through the compliance

with essential ethical values and leadership capacity.

Conclusions

As we can see in this paper, the absorption of the ethical values should

happen in different ways, depending on the environment and the organizational

culture and the particular characteristics of the human resources. A balance

between political and administrative level should exist. This balance is generated

by a system of ethical values and compliance mechanism in public institutions. An

effective leader is one who makes a demonstrable impact on one or more of the

ethical values presented in a positive way by influencing the behaviour and the

performance of the others. In the new era of rapid changes and knowledge-based

organizations, managerial work becomes increasingly a leadership task based on an

ethical behaviour. Leadership is the primary force behind successful change,

mainly because leaders empower human resources to act always by considering the

permanent common set of ethical values.

References

1. ANDRONICEANU, A. (2011). Transparency of the Romanian local public
administration. Administration and Public Management Review, No. 17,

pp. 33-46.

2. ANDRONICEANU, A. ABALUTA, O. (2008). Leadership and Management
in the Public Sector: Values, Standards and Competencies in Central and

Eastern Europe, NispaCEE Printing House Bratislava, Slovakia, pp. 35-48.

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Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without
permission.

Public Integrity, 17: 315–318, 2015
Copyright # American Society for Public Administration
ISSN: 1099-9922 print/1558-0989 online
DOI: 10.1080/10999922.2015.1065113

GUEST EDITORIAL

Leadership in Public Administration:
Creative and/or Ethical?

Donald C. Menzel

Northern Illinois University

Is it possible for a leader to be both ethical and creative? Assuming you don’t think the
categories are mutually exclusive, have you ever wondered about what creative leadership is
and how it might be achieved? There is a substantial literature about creative leadership, and
a more modest one on ethical leadership, yet almost no reported research linking the two. In
principle, the constructs are not in situ compatible with one another; one can be a creative leader
without being an ethical one, or an ethical leader without being especially creative.

But, and it’s a big but, can creative leadership and ethical leadership be learned as
complementary components of effectiveness? One school of thought asserts the “no” side
and views all leadership traits as innate: You’re either born with them, or you’re not. Those
on the “yes” side refuse to accept such determinism, but still struggle to understand the process
by which one becomes an effective leader, a process that can often seem elusive, even mystical.
Nonetheless, it is an axiom of modern management and education that not only can both
creative and ethical leadership be learned, but that they should be learned. Indeed, there is
no shortage of educational and training programs in the United States that purport to teach
leadership and ethical decision-making skills.

Nearly every textbook on the subject typically describes the transactional, transformational,
entrepreneurial, transcendent, and charismatic styles of leadership. But could these not also
have a creative dimension? A transactional leader is, by definition, one who is capable of ensur-
ing that organizational members and processes work with minimum friction, thus producing a
product or service that is high on quality and low on cost. Would not Henry Ford’s amazing
success in the development of a factory-assembled Model T qualify him as a transactional
and creative leader? Or, how about Steve Jobs’s transformational skills and vision that turned
Apple into the giant success it is today? Surely he would be regarded as a creative leader as
well. Further, consider Bill Gates and Microsoft, or Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook—they

Correspondence should be sent to Donald C. Menzel, Ethics Management International, Northern Illinois
University, 3421 Reynoldswood Drive, Tampa, FL 33618, USA. E-mail: donmenzel@verizon.net

http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10999922.2015.1065113

http://orcid.org/

mailto:donmenzel@verizon.net

unquestionably could be considered entrepreneurial leaders with a creative bent. Transcendent
leadership, demonstrating leadership beyond self-interest, comes to mind when the names of
Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., and Nelson Mandela are mentioned—surely creative
leaders too! U.S. Presidents Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton shared a strongly charismatic
leadership quality that could be interpreted as creative. Therefore, creative leadership, as these
examples suggest, is not necessarily a distinct quality that cannot coexist with other traits.

Creative leadership is something more than having a vision or creating value or attracting
followers. Creative leadership draws together three distinct but interconnected constructs—
creativity, leadership, and innovation (Puccini, Mance, & Zacko-Smith, 2015). The ability to
generate and execute innovative ideas is what separates creative from noncreative leaders.
Traditional leaders tend to execute “tried-and-true” strategies, such as cost-cutting or product/
service extensions, but they rarely disrupt their governing bodies or industries, or create new
product/service categories.

What is ethical leadership? There are three basic ingredients: being an ethical role model to
others, treating people fairly, and actively managing ethics in the organization. Leading with
integrity is yet another way of describing ethical leadership. A person with integrity is honest,
truthful, and unwilling to compromise values or principles for advancement or personal gain.
It means taking personal responsibility for errors one may commit, and recognizing and
crediting others for their work and contributions to the organization’s mission.

Why is ethical leadership important? Does this question even need to be asked? The question
does need to be asked—and answered, because we too often take it for granted, and it is much
too important to ignore. Two obvious, compelling reasons that it is important is that ethical
leadership (1) makes a positive difference in organizational performance, and (2) builds public
trust and confidence in public agencies. Consider a recent study of the impact of ethical
leadership on workplace behavior. Hassan, Wright, and Yukl (2014) surveyed 161 managers
in a large U.S. state government agency and reviewed reports and personnel records. The
findings supported their hypothesis that ethical leadership (1) increases the willingness of public
sector employees to report ethical problems to management, (2) strengthens the organizational
commitment of employees, and (3) reduces the frequency of absenteeism.

Building public trust and confidence in government organizations is no easy task. Indeed,
there are numerous examples of the lack of ethical leadership corroding public trust. Several
years ago, I conducted a case study of the ethical meltdown of a professionally managed local
government in the Tampa Bay, Florida, region. The case involved educated, politically astute
elected and appointed county officials who found themselves invoking the oft-used
rationalization when there was no other direction to turn—“I didn’t do anything unethical,
illegal, or immoral.” The story revolved around the attempt of a property appraiser employed
by the government to sell his private property to the county; in the aftermath, the county
attorney and the county administrator both had to resign, the property appraiser decided not
to run for a fifth term of office, and a grand jury presentment concluded that the breadth
of scandal surrounding this affair “will have a lasting impact on how the citizens view their
officials and government” (van Sant, Abel, & Blackwell, 2007). As a distraught citizen
observed in a letter to the editor, this “sort of back-door deal causes residents to distrust the
commission . . . a wink and a nod won’t do” (Keep Delving Into What’s Behind Sordid Land
Deal, 2007). Did local government officials demonstrate ethical leadership? Hardly! Was public
trust diminished? Without question!

316 D. C. MENZEL

So the important question is: How does one become an ethical leader? Step one is to become
ethically competent. It is hard to imagine an ethical leader who is not ethically competent.
What, then, are the skills and qualities needed to become ethically competent? I would list five:
(1) a commitment to high standards of personal and professional behavior, (2) a knowledge of
relevant ethics codes and laws, (3) the ability to engage in ethical reasoning when confronted
with challenging ethical situations, (4) the ability to identify and act on public service ethics and
values, and (5) a commitment to promoting ethical practices and behaviors in public agencies
and organizations. Implied in these five components are knowledge of the normative founda-
tions of administrative ethics and a thorough grounding in organizational theory and behavior.

The pursuit of ethical competence as a foundational building block for ethical leadership is
not a one-time affair. Rather, it is a life-long endeavor that can involve missed opportunities,
blind alleys, and, sometimes, blind spots and traps that can lead even the most ethically minded
person astray. Consider the utilitarian trap. That is, leaders who believe it is their job to always
make decisions that satisfy most employees in their organization may also, in doing so, be
sacrificing the right thing to do. A manager who supports across-the-board pay raises may make
many employees happy, but is it the fair thing to do for those who work is meritorious compared
to those whose work is substandard? Majoritarianism has its place in a democratic society, but
it can’t be the only decision rule to follow in making ethical decisions. A utilitarian approach—
calculating the best outcome for the most employees—can be perceived as, if not constitute the
reality of, an exercise in manipulating the means to a desired end.

Becoming an ethically competent leader is not an easy or simple task. One must sidestep
traps and blind alleys and, above all, make a long-term commitment to leading with integrity.
Such a commitment involves taking advantage of opportunities to stay ethically fit through
programs and experiences offered by professional associations, educational institutions, and
frequent self-study and reflection. Of course, an ethically competent person can become a de
facto ethical leader merely by setting an example and engaging in advocacy. Ethical leadership
is not rooted in a particular job title.

So, what do creative leadership and ethical leadership have in common? Let’s begin with
motivation. Self-motivation and the ability to motivate others is a common property of both
creative and ethical leadership. As an intrinsic property, self-motivation is essential to being
creative and becoming ethically competent. Motivating others is central to creative leadership
and an intentional, sometimes unconscious, feature of ethical leadership. While change and
innovation are always forces to be reckoned with in creative leadership, they can be confound-
ing influences on ethical leadership. Creative leaders must be able to master complexity to cre-
ate change and, in a similar manner, ethical leaders face complexity in resolving thorny moral
dilemmas. A persuasive argument can be made that ethical leadership and creative leadership
share relational qualities, are both grounded in process (ethical reasoning), and both require
self-reflection and imagination to produce positive results (Puccini et al., 2015). As Terry
Cooper (2012) reminds us, one must develop a capacity to exercise one’s moral imagination.
While creative leadership, like its more generic form, can be viewed as improvisational, perhaps
even as an experimental art, ethical leadership requires one to anticipate desired ethical
outcomes while taking into consideration the situation at hand (Heifetz, Grashow, & Linsky,
2009). In this sense, ethical leadership is improvisational, as it is not determined solely by
the situation. There is no place for situational ethics in leading with integrity, and ethical leaders
know that.

LEADERSHIP IN PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION 317

Becoming a creative leader is just as great a challenge as becoming an ethical leader. In fact,
perhaps it’s time to consider that ethicality and creativity, rather than existing on two separate
continuums, are points along the same leadership spectrum. Both require persistence, patience,
and much trial and error, along with a significant investment of self-reflection. Both also require
that leaders maintain an insatiable quest over the course of their careers, an open mind for new
knowledge, and a propensity to be responsible risk-takers. Above all else, creative and ethical
leaders cannot compromise their authenticity, as to do so would surely sow de-motivating doubt
among followers. Are you ready for the challenge this presents? Ready, set, go!…

REFERENCES

Cooper, T. L. (2012). The responsible administrator: An approach to ethics for the administrative role (6th ed.).
San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Hassan, S., Wright, B. E., & Yukl, G. (2014). Does ethical leadership matter in government? Effects on organizational
commitment, absenteeism, and willingness to report ethical problems. Public Administration Review, 74(3),
333–343. doi:10.1111/puar.12216

Heifetz, R., Grashow, A., & Linsky, M. (2009). Leadership in a (permanent) crisis. Harvard Business Review, 87(7/8),
62–69.

Keep Delving Into What’s Behind Sordid Land Deal. (2007, June 27). St. Petersburg Times, p. A16.
Puccini, G. J., Mance, M., & Zacko-Smith, J. (2015). Creative leadership: Its meaning and value for science, tech-

nology and innovation. Retrieved from http://www.academia.edu/1958027/CREATIVE_LEADERSHIP_ITS_-
MEANING_AND_VALUE_FOR_SCIENCE_TECHNOLOGY_AND_INNOVATION

van Sant, W., Abel, J., & Blackwell, T. (2007, August 29). Grand jury critical of Smith. St. Petersburg Times, p. A1.

318 D. C. MENZEL

http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/puar.12216

http://www.academia.edu/1958027/CREATIVE_LEADERSHIP_ITS_MEANING_AND_VALUE_FOR_SCIENCE_TECHNOLOGY_AND_INNOVATION

http://www.academia.edu/1958027/CREATIVE_LEADERSHIP_ITS_MEANING_AND_VALUE_FOR_SCIENCE_TECHNOLOGY_AND_INNOVATION

Copyright of Public Integrity is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not
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individual use.

REFERENCES

898

Public Administration Review,

Vol. 76, Iss. 6, pp. 898–909. © 2016

The Authors. Public Administration Review

published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on

behalf of The American Society for Public

Administration. DOI: 10.1111/puar.12562.

This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited

and is not used for commercial purposes.

Karen Morgan is a research fellow

in the School of Social and Community

Medicine, University of Bristol, United

Kingdom. She is currently working on a

project piloting and evaluating interventions

for male perpetrators of domestic abuse,

and also on a project exploring experiences

of female survivors of abuse. Previous work

has included looking at the service needs

of homeless women, and at the ethical

framework governing local councillors in

England.

E-mail: karen.morgan@bristol.ac.uk

Richard Cowell is a reader in

environmental planning in the School of

Geography and Planning, Cardiff University,

United Kingdom. His research interests

cover theoretical and political aspects of

the relationship between public policy and

sustainable development. He has written

widely on issues of governance, knowledge

and decision making, policy integration,

public participation, and trust, with a

particular interest in ethics regulation.

E-mail: cowellrj@cardiff.ac.uk

James Downe is a reader in public

management and director of the Centre for

Local and Regional Government Research,

Cardiff Business School, United Kingdom.

His current research interests include local

government performance regimes, political

accountability, public trust, and the ethical

behavior of local politicians. He has more

than 10 years of experience conducting

evaluations on local government policy

and has published widely in international

journals.

E-mail: downej@cardiff.ac.uk

Abstract : Leadership is widely seen as having an important role in fostering ethical conduct in organizations, but
the ways in which the actions of leaders intersect with formal ethics regulation in shaping conduct have been little
researched. This article examines this issue through a qualitative study of the operation of the “ethical framework”
for English local government, which entailed all councils adopting a code of conduct to regulate the behavior of local
politicians. Studying local government provides an opportunity to examine how personal and managerial factors
combine to influence ethical conduct and to analyze the ways in which ethical leadership is exercised through multiple
people in leadership roles (politicians and managers). The article finds that organizations that exhibit consistently good
conduct have multiple leaders who demonstrate good conduct but also act to preempt the escalation of problems and
thereby minimize the explicit use of ethics regulation.

Practitioner Points
• The actions of leaders are important in promoting good conduct and fostering an ethical culture.
• The promotion of good conduct within complex organizations can be enhanced when different categories of

leaders work in concert.
• Leaders need to be willing to intervene informally to steer behavior in their organizations and resolve

emerging problems rather than relying on formal regulatory mechanisms.
• The personal moral credibility of leaders can be very important in enhancing the effectiveness of formal

ethics regulation.

James Downe
Richard Cowell
Cardiff University , United Kingdom

Karen Morgan
University of Bristol, United Kingdom

What Determines Ethical Behavior in Public Organizations:
Is It Rules or Leadership?

Ethics is a key component of good governance (Perry et al. 2014 ) and has significant potential to affect public trust in all forms of government
(Joyce 2014 ). Previous research has identified a number
of factors that can shape standards of conduct within
an organization, among which the role of leadership
has attracted significant attention (Grojean et al. 2004;
Steinbauer et al. 2014 ). Indeed, the ethical behavior
of leaders has come to assume global importance, with
leaders being implicated in high-profile ethical scandals
and integrity violations (Hassan, Wright, and Yukl
2014 ; Tonge, Greer, and Lawton 2003 ).

Researchers are identifying an array of beneficial
outcomes arising from “ethical leadership,” including
increased willingness of employees to use voice to
improve their organization, greater employee job
satisfaction and sense of well-being, and increased
trust in organization leaders, both from employees and
the public (see, e.g., Bedi, Alpaslan, and Green 2015 ;
Hassan 2015 ; Wang and Van Wart 2007 ). Much
effort has also been applied to delineate the actions
and behaviors that leaders can undertake to enhance
ethics, including aspects of leadership style that

create a culture in which good conduct is maintained
(Huberts 2014 ; Lasthuizen 2008 ). Nevertheless,
analysis of the impact of leadership and its role in
fostering ethical behavior remains underdeveloped
(Menzel 2015 ), especially in the public sector (Heres
and Lasthuizen 2012 ; Van Wart 2003; Weinberg
2014 ), with insufficient testing of theory against
empirical research compared with business ethics
(Lawton and Doig 2005 ; Mayer et al. 2012 ; Perry
2015 ; notable exceptions are Hassan 2015 ; Hassan,
Wright, and Yukl 2014 ). Moreover, while it is widely
recognized that leaders can exert influence through
their character and personal conduct as well as by
taking managerial actions to regulate the conduct
of others (through issuing guidance or processes of
sanctions and rewards), there is relatively little research
that considers the causal relationships between leaders,
systems of ethics regulation, and resulting standards of
behavior. Indeed, Six and Lawton ( 2013 ) suggest there
is little theory about the best combination of value-
based and compliance-based policies.

This article responds to these gaps by examining
the roles played by leaders in shaping the ethical

What Determines Ethical Behavior in Public Organizations: Is It Rules or Leadership? 899

performance of local governments in England.
Local government is a vital focus for ethics
research, given that local jurisdictions across
the globe have democratic mandates and
responsibilities for disbursing significant
quantities of public funds. In addition,
English local government has been subject
to a period of intensified formal ethics
regulation, including a reinforced role
for codes of

conduct.

Consequently, local
government in England is a valuable case
study for considering our key research question: how do the
activities of leaders intersect with the more formal, codified
provisions of ethics regulation in promoting good conduct?

The structure of local government also makes it insightful for
understanding the contextual conditions in which ethical leadership
unfolds. Much literature in this area assumes an undue homogeneity
to “the organization” or “the leader” (Menzel 2015 ; Van Wart
2003). Leadership/integrity research has been “relatively narrow
in scope” (Palanski and Yammarino 2007 , 171), often focusing
on managers in public agencies (Hassan, Wright, and Yukl 2014 ;
Lasthuizen 2008 ; Macaulay and Lawton 2006 ) in largely American
organizations (Eisenbeiss and Brodbeck 2014 ) more than elected
representatives (exceptions are De Vries 2002; Schumaker and
Kelly 2011 ). Yet English local government combines managerial
and political leaders and thereby enables us to understand multiple
leaders’ roles (e.g., shared leadership; see Crosby 2010 ) and the
politics–administration dichotomy (Georgiou 2014 ) in promoting
ethical conduct.

The structure of the article is as follows: In the next section, we
review how existing research conceives of the relationship between
leaders’ activities and ethics regulations, with a particular focus on
leadership studies. We argue that translational models of power
(after Latour 1986 ) provide valuable conceptual and methodological
sensitivity to how different elements combine in the exercise of
agency in organizations. We then outline the institutional context
of the ethical framework for local government in England. After
elaborating our research design, we set out our findings on how
those in leadership positions shape ethical behavior. In the final
section, we offer some conclusions and suggestions for future
research.

Conceptualizing the Role of Leadership
How Leaders Act on Ethics
Leadership can be defined as “a process of social influence whereby
a leader steers members of a group towards a goal” (Bryman 1992 ,
2), and much of the literature linking leadership to ethics falls
into two broad sets. As Bedi, Alpaslan, and Green ( 2015 ) explain,
attention has been given to defining the moral principles or qualities
that leaders ought to demonstrate and adhere to (the goals), but
they also suggest a shift in research from issues of definition toward
identifying the contents and actions of those who exercise leadership
over ethics and capturing the influence that they exert.

An important conceptual construct in this agenda is ethical
leadership, which is most commonly defined as “the demonstration
of normatively appropriate conduct through personal actions

and interpersonal relationships, and the
promotion of such conduct to followers
through two-way communication,
reinforcement, and decision-making”
(Brown, Treviño, and Harrison 2005 , 120).
Researchers have sought to further specify the
concept by identifying its key components
based on modes of promoting conduct,
notably, being a moral person (exemplified by
a leader ’ s traits, behaviors, and how he or she
makes decisions) and a being moral manager

(when a leader creates moral codes for others through guidance,
clear communication, and systems of rewards and discipline)
(Treviño, Hartman, and Brown 2000 ). Similarly, De Hoogh and
Den Hartog (2008) distinguish three elements of ethical leadership,
consisting of morality and fairness, role clarification, and power
sharing. For Hassan, Wright, and Yukl ( 2014 ), ethical leadership
is made up of being an ethical role model, treating people fairly,
and actively managing ethics in the organization. Overall, although
grouped in different ways, the existing literature sorts the effects
and actions of leaders in relation to ethics into two groups: those
emanating from the nature and behavior of the leader as a person,
encouraging emulation, and those arising from the systems and
practices that they set up to regulate conduct on their behalf.

Although research on ethical leadership has grown rapidly,
analysis in this field faces a number of issues. The first of these
concerns whether ethical leadership is conceptually distinct
from other leadership models such as transactional leadership
or transformational leadership. The latter entails providing
individualized consideration, intellectual stimulation, inspirational
motivation, and idealized influence (Bass 1990 ). Thus, leaders
are in a position to set an example and influence the behavior of
people around them as people learn by observing and emulating
attractive and credible models (Bandura 1977 ). With transactional
leadership, leaders intervene only to set parameters, reward good
performance, and discipline when standards are not met. It is often
characterized as a more passive style of leadership. The ethical
behavior of leaders also forms a key component of other leadership
theories, including authentic leadership, spiritual leadership, and
servant leadership (Eisenbeiss 2012 ; Yukl et al. 2013 ). For example,
“ethical leaders use transactional forms of leadership and authentic
leaders don ’ t” (Kalshoven, Den Hartog, and De Hoogh 2011b, 52).
If the relationship between such leadership theories is “blurred” and
overlapping (Bedi, Alpaslan, and Green 2015 ), this is unsurprising
given that most such theories—explicitly ethical or otherwise—are
essentially concerned with agency, that is, how influence over others
can be achieved.

This leads to a second issue: the criticism that ethical leadership
constructs remain vague because in focusing on influencing
mechanisms, they do not specify normative reference points that
ethical leaders can use in promoting followers to behave ethically
(Bedi, Alpaslan, and Green 2015 ; Eisenbeiss 2012 ). In principle,
therefore, transformational leaders can promote ethical or unethical
behavior. We do not seek to define normative principles of conduct
in this article, although we note that researchers might do more to
connect the modes of governance of ethics to the different objects
(different norms and principles) to be governed (Jessop 1997 ).

Local government is a vital
focus for ethics research, given
that local jurisdictions across

the globe have democratic man-
dates and responsibilities for

disbursing signifi cant quantities
of public funds.

900 Public Administration Review • November | December 2016

On a prima facie basis, one might regard the categorization of
ethical leadership as a sufficient explanatory construct, in that
it represents an effort comprehensively to specify dimensions of
agency. However, questions remain about how leaders combine
action as “moral persons” and “moral managers” to influence ethical
conduct (Kalshoven, Den Hartog, and De Hoogh 2011a). Statistical
analysis can tell us the explanatory power of techniques of moral
management, vis-á-vis being a “moral person,” but not how leaders
combine formal regulatory processes with social learning. One
question in particular is that of “reach,” which concerns how far
leaders can shape what happens across organizations, including in
the myriad contexts in which they are not co-present with others.
Such concerns direct our attention to examining the use of ethics
regulation mechanisms.

The Use of Ethics Codes
A common device for regulating conduct
is to draw up an ethics code, which is a
written framework used by organizations
to specify and then shape what is regarded
as appropriate conduct. The International
City/County Management Association, for
example, has had an ethics code in place for
more than 90 years (Svara 2014 ). The use
of codes, with supportive guidance and mechanisms of reward or
sanction, has proliferated since the 1980s. Such techniques form
a component of ethical leadership as examples of the practices
required for being “a moral manager” (Huberts 2014 ). The
growth in the use of codes has not, however, been accompanied by
sufficient analysis into their impact and whether ethical behavior
has improved as a result (Beeri et al. 2013 ; Jensen, Sandström, and
Helin 2009 ), and there remains much debate about how codes
intersect with other actions and regulatory institutions for ensuring
compliance (Svara 2014 ).

The role of leaders is important here. At a basic level, in the private
sector, it will fall to senior managers to decide whether to introduce
ethics codes and what their form and content will be. Leaders may
be aware that the adoption of an ethics code can be effective in
increasing awareness of ethical principles and a useful management
tool in fostering an ethical climate within an organization (Beeri
et al. 2013 ; Treviño et al. 1999 ). However, how leaders effect
the implementation of ethics codes warrant as much attention as
adoption decisions (Svara 2014 ), and here the limited research
available suggests a rather nuanced set of processes at work. In their
meta-analysis of ethical leadership outcomes, Bedi, Alpaslan, and
Green ( 2015 ) usefully unpack the “transactional” dimension of
being a moral manager, embracing (1) active management (based
on monitoring conduct, issuing rewards), (2) passive management
(taking action after a problem), or (3) leaders adopting a more
laissez-faire approach. They found negative correlations between
ethical leadership and (3) but also (2) and some positive correlations
with more proactive measures.

The sense emerging from ethical leadership research is that passive
transactional approaches to influencing conduct, relying on
regulation, are unlikely to be adequate (Eisenbeiss 2012 ), a finding
that chimes with wider research on ethics codes. Codes have been
criticized as being too abstract, coercive, and unworkable while

producing red tape and restricting practical options (OECD 1996 ).
Codes of ethics are also seen as insufficient to achieve change or
govern conduct without other social processes. Ultimately, the
success of codes is dependent on the culture of the organization
(Ethics Resource Center 2005 ), “where people naturally do the right
thing when faced with dilemmas” (Back 2006 , 9). Leaders can play
a significant role in helping set this ethical culture (Hassan, Wright,
and Yukl 2014 ), as they have the scope formally to waive or less
formally to ignore ethics codes (as with Enron; see Tonge, Greer,
and Lawton 2003 ). Attention to the potential role of leaders shows
that codes do not “act” unless interpreted and translated into actions
by human agents.

Our task is to trace the causal mechanisms
through which leaders work with ethics
regulation, and the outcomes that arise,
to elucidate the predominantly statistical
analyses of ethical leadership research to
date (Bedi, Alpaslan, and Green 2015 ). In
so doing, we can determine how the “moral
person” dimensions of ethical leadership come
to bear on managerial actions rather than
viewing them as separate modes of influence.
The importance of doing this becomes clearer,

once we acknowledge both the complexity of ethics in organizations
and the limits of codification.

Leaders, Codes, and Agency in Complex Organizations
Much of the research on ethical governance and leadership has
taken a rather simplistic view of organizations. Those who are the
leaders is assumed to be clear. They are few in number and occupy a
clear hierarchical position of authority within an organization from
which influence on conduct can be exercised. Indeed, in response
to the potential existence of a multiplicity of ethical cultures in
organizations, the role of leaders is to create a “unified climate,”
playing different roles at different levels and providing strategic
leadership. There is some evidence to suggest that if leaders across
different levels of the organization convey similar messages through
training, this will create shared cognitions (Grojean et al. 2004).
However, this simple and rather linear view of how agency is
exercised faces two problems.

One is that organizations can embrace multiple normalization
processes, acting on and through human agents positioned
within heterogeneous networks. Local government, for example,
embraces political and managerial leaders, and norms for judgment
may emanate from conceptions of electoral mandate, party,
and constituency (for politicians) or from professional values or
divergent goals such as efficiency and delivery (for managers)
(Cowell, Downe, and Morgan 2014 ). Thus, the enhancement of
conduct across an organization can be seen not just as a simple issue
of implementing a single code of ethics but also as a struggle to
assert the importance of a particular set of principles in the face of
other bases for judgment. In shared-power worlds, multiple norms
must be navigated (Crosby 2010 ).

The second problem is that the codification of ethics in documented
statements—as a basis for communication and regulation—can never
fully capture and direct how decisions should be made across the

A common device for regulat-
ing conduct is to draw up an

ethics code, which is a written
framework used by organiza-

tions to specify and then shape
what is regarded as appropriate

conduct.

What Determines Ethical Behavior in Public Organizations: Is It Rules or Leadership? 901

diversity of situations when ethical issues arise (Jensen, Sandström,
and Helin 2009 ; West and Davis 2011 ). Applying principles to
contexts often entails further reinterpretation. Moreover, there is
potential for principles of good governance to conflict, such as the
tensions between integrity, transparency, and efficiency (De Vries
2002; Van der Wal, de Graaf, and Lawton 2011). The ultimate
expression of dilemmas arising from the incompleteness of moral
principles is the so-called dirty hands debate (Newbold 2005 ;
Walzer 1973 ), concerning the morality of overriding important
ethical principles to achieve greater goals. One can imagine that
such dilemmas fall heavily on those in leadership roles, especially in
governments where multiple constituencies are involved.

Tracing the means by which agency is exercised over conduct in
practice requires a conceptual and methodological perspective that
can integrate the different effects of leaders (personal or through
rules or other practices). A valuable approach, already used in
other areas of business ethics (Jensen, Sandström, and Helin
2009 ) and public administration research (Feldman et al. 2006 ),
is the conception of power as translation. For Latour ( 1986 ), it is
unhelpful to conceive of power in potentia , as something inherently
possessed by someone (e.g., a leader, or an idea or principle), as it
may not automatically lead to anything. Rather, power is better
analyzed in actu , as an effect resulting from (and revealed by) the
translation of an order or principle into the actions of others. By
focusing on agency as a social process of translation, we can observe
the combination of elements that come together to align conduct
and see this as a collective, composite process entailing an array of
practices—“countless, often competing local tactics of education,
persuasion, inducement, management, incitement, motivation and
encouragement” (Rose and Miller 1992 , 175)—linking the actions
of leaders, others, and regulations.

Through such a perspective on power, it becomes clearer which
individuals actually lead on ethics, in terms of whether their actions
change the frame of reference for others and the basis of their
authority (e.g., moral, political, or technical expertise). It may be that
ethics codes give durability to social practices and extend the agency
of leaders into domains where they cannot be present. Alternatively,
we may find that leaders are more thoroughly implicated in shaping
adherence to the regulations and that aspects of character have
reinforcing effects—that is, the nature of moral management is
shaped by the detailed interventions of moral persons.

The next section addresses the policy context in which leaders
behave before examining the methods we used to assess the ways in
which leaders can influence ethical behavior.

The Ethical Framework for Local Government in
England
The emergence of the ethical framework for politicians in local
government in England echoes international trends, as concerns
about conduct and declining trust in public institutions have
been translated into ethical codes, statements of values, and other
organizational machinery for regulating conduct (Pharr and Putnam
2000 ). The 1997–2010 Labour governments were seeking to address
public concerns about “sleaze” in political life as well as high-
profile corruption scandals in a few local councils. One of its main
interventions was to greatly reinforce the arrangements for regulating

conduct in local government (the ethical framework). Under the
Local Government Act 2000, all English local authorities were
obliged to (1) adopt a code of conduct to regulate the behavior of
elected members (also known as councillors); (2) establish a register
of members’ interests, and (3) set up a standards committee to advise
on the code, monitor its operation, and promote high standards of
conduct. The act also created new bodies, notably, the Standards
Board for England. Initially, the Standards Board took the lead role
in the assessment and investigation of complaints, but when this
task was decentralized to standards committees for each local council
beginning in 2008, it adopted a more strategic regulatory role. It is
important to note that the ethical framework was imposed on local
government and its leaders and required them to adopt it.

Rather than being made the responsibility of a single leader, the
ethical framework implicated an array of leadership roles within
English local councils. On the political side, these were the council
leader (usually taken from the dominant political group) but also
the leaders of the other political parties. On the officer side, a senior
manager called the monitoring officer had responsibility for the
management of the ethical framework and reported to the chief
executive in each council. Standards committees were required
to include independent chairs and a proportion of independent
members to separate them from political influence (Lawton and
Macaulay 2014 ). Therefore, we see how the implementation of the
ethical framework was shaped by leaders with different forms of
authority—electoral, professional/legal, and the moral authority of
“independence.” Moreover, operationalizing the ethical framework
had to take place within “a collection of agencies, laws and
processes” that made up a wider integrity system (Six and Lawton
2013 , 640), including internal organizational efforts and external
actors such as financial auditors, rules governing political parties,
and the justice system.

Methodology
The majority of the research on ethical leadership is statistical and
cross-sectional in nature (Bedi, Alpaslan, and Green 2015 ; Hassan
2015 ), relying on surveys to measure ethical leadership and correlate
it with effects (e.g., De Hoogh and Den Hartog 2008; Kalshoven,
Den Hartog, and De Hoogh 2011b; Kolthoff, Erakovich, and
Lasthuizen 2010 ; Mayer et al. 2012 ; Yukl et al. 2013 ). What remains
deficient is research that moves from statistical associations to
elucidating causal mechanisms. To address this, we have responded
to the call for more detailed qualitative research (Hassan 2015 ) and
used case studies to enable a deeper assessment of causal processes.

Our research site is English local government, which consists of
353 local councils spanning small district councils (in a two-tier
structure in which responsibility for council services is split with
county councils) to larger unitary and metropolitan authorities.
Councils are predominantly financed by grants from the central
government (about 48 percent), with the remainder made up of
business rates (charged to local companies, about 25 percent) and
council tax (charged to local people, also about 25 percent). To this
field, we applied a multiple case study design (Yin 1984 ), centered
on nine local councils.

Cases were selected purposively to embrace an array of contextual
conditions and leadership situations deemed likely to bear on

902 Public Administration Review • November | December 2016

patterns of conduct and their governance. Table 1 outlines the
main variables that we used to select cases, and table 2 summarizes
how these mapped onto each of our case studies. Structuring case
study selection in this way was designed to provide a framework in
which the causal effects of different leadership actions on conduct,
the roles performed by ethics regulations, and the conditions that
facilitated these effects could be teased out. The individuals and
councils have been treated anonymously in all published output
from this research.

This article reports on data gathered in 2008 and 2010, a pivotal
period in the implementation of the ethical framework, when
more responsibility was being devolved from the Standards Board
for England to individual councils. Visits were made to nine case
studies in 2008, and repeat visits were made to six cases (A, B, C,
D, E, and F) in 2010; the abolition of the Standards Board meant
that we were unable to revisit the remaining three case studies. The
principal source of data was semistructured interviews with key
informants, including council leaders and leaders of party groups,
chief executives, monitoring officers, chairs of standards committees,
a range of nonexecutive councillors from different political parties,
and senior officers. We felt that it was important to gather the views
of not just the formal leaders in the organization (both political and
managerial) but also a range of followers (e.g., those councillors not
in formal leadership positions) to gain a wider perspective on how
conduct was shaped, embracing both those leaders who might be
expected to engage in steering conduct and those subjected to such
actions (Eisenhardt and Graebner 2007 ). Across the nine cases and
two time points, 129 interviews were conducted, 111 of them face

to face and 18 by telephone. All of the face-to-face interviews were
recorded and transcribed.

To operationalize our translational conception of power (Latour
1986 ), we adopted an interviewing approach that was agnostic
about what shaped conduct and did not assume a priori that
particular actors or ethics codes were the main drivers (Jensen,
Sandström, and Helin 2009 ). We encouraged interviewees to
detail how norms of conduct were shaped and transmitted in their
council (Grojean et al. 2004), including how misconduct issues
were identified and addressed, by whom, and with what effect.
The effects of the ethical framework and the roles of leaders were
certainly objects of analytical concern, but we drew information
about their importance and agency both from answers to open-
ended questions and from responses to specific questions posed
about the code of conduct and political and managerial leaders.

We analyzed the interview data through a thematic coding
technique (after Flick 2002 ), utilizing codes defined from the
analytical framework and research focus, to enable comparability of
analysis across the multiple case studies. The coding was aided by
NVivo qualitative software, which facilitated the categorization and
collation of text data subject to multiple codes (e.g., type of conduct
problem, type of leader [politician, chief executive, monitoring
officer], and type of action [informal advice, complaints procedure],
etc.). In assembling the analysis, we draw on the causal relationships
revealed by the coding exercise, such that quotations offered are
both constitutive of the arguments we are making and illustrative of
wider patterns (Mason 2002 ).

Findings and Analysis
We found evidence across our case studies of the roles that
leaders play in promoting and reinforcing good standards of
conduct. Numerous respondents referred to the ways in which key
individuals in the council—chief executives, monitoring officers,
and political leaders—shaped its standards of conduct. In effect,
those in leadership roles displayed ethical leadership. We also found
such respondents accepting responsibility for conduct that flowed
from their formal leadership roles. The mechanisms that leaders
used echo the main factors highlighted in existing research but
also show the more complex ways in which leaders seek to achieve
outcomes and the position of formal ethics regulation. We begin by
examining the evidence on leaders setting an example.

Leaders Setting an Example
Setting an example (or role modeling) is about the visible actions
of leaders in how they behave within an organization, and it is a
key component of ethical leadership (De Hoogh and Den Hartog
2008; Hassan, Wright, and Yukl 2014 ). This behavior helps inspire
others to emulate and support them. What is important here is
“action” and not rhetoric. There needs to be no gap between what a
leader says and what he or she does, as leaders can be hypocritical by
outlining the importance of moral values for the organization but
not behaving under these rules themselves (Greenbaum, Mawritz,
and Piccolo 2015 ). We found those in leadership roles setting
an example in a number of our cases, especially those councils
sustaining high standards of conduct, with these actions being
recognized both by those seeking to set such an example and by
potential recipients of this lesson.

Table 1 Main Case Study Selection Criteria

Factors Likely to Affect Ethical
Conduct

Selection Criteria or Proxy Measure

Size: Larger councils are likely to
be better resourced to deal with
ethical issues than smaller ones
(Berman and West 1995 )

Selected small, medium, and large
councils, measured by population

Conduct history: Past problems with
conduct may have a lasting effect
(Greasley 2006 )

Selected councils with few or no
complaints under the ethical framework
and those with large numbers of
complaints , measured over the period
May 2008 to March 2010

Management: Councils that are well
managed may be more likely to
display good standards of conduct

Selected councils with “good/excellent”
and “weak” scores from the Audit
Commission ’ s Comprehensive
Performance Assessment *

Socioeconomic makeup: The
composition of the area may
affect the ethical conduct of the
organizations that serve them
(Menzel and Benton 1991 )

Selected councils with lower and higher
than average levels of deprivation

Political leadership: Consistency and
change in political party control
may affect conduct

Selected councils controlled by different
political parties, those that had been
governed by the same party for a long
time, and those that had experienced
recent changes in control

* Beginning in 2002, councils were subject to Comprehensive Performance
Assessments (CPAs). These were conducted by the Audit Commission and
combined judgments about the performance of local services with assessments
of a council ’ s “corporate capacity” (its leadership, performance management,
partnership working, and use of resources) to provide an overall score that was
published in national league tables.

What Determines Ethical Behavior in Public Organizations: Is It Rules or Leadership? 903

Table 2 Contextual Information on the Nine Case Study Councils

Case
Study

Type of Local
Authority

Size
(population

in
thousands)

Conduct History
(ethical complaints,
May 2008–March

2010)

Management
(measured using
CPA scores) Political History

Strength of Independents
(percentage of

independent councillors,
2006–11) Thumbnail Sketch

A District
council

131 12 Excellent
(2003–04,
2008)

Generally
Conservative
controlled,

Conservative
2007–11

5% A relatively affl uent district in southern
England with a mainly stable pattern of
political control. The council had achieved
excellent CPA scores and experienced very
few cases under the code of conduct.

B London
borough

276 0 Good (2002–04),
3 * (2005–06),
4 * (2007–08)

Generally Labour
controlled, no
overall control
2006–10

10% A London borough with pockets of affl uence
and deprivation in which the former
dominance of a single political party had
declined. The council had experienced
good to excellent CPA scores and had
been proactive in its approach to ethical
governance. The borough had experienced
no formal complaints under the code.

C District
council

119 25 Fair (2003–04),
Good (2007)

Generally Labour
controlled, no
overall control
2003–11

32% A district in the Midlands in a relatively deprived
area where the traditional dominance of one
political party had given way to turbulent
change. The council was improving its CPA
score over time. There had been a large
number of complaints under the code, most
of them among members and between
offi cers and members.

D District
council

149 26 Fair (2003–04,
2008)

Mix of
independent
and no overall
control,
Conservative
2007–11

16% A relatively affl uent district in southern
England with a largely rural area, which in
recent years had seen growing single party
control. The council had received “fair” CPA
scores but had experienced problems with
its corporate governance, including a large
number of complaints under the code, most
of them among members and between
offi cers and members.

E Unitary 334 138 Good (2002),
Excellent
(2003–04),
3 * (2005–06),
4 * (2007–08)

No overall control
1995–2007,

Conservative
2007–11

8% A unitary council in the north of England,
covering a largely rural and affl uent area, in
which only recently had one party secured
overall control. The council had achieved
good to excellent scores in the CPA and
many complaints under the code (mainly
from parish councils).

F Metropolitan
borough

751 35 Good (2002–04),
4 * (2005,
2007), 3 *
(2006, 2008)

Controlled by both
Labour and
Conservative
over time, no
overall control
2004–11

9% A largely urban unitary authority in the north,
serving an economically and ethnically
diverse population, in which the former
dominance of a single political party had
given way. The council had achieved good
to excellent scores in the CPA and had
generated a large number of complaints
under the code.

G Unitary 176 36 Good (2002–04),
3 * (2005–08)

No overall
control over its
existence

5% A unitary council in southern England with
a mostly affl uent population, in which no
single party had control. The council had
recorded good CPA scores and had generated
a moderate number of complaints under the
code, although fewer than its parishes.

H District
council

94 109 Poor (2007),
Fair (2009)

Generally
Conservative
controlled
with Labour in
control 1995–99

13% A district council in the Midlands with an
affl uent population and a high level of
stability in political control. The council
had recorded poor CPA scores and
had generated a very large number of
complaints under the code, most of them
by members against other members.

I Metropolitan
borough

225 2 Weak (2002–04),
2 * (2005–08)

Controlled over
time by all three
main political
parties, no
overall control
2007–11

2% A socially diverse and in places very deprived
metropolitan area in northern England in
which the former dominance of a single
political party had declined. The council had
achieved weak to fair CPA scores and a low
number of complaints under the code.

904 Public Administration Review • November | December 2016

Not making personal attacks was central in the ethical worldview of
some, which supports the positive links between conscientiousness
and ethical leadership identified by Kalshoven, Den Hartog, and
De Hoogh (2011a). For example, the leader of council A was noted
for refraining from shouting in the council chamber or making
personal remarks: “[I] never ever personalize anything in a public
meeting. You know … it doesn ’ t matter whether it ’ s a member or a
constituent, never personalize anything. I feel very strongly about
manners in council chamber … and at public meetings, wherever
you are in public.”

In council B, we saw something that most
closely approached “values-based leadership”
(Grojean et al. 2004), evidenced by a
widespread recognition across interviewees
that leaders promoted good conduct and,
furthermore, that the organization should be
defined by it. Many interviewees in council B
commented spontaneously on the moral tone
set by both the elected mayor and the chief
executive, which supported and empowered
the monitoring officer in taking a proactive approach to ethical
risks. The chief executive explained, “There ’ s been a very strong
tradition of doing good by being good. Doing the right things and
doing things right. Having integrity and ethics as being central to
the politics and purpose of the place.” This finding exemplifies the
point that leaders are responsible for creating an environment for
others to make the right choices (Brown 2007 ).

How easily the behaviors of those in leadership roles translate into
followership was dependent on wider issues of status, expertise, and
trust, especially in terms of senior officer support. In some councils,
monitoring officers were positioned as “leading” on ethics in their
councils. In council A, which generally exhibited good conduct, the
monitoring officer was “recognized nationally as a leading light” on
the ethical framework, in terms of knowledge, and in council B,
too, the expert authority of the monitoring officer—a long-standing
senior lawyer—was widely accepted by councillors as issuing good
advice on ethical issues (see also Eisenbeiss 2012 ). In council H,
however, the organization experienced a high number of member-
on-member complaints that were mostly politically motivated.
Rather than taking a proactive role in attempting to resolve the
complaints informally, the inexperienced monitoring officer simply
referred the cases to the Standards Board for England. A member of
the cabinet (the council ’ s decision-making body) being suspended
for one month for failing to update his register of interests is an
example of how the advice of a respected monitoring officer may
have led to a different outcome.

What these cases begin to show is the diverse ways in which
individuals as “moral persons” connect to the operation of moral
management in the form of compliance with ethics regulation.
Indeed, for our case studies that displayed good conduct most
consistently, compliance with the code was not necessarily the
motivating factor (to which we return later), and the actions of
leaders—political and managerial—were not easy to separate from
norms and conventions shaping “how politics is done” locally.
For example, in case study A, the chief executive suggested that
there was “by and large a good working relationship between the

members and politics doesn ’ t get in the way most of the time,” and
rarely was there a need to bring cases under the ethical framework
with a view to formal sanction.

The effects of role modeling and social learning emanating from
leaders can also be seen in the perpetuation of conduct problems.
In cases that had experienced large numbers of complaints under
the code and/or ongoing conduct issues, the council leadership
was often implicated in a number of ways. Some politicians
expected their leader to take the lead in attacking the opposition,
potentially placing them at greater risk of overstepping the line of

acceptable conduct (in terms, say, of using
respectful language) than anyone else. Certain
conceptions of being an effective political
leader, held in some competitive party
political environments, do not readily equate
with being an ethical leader, illustrating the
dilemmas of multiple normalizing processes
that we introduced earlier. Moreover, what
was constitutive of wider ethical problems
in some councils was that senior councillors

had become involved in the making of complaints for political
advantage. For example, in case study H, claims of noncompliance
with the ethics code were used deliberately to undermine opposition
parties, fueling “tit-for-tat” spirals of accusation. It was often the
case that party and council leaders acted as the focus for complaints
from opposition parties, insofar as opponents sought to damage
the group in power by attempting to undermine its leaders by
presenting their behavior as unethical.

The effects that leaders can exert often became clear when
individuals in leadership roles changed. Between 2008 and 2010,
the political control of council C changed, and the new leader
announced that his party group would take action to prevent the
endless cycle of antagonistic ethical complaints. He explained,

I think by going on record as saying in the Council that we
would never take anybody to the Standards Board, I would
hope that meant that nobody would then take us to the
Standards Board, then that then spread out across. I think the
environment … is massively better than it was two years ago.
It ’ s a lot more constructive and a lot more positive. … I won ’ t
say in harmony, but at least in constructive criticism which it
wasn ’ t before.

Being seen to discourage personalized tit-for-tat politics was often
integral to the modi operandi of the more effective ethical leaders.
Again, however, we can see the ambiguous relationship between
achieving good outcomes and the deployment of formal ethics
regulation.

Leaders Acting on Individuals
This ambiguity is apparent again when we turn to the second set of
ways in which leaders acted on ethics—being a moral manager in
dealing with others to persuade them to maintain high standards of
conduct (Hassan, Wright, and Yukl 2014 ). It often meant working
informally to resolve complaints prior to (or avoiding) deploying the
formal ethics machinery. This included having a quiet word with
politicians whose behavior was “sailing close to the wind” and giving

Certain conceptions of being an
eff ective political leader, held in
some competitive party political

environments, do not readily
equate with being an ethical

leader.

What Determines Ethical Behavior in Public Organizations: Is It Rules or Leadership? 905

them an opportunity to improve. That these practices occurred
more often in some councils than in others, and reflected the extent
of conduct issues in each case, suggests a significant causal effect.

We saw extensive use of informal mechanisms of regulation
by managerial leaders, notably in council B, which had a good
reputation on conduct. Here politicians acknowledged that the
chief executive “is very very skilled at managing concerns for
members, whether they ’ re executive members or whether they ’ re
backbench members. I ’ m sure that [the chief executive] deals with
quite a lot of that stuff under the waterline, so we don ’ t tend to see
too much of it.” In this council and others, leaders helped create
an organizational environment in which people felt comfortable
discussing potential ethical risks. In council G, the monitoring
officer said that “where members have perhaps got involved where
they shouldn ’ t have done on an issue, then … the chief executive or
myself would have a word with them.”

In councils with conduct problems, leaders were less prepared
to intervene to support better conduct or head off problems. In
council C, the chief executive did not play an active role. The task
of explaining to members why their behavior was unacceptable
in public meetings fell entirely on the monitoring officer. He
explained, “I don ’ t have the time to spend nattering to people about
minor issues in relation to ‘do you know what so-and-so said?’ ‘Do
you know what somebody else said?’ In contrast to my predecessor,
who spent a lot of time talking to members and being able to
smooth things over sometimes.”

We observed a complex network of personal
actions—not always straightforward,
hierarchical relationships between a single
leader and his or her followers—involving
different actors leading on shaping conduct
in different councils and in different
combinations. In council E, party group
members (rather than the leader or monitoring officer) would have
words with colleagues whose conduct was at risk of overstepping
the line, and in council G, one group leader felt it his responsibility
to take an informal role in acting on ethical issues outside his party.
That leader explained, “intervene is not the right word, but just sort
of gently say ‘Look is there an issue? We need to talk about this.’”

We identified numerous incidents in which managerial and political
leaders worked in concert to enhance the maintenance of good
conduct. In council A, the chief executive explained that “me and
the leader are a double act … we are the pivot between the members
and the officers.” In council I, the deputy leader explained,

Quite regularly the whips will address an issue if they see
that it ’ s going to happen. A person thinking about going
into business which would be contrary to their role as a
councillor … an officer might say “This councillor ’ s really
pushing this personal interest” … and the whipping process
resolves a lot of issues like that. And that ’ s why I say the
relationship between officers and senior members particularly
has been quite reasonable because you know there ’ s an
informal feedback at an early stage and the parties usually deal
with that. 1

Our evidence also shows the value of leaders taking assertive steps
to ensure that members attend training on ethics. In council B, the
monitoring officer introduced annual reminders of training and
“named and shamed” those who did not attend. In some cases, the
push for training came additionally from the politicians. The joint
leader of council F explained taking member training very seriously:
“Our assistant whip leads on it. He ’ s very keen to see member
training rolled out … we have a proper induction package now for
new members which is helpful.” It was also clear that in councils
that had persistent problems with poor conduct and repeated
complaints under the code, training was more poorly attended or
more sparely implemented.

A failure of leaders to act in concert could be problematic, as
“[f ]orces that pull the organization in different directions promote
the existence of distinct subclimates, and a weak overall climate
regarding ethics’ (Grojean et al. 2004, 233). We found a number of
examples in which party discipline was less assiduously monitored
and aligned. In council H, “I think certain party leaders have the
desire to nip things in the bud. I think other party leaders don ’ t
necessarily have the same desire.” In council F, the joint leader
argued, “Well in my view if the person in question was a member
of my party we would be taking firm disciplinary action ourselves,
that the party of which he is a member seemed … well their leader
throws his hands up and says ‘I ’ ve done all I can. I know what he ’ s
like.’ I don ’ t think that ’ s good enough.”

Mechanisms for exercising agency through
party group discipline evaporated when
councils had large numbers of independent
councillors. By their very nature,
independents have no group to discipline,
and this situation was associated with conduct
problems in a number of cases. Moreover,
political independents often emerge and
persist where there is a sense of antagonism

toward preexisting public and political institutions such as the
council, meaning that government-driven codes and organizational
reputation are not prioritized in the judgments councillors make.
In council C, the chief executive explained, “They ’ re independent.
Given away in the name isn ’ t it? I don ’ t believe they have a formal
whip system. . . . As there ’ s no party allegiance, you therefore lose
that greater dimension.” In council D, a councillor observed that
the independent group took “a perverse delight in being named in
the paper every so often.” With independent councillors, all leaders
are less likely to be seen as lacking legitimate authority and, no
matter what their formal status, have little power in actu.

What Role for the Code?
The evidence presented here shows the variety of practices available to
those in formal leadership positions to shape the conduct of their local
council, with those exhibiting better conduct seeing leaders routinely
applying and combining different practices. What is also apparent is
a degree of ambiguity as to how far an agency is facilitated by “moral
management”—enacting the formal requirements of the ethical
framework. We now explore this issue in detail.

The first major pattern is leaders distancing themselves from the
ethical framework. Many of the leaders interviewed, even in councils

Mechanisms for exercising
agency through party group
discipline evaporated when

councils had large numbers of
independent councillors.

906 Public Administration Review • November | December 2016

with reputations for good conduct, relativized the importance—or
were critical—of the actual practices of the ethical framework. In
council A, “The older members who have been around longer,
there is more sort of built into them. Partly because of the ethical
framework but also more culture of doing the right thing.”
“Additionality” was also hard to determine in councils that evidently
reflected more frequently and openly on ethical issues. In council
B, there was criticism from the monitoring officer that the national
prescriptions were just a new set of rules on top of already detailed
local provisions for good governance and open political conduct
(see also Jensen, Sandström, and Helin 2009 ). The slow working of
formal complaints procedures was also a frequent source of concern.

The second major pattern appeared in councils that maintained
good standards of conduct. Here, a key set of practices was working
informally when risks emerged to keep people away from the
formal procedures governing ethical conduct. Of course, this might
be taken as an example of the efficacy of formal procedures—the
risk of sanctions drives action to avert misconduct—although it is
notable that recourse to formal mechanisms was more associated
with councils with persistent ethical problems. However, even in
cases of serious misconduct, the ethical framework was just one
part of an assemblage of elements brought together by leaders to
translate their goals into action.

Supporting evidence can be found in two of the case study
councils—A and B—which, although they generally displayed good
conduct, had to deal with cases of individual councillors behaving
in a criminal/fraudulent manner. In each case, a set of leaders
including the chief executive, the monitoring officer, and party
group leaders worked in concert to eject the people concerned from
the council. These leaders were able to mobilize a conception of
the council as an organization whose reputation mattered and that
the individual risked tarnishing, with behavior clearly contravening
acceptable norms. The council leader from case A explained,

And I ’ m pleased to say she did when I asked her to resign …
long before the Standards Board came in. When I heard what
was happening I asked her to go. I ’ m pleased to say she went,
too, it was her decision not mine but I would have asked her
to go otherwise. To me it was blatantly obvious that she was
not doing what a good … councillor should be doing.

The existence of the ethical framework was an additional ingredient
in the making of arguments, but it was not pivotal, as some
councillors were removed without invoking formal complaints
procedures. Indeed, sanctions available under the framework
might not, on their own, have enabled the people to be removed as
councillors. The chief executive in case B summarized as follows:
“I ’ ve had conversations with councillors making them resign,
although I haven ’ t had the power to make them resign.” It was the
combination of elements beyond the formal powers of the ethical
framework that created power in actu—that is, led to change.
Combinations of a palpable ethical culture with widely shared
ethical norms, political party norms, identity and discipline, and
the mobilization of action by people who were trusted and could
themselves be seen as embodying good standards of conduct
together constructed a line of acceptable behavior that errant
councillors would recognize they had crossed.

In other councils, one or more of these elements was missing.
Political and managerial leaders were more reluctant to intervene
preemptively and relied on formal sanctions under the code of
conduct. In many instances, however, these sanctions did not lead
to significant change of behavior—typically in cases concerning
treating others with respect and not using abusive language—as the
councillors concerned did not take either the ethical framework, or
the personal moral standing of those enacting complaints against
them, as a legitimate basis for criticism.

The third major pattern is that, although effective ethical leadership
demands a perception that leaders act fairly (Hassan 2014), it seems
that the actions of effective leaders is not characterized readily by
conceptions of fairness that demand a neutral, hands-off approach
and deference to formal procedures. Instead, making judgments
about conduct and ethics—as a form of practical reason—is part
of the day-to-day repertoire of actions of effective ethical leaders
(Lawton and Macaulay 2004 ). This is vital given that, as we
discussed earlier, codified principles are never a complete basis
for action or adjudication: they require application in complex,
heterogeneous situations. A formal ethics code for the organization
as a whole is only one set of rules or norms governing conduct
and requires negotiation with the criminal justice system, party
membership rules, and so on. We found that ethical leaders were
prepared to act on individuals themselves directly and did not
expect that the code to govern at a distance. Indeed, in council I, an
officer perspective on politicians was that they “take their lead from
their leaders to some extent … certainly the leader of the council is
keen to exert his morals and influence on behaviors and has made it
very clear that if there are issues he wants to know about them.”

Conceptions of “fairness as detached/impartial/neutral” also
help explain why it was that standards committees—created in
each council to oversee the ethical framework and promote high
standards of conduct—did not become ethical leaders in most of
our cases. They were much newer institutions than other actors in
the council and less certain in their status. Moreover, many of the
chairs of these committees (which are recruited to be independent
from the council) saw it as vital that they be detached from the
councillors, not to engage or intervene on a personal level, in order
to retain their legitimacy in assessing individual cases.

These findings open up a more fundamental reflection on the
nature of leadership on ethics and the exercise of power. Standards
committees, whatever their formal “powers,” simply could not act
“on the ground,” proactively intervening in cases in the way that
we saw both managerial and political leaders doing in those cases in
which good conduct was the norm. Any “leadership” by standards
committees was inevitably at the rather detached level as the
promoters of abstract principles.

One component of ethical leadership is the opportunity to reward
good ethical performance and apply discipline when standards
are not met (e.g., Treviño, Hartman, and Brown 2000 ). However,
the leaders in our case studies had few rewards for good behavior
by councillors, and the formal sanctions were often perceived
as inadequate. They could consist of providing an apology or, if
regarded as more serious, lead to councillors being suspended for
a period. Moreover, the status of the electoral mandate means that

What Determines Ethical Behavior in Public Organizations: Is It Rules or Leadership? 907

misdemeanors identified under the code could not, in themselves,
lead to councillors being ejected from the council. The uncertain
power in actu of the ethical framework helps explain how those
in leadership roles responded to it, which, in turn, reveals further
insights about the roles of leaders in shaping conduct.

Conclusions
Our objective in this article has been to examine how the activities
of leaders intersected with the more formal, codified provisions
of ethics regulation in promoting good conduct. In so doing, we
have responded to the call from Hassan, Wright, and Yukl ( 2014 )
for more research on the influence of specific leadership behaviors
on the ethical conduct of subordinates and that of Menzel ( 2015 )
to assess whether ethical codes make a difference. Building on the
predominantly statistically based research on ethical leadership,
our analysis used detailed qualitative analysis to trace the causal
processes by which different elements of ethical leadership have
an effect on conduct. Our research confirms that the actions of
leaders can be important in promoting good conduct and fostering
an ethical culture (Beeri et al. 2013 ), by acting in ways that
reinforce and maintain high standards of conduct and tackling
emerging problems. However, we also demonstrate the importance
of leadership through counterfactual cases—when poor conduct
persisted, leaders were often directly implicated or failed to
undertake the actions we saw in the better-performing cases.

Previous research has begun to interrogate which models of
leadership or sets of actions are most effective at promoting good
conduct. Some have argued that a values-based cultural approach is
best (Treviño et al. 1999 ), while others have suggested that “role-
modelling is considered the most crucial and influential means
to foster followers’ ethical decision-making and behavior” (Heres
and Lasthuizen 2012 , 458). One of the methodological merits of
adopting a translational model of power and using it to trace actions
and outcomes in the field is that it shows how different elements
combine to effect agency and in what direction. We draw the
following main conclusions.

We found that ethical leadership is more than
simply complying with rules, such as the code
of conduct; personal moral values are also
important (Eisenbeiss and Brodbeck 2014 )
in setting a tone, encouraging emulation, and
adding authority to regulatory action. Our
study supports previous research that has
emphasized the importance of leaders who
“walk the talk” (Greenbaum, Mawritz, and
Piccolo 2015 ), thus offering positive ethical role models. Moreover,
especially perhaps in potentially conflictual, political environments
like local government, personal moral credibility can help leaders
enact more formal regulatory action. In effect, “moral persons” help
make the tools of “moral managers” work.

Our second conclusion, following from the first, helps explain
why the “transactional” dimensions of ethical leadership—issuing
guidance, rewarding, sanctioning—have more ambivalent outcomes
than the transformational dimensions (Bedi, Alpaslan, and Green
2015 ). Overall, we found that in councils that had maintained
good conduct over long periods of time, there were leaders willing

to intervene informally to steer behavior. Being an effective “moral
manager” could entail acting to keep problems from escalating
to a point that formal regulation might come into play. As tools
of governance, codes of conduct “cannot substitute for dealing
personally, courageously, reasonably, and creatively with the moral
ambiguity that is the stuff of administrative life” (Chandler 1994 ,
155). “Treating people fairly” remains a relevant component of
ethical leadership (Hassan 2015 ), but this is fairness demonstrated
in interpersonal dealings, from respected individuals, rather than the
procedural neutrality of formal regulation. Indeed, excessive reporting
of “unethical behavior” can produce cynicism within the organization
(Menzel 2007 ) and exemplifies concerns that investing authority in
codified procedures can represent an abnegation of responsibility.

A particular reason for this—and central to our third set of
conclusions—links to more fundamental issues with the governance
of conduct through ethics codes. Codes are always simplifications
and require careful interpretation to apply to the complex,
heterogeneous settings of organizational life, and it is precisely where
there is uncertainty that the qualities of particular organizational
leaders become most apparent. Further effort to codify and define
the multiple principles at work would not have improved this
situation, or removed the need for effective practical judgment
(Jensen, Sandström, and Helin 2009 ). However, leaders can help
constitute and foster environments in which the informal exercising
of practical judgment feels appropriate (see also Brown 2007 ).

The importance of this was further demonstrated by the
organizational setting of our research—local government—where
there are multiple networks of expertise, hierarchical position,
and electoral authority with the potential to reinforce different
ethical norms. Moreover, party political competition within local
government organizations creates distinctive (and under-researched)
challenges for ethical leadership, not least how leaders may become
implicated in or accused of poor conduct as part of political
advantage seeking. In such settings, our research shows that the

relationship between leadership and conduct
outcomes reflects how multiple leaders interact
around ethical issues. Political leaders can set
an example through endorsing exemplary
behavior, denouncing improper conduct,
using rhetoric such as making speeches, and
influencing their

political group.

Managerial
leaders can provide resources to show that
they take the issue seriously by appointing
officers to support training and process
complaints. Our analyses also provide pause

for thought on whether having multiple, overlapping processes
governing conduct in organizations is necessarily a problem requiring
rationalization. Against the thesis that “complexity = problems,” our
evidence suggests that it gives skilled leaders more elements to draw
together to translate ethical principles into action. Such an argument
warrants further testing in different contexts.

Note
1 . The “whip” is an elected member given the role of maintaining the discipline of

a political party, typically in terms of maintaining the party line on issues but
here embracing conduct and reputation more widely.

Political leaders can set an
example through endorsing

exemplary behavior, denounc-
ing improper conduct, using

rhetoric such as making
speeches, and infl uencing their

political group.

908 Public Administration Review • November | December 2016

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India Quarterly, 66, 2 (2010): 133–149

A Global Threat 7Article

Public Administration Ethics:
James Svara’s Model

Ryan C. Urbano

Abstract

Ethical issues arising from public administration are quite complex and difficult. Using a monistic
normative ethical approach to these issues may not be very helpful. Thus James Svara’s three-pronged
approach to public administration ethics is proposed in order to show its plausibility. The case of
Dr Stockman in Henrik Ibsen’s play An Enemy of the People is examined as a way of demonstrating the
significance of Svara’s model.

Keywords

Civil servants, ethical analysis, public administration, Svara’s ethical problem-solving model to public
administration ethics, whistle-blowing

Introduction

This article highlights James Svara’s problem-solving model in public administration ethics. The case of
Dr Stockman in Henrik Ibsen’s play An Enemy of the People will be examined in order to demonstrate
how Svara’s model can work in a situation of similar nature as in Ibsen’s play and whether the same
model is plausible to adopt in public administration ethics in general. Specifically, the article will be
guided by the question: If one were in Dr Stockman’s position as the town’s medical officer (that is, a
civil servant), what would one do and why? Svara’s ethical problem-solving model to moral issues in
public administration is three-pronged in the sense that it employs the three major theories of Western
normative ethics, namely: deontology (principle- or duty-based ethics), consequentialism and virtue
ethics. Aside from the fact that there are many reasons for moral behaviour as Williams (2011, pp. 9–10)
suggests, the application of a single normative ethical theory, according to Svara, may not be sufficient
in solving complex ethical issues in public administration. Moral issues arising in politics, including
public administration, could become ‘messy’ so that it blurs the distinction between our moral ideals and
what is practical and realistic (Coady, 2008). For Svara, ethical issues in public administration could be
best addressed if the three standard theories of Western normative ethics are viewed as complementing
each other. Ethical theories, Martin (2001, p. 36) argues, should not be viewed as ‘competing founda-
tional principles’; rather, they should be construed as ‘alternative ways of systematizing our view of
morality’ and ‘as general frameworks for organizing moral reflection and for developing moral
arguments’.

Journal of Human Values
20(1) 7–17

© 2014 Management Centre
for Human Values

SAGE Publications
Los Angeles, London,

New Delhi, Singapore,
Washington DC

DOI: 10.1177/0971685813515604
http://jhv.sagepub.com

Ryan C. Urbano, Chair, Department of Philosophy & Religious Studies, University of San Carlos, Philippines.
E-mail: ryanurbano59@yahoo.com

http://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.1177%2F0971685813515604&domain=pdf&date_stamp=2014-03-19

Journal of Human Values, 20, 1 (2014): 7–17

8 Ryan C. Urbano

The article will first give a synopsis of Ibsen’s play before it will analyze and apply Svara’s
(2007, p. 108) ethical problem-solving model to Dr Stockman’s case.

Synopsis of Ibsen’s An Enemy of the People

Dr Thomas Stockman is a medical officer of the municipal baths in a coastal town in Norway where his
brother, Peter Stockman, is the Mayor. The municipal baths, known for their therapeutic value, have
recently attracted many visitors. The baths have given economic prosperity to the town—businesses
have thrived, the property value of the houses and the lands have increased and unemployment has
diminished. But the town’s economic success is in jeopardy upon Dr Stockman’s discovery that the
baths have been polluted by the waste products coming from the town’s tanneries. This contamination
has caused serious illness to some tourists. Wary of the danger the baths pose to the health of the visitors,
Dr Stockman reported his findings to his brother, the Mayor, with a proposal to fix the conduit pipes that
have poisoned the baths. But the Mayor rejected his report, warned him not to announce it in public, and
even wanted him to withhold the report from the baths committee, mainly due to the costly rehabilitation
of the baths that would burden the taxpayers and the financial loss of the town following the baths’
closure. Determined to bring his case to the public, Dr Stockman organized a town meeting in order to
inform his fellow townsmen of the problem and to gain their support. To his dismay, the meeting turned
out to be utterly against his favour. He found out that those whom he initially counted for support had
betrayed him. The townsfolk rejected his claim for they were told that a considerable amount of their
taxes would be used for the baths’ rehabilitation—an expenditure they deemed unnecessary; otherwise
the baths would be closed and this would spell their town’s economic recession. Dr Stockman, unfazed
by the pressure of political authorities as well as the demands of the crowd, stubbornly held to his
conviction and called them (perhaps he was carried away by his emotion) contemptible names such as
‘stupid’, ‘ill-bred’ and ‘vermin’. This angered the crowd and they passed a resolution branding him ‘an
enemy of the people’. As a consequence, Dr Stockman paid dearly for his action because he lost his job
and his family suffered.

J. Svara’s Ethical Problem-solving Model

Description

Clarification of the facts of the situation

Dr Stockman suspected that the municipal baths have been contaminated and this has caused serious
illness to some visitors in the previous year. Most of the illnesses of the tourists were typhoid cases and
gastric fever. He sent samples of the water to the University for examination in order to verify
and confirm his suspicions. This he did without the knowledge of the Mayor and the members of the
municipal baths committee. His fear was confirmed when one day he received a letter saying that indeed
the baths were contaminated and infected with infusoria.

When the baths were constructed, Dr Stockman had objected to the place where the water pipes were
located because they were quite low and near the drainage of the town tanneries. His objection, however,

Journal of Human Values, 20, 1 (2014): 7–17

Public Administration Ethics 9

fell on deaf ears. So he made a personal investigation to ascertain his suspicion that there may be a link
between the tourists’ sickness and the baths. This led to his discovery that the baths were indeed
contaminated.

Because of his findings, Dr Stockman wrote a detailed report on the condition of the baths and offered
a proposal to build a sewer that would screen and trap the wastes from the town’s tanneries away from
the pipes which supplied water to the baths and to relay the pipes as well. He submitted the report to the
Mayor, his brother, with the intention of presenting it also to the baths committee for review. Meanwhile,
the information that the baths were contaminated had already leaked out to some people in the media
who were Dr Stockman’s friends and to some important people of the town. The Mayor however rejected
the report because he thought it lacked substantial evidence and that the engineer he consulted said that
it would cost approximately 20,000 pounds of tax-payers money to make the necessary adjustments of
the baths, and that the work needed to accomplish this would take up to at least two years. He also
warned Dr Stockman not to submit the report to the baths committee and expose the case to the public.
His reason was that they would lose visitors in favour of other municipalities that also had their own
baths and this would lead to their town’s financial ruin. But since the information contained in the report
had already been disclosed to some people, the Mayor ordered Dr Stockman to downplay his findings by
making a public announcement that the condition of the baths was not so critical and dangerous as what
he initially thought and that he would ‘support and publicly affirm [his] confidence in the present
directors to take thorough and conscientious measures, as necessary, to rectify any possible defects’
(Ibsen, 1970, p. 154). Dr Stockman disregarded the Mayor’s advice and expressed his intention to pursue
the case in public. He argued that he had a duty to protect the health of the visitors who came to their
town ‘in good faith and pay exorbitant fees to gain their health back again’ (Ibsen, 1970, p. 150).
He added that the public also had the right to know the truth.

Stakeholder analysis

In the situation outlined above, there are many stakeholders whose interests are potentially affected.
The stakeholders are the Mayor (political authority), the town (organization), the tourists (clients), the
businessmen (that is, co-investors of the baths, the tradesmen and hostel owners) and Dr Stockman
himself and his family. If Dr Stockman disregarded the Mayor’s stern advice, then he would be
manifesting disloyalty to his political superior. This means, in the words of the Mayor himself:
‘Without moral authority I could hardly guide and direct affairs in the way I believe serves the general
welfare’ (Ibsen, 1970, p. 152). If Dr Stockman goes public to announce the problem, he sidesteps the
democratic process of resolving the issue internally within the organization and avoids exhausting all
the possible mechanisms provided by the organization itself. And this can be seen as a lack of respect
for the organization. If, on the one hand, the baths are to be closed, then the tourist will surely be drawn
away from the town and this implies that the town will lose a substantial part of their income because the
baths, as Dr Stockman himself says, are the town’s ‘main artery’ and ‘nerve center’ (Ibsen, 1970, p. 134).
This could also mean that businessmen will suffer because their investments will go to waste. And if
the baths are to be repaired, this will take up to at least two years and it will cost the town and its
co-investors a large amount of money for the repair. Moreover, they could not afford to close the baths
because there are neighbouring towns which have municipal baths with amenities attractive enough to
draw tourists.

If, on the other hand, the baths will not be closed, then the consequences might even be more disastrous
in the long run. Many visitors might get sick because of the infection and this would mean the death of

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10 Ryan C. Urbano

the town’s tourism industry. Perhaps spending a lot of tax-payers’ money for the rehabilitation of
the baths would be worthwhile after all, rather than losing their primary means of income. So, if
Dr Stockman will not disclose the truth to the public, he and the town will endanger the health of the
tourists. As a doctor, he has pledged to uphold his profession’s oath of protecting people from sickness.
He also thinks that it is his duty as a civil servant to inform the public, through proper channels, about
the true condition of the baths. But he was forewarned by the Mayor that he will be dismissed from his
office if he fails to recant his position.

Analysis

Determining Dr Stockman’s duty in the situation above considering the obligations and responsibilities
of his position and his professional role

As a medical officer of the municipal baths, Dr Stockman’s main obligation is to demonstrate his loyalty
to the town as an organization. He has the duty to promote public interest, display a commitment to
serve, commit to procedural fairness, exercise fiduciary responsibility, uphold the law, support the
democratic process and ‘be responsive to the policy goals of political superiors while fairly examining
all policy options and exercising leadership appropriate to position’ (Svara, 2007, p. 28). He must
know what the organization and his political superiors expect him to do in terms of his responsibility
and accountability in the exercise of his role as a municipal medical officer. His primary duty is to
obey and defer to the judgment and decisions of his political superiors. As the Mayor in Ibsen’s play
says: ‘The individual has to learn to subordinate himself to the whole—or, I should say, to those
authorities charged with the common good’ (Ibsen, 1970, p. 127). So, one of Dr Stockman’s duties as a
civil servant is to promote public health in terms of maintaining the cleanliness and sanitation of the
baths. Connected to this duty is his obligation to protect the health of the tourists who use the baths. He
also has the duty to observe and uphold the economic goals and established policies of the town. And if
necessary, make recommendations (in terms of policies and research) he deems important as a steward
of public resources for the proper maintenance of the baths as well as how best to protect the health of
the tourists.

Dr Stockman’s professional duty is basically defined by his profession as a medical doctor. And his
primary duty in this professional capacity is to render service to anyone who needs medical attention and
to protect them from illness. Svara noted that there are situations wherein there is a tension between
one’s duty as a public administrator and one’s duty as a professional (Svara, 2007, p. 111). In the case
under examination, this tension is seen in Dr Stockman’s duty as a public administrator to uphold the
economic goals of the town concerning the baths as an income-generating venture and obedience to
the legitimate orders of his superiors, on one hand, and in his duty as a doctor which is to protect the
tourists whose health is jeopardised by the contaminated baths, on the other hand. But if Dr Stockman
does not do something to protect the health of the tourists which could lead to grave illness or even death,
he would be held morally responsible and his conscience cannot tolerate this. And granting that he
discloses to the public that the baths are contaminated, the Mayor will dismiss him from his job and his
family will suffer as a consequence.

Although a public administrator’s obligations to the organization and to his political superiors are
very important because of his accountability to the public (or fiduciary responsibility), these obligations

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Public Administration Ethics 11

in some occasions are not necessarily binding. Svara says that a public administrator’s obligations to the
organization and to political authority ‘must be weighed against the professional standards, which reflect
the recommended practices of the professional group, and an assessment of how to best serve the public
interest’ (Svara, 2007, p. 111). In other words, a public administrator has to balance his obligations as a
civil servant with that of his professional obligations without losing sight of his main goal which is to
promote public interest. In the case of Dr Stockman, the challenge he has to address concerning the
tension between his obligations as a civil servant and as a professional (that is, as a doctor) is: ‘How can
the public interest be advanced in this situation?’ (Svara, 2007, p. 109).

Analysing the situation according to each ethical approach

Svara strongly suggests that administrators must perform their duty to promote public welfare ‘by
seeking a balance of virtue, principle, and good consequences’. Virtue alone is not enough because an
administrator who thinks he has already the virtue to run his office might underestimate or overlook
consequences. He might become overconfident and self-righteous that he becomes complacent and
disregards the common good. To offset this tendency in a virtue approach to public administration, a civil
servant has to follow external principles that guide him how and what to decide when faced with a
difficult situation. He must decide based on clear and tested principles to avoid confusion and mistakes
in his decisions that compromise public interest. However, to rely solely on principles already in place
in the bureaucratic system might lead the public administrator to deny ‘personal responsibility for one’s
own actions, policies and decisions’ and put the blame on the system itself if things go awry (Sheeran,
1993, p. 149; see also Adams & Balfour, 2008). Or, if this is not the case, the public administrator may
not be able to properly assess the facts of the situation whereupon his decision is to be made because
principles are rigid, too general and therefore vague, and sometimes difficult to apply to the real situation.
For example, in Dr Stockman’s case, though he is obliged to apply the principle of truth-telling by virtue
of the public’s right to information whose interest is at stake, it is not clear how Dr Stockman must apply
this principle in such a way that it will not lead to the town’s financial loss, the businessmen’s investments
will not go to waste, workers will not lose their jobs, the tourists’ health will not be jeopardized and his
family will not suffer. Strictly applying the principle without regard to results misses an important
component of a civil servant’s moral duty to maximize beneficial consequences to the public and equal
consideration of the interests of the stakeholders.

Virtue based

A morally good civil servant who is in Dr Stockman’s shoes must possess strength of character when
confronted with a difficult decision on how to promote public welfare. He must display such virtues as
honesty, benevolence, respect, responsibility and prudence. Regarding the virtue of honesty, Dr Stockman
ought not to withhold the truth about his findings of the real situation of the baths both to his
political superiors and to the public in general. He must ensure public transparency of information.
Benevolence is manifested in Dr Stockman’s inner character in preventing harm to the tourists who use
the baths and in promoting public interest by helping his town’s economic development. Respect is
exhibited in Dr Stockman’s high regard for public authority and in the democratic and procedural
processes. Responsibility is achieved in taking good care of the job entrusted to him by his political
superiors and by exercising public accountability. Prudence can be shown if Dr Stockman is able to
balance and harmonise the interests of his town, political superiors, fellow town citizens, the tourists and
his own family’s interest.

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12 Ryan C. Urbano

Principle based

Dr Stockman must not only approach his situation from the perspective of virtue ethics. He must also
consider the ethical and political principles applicable to his case. So one important principle he has to
apply to his situation is democracy. In a democracy one needs to respect the opinions of others. So in the
case of Dr Stockman, though he has moral and political convictions, he must also consider the decisions
of his political superiors as well as of his fellow members in the committee of the municipal baths.
He must not take matters solely into his own hands. As a civil servant, he has to uphold the law of the
town as a political organization, particularly existing policies concerning the municipal baths.
Another principle he has to observe is the principle of truth-telling. In Dr Stockman’s case, he has to
apply this principle by informing his political superiors and the public of the true condition of the baths.
He must also defend the principle of the sanctity of life by warning the public of the danger posed by the
polluted baths.

Consequence based

Analysing the cost and benefit of Dr Stockman’s options in the situation is another important element in
his decision-making process. His main duty is to promote public interest. How this duty can be effectively
carried out requires not only the moral quality of his character (virtue) as a public servant and his ability
to apply fundamental ethical and political principles but also the foresight to examine the results of his
decisions or choices. He needs, for example, to consider the impact of his decisions to the organization,
political superiors, businessmen, workers and to his own family. Equal consideration of the stakeholders’
interests is required by his duty to promote the public good.

At this point, it is important to note that ethical analysis is useful for reminding a civil servant of the
broad constraints on his search for alternatives. They often do not consistently point to a single right
thing to do. Hence the next stage is necessary.

List of options

Looking at Dr Stockman’s present predicament yields three possible options. Either (a) he follows the
appropriate procedure of resolving a problem set in place by the town as an organization and defers to
the judgment of his political superior (that is, the Mayor); (b) he informs the public about the contami-
nated baths (blow the whistle); or (c) he resigns from his position, discloses the information to the
public as an ordinary citizen and looks for employment elsewhere. Option (c) is actually a variant of
option (b). Dr Stockman, after whistle-blowing, will either resign straightaway or wait and see whether
he would be fired or forced to resign. Moreover, option (a) and option (b/c) could be seen as not mutually
exclusive; they can be considered sequentially, that is, b/c is an option if option (a) fails to work.

Decision

Choosing the best alternative

Option (a) is tenable but Dr Stockman risks endangering the health of the tourists, although no such risk
occurs if option (a) works or results in a satisfactory solution to the problem. Option (b) is too costly on
his part because of the Mayor’s stern warning that he will lose his job. And this could be a reason why
Dr Stockman should first try option (a). Besides, whistle-blowing in his case will no longer work because

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Public Administration Ethics 13

the information has already leaked out to some members of the media and he has already told the Mayor
about it. In fact, that leaking by Dr Stockman is already whistle-blowing. One of the requirements for
effective whistle-blowing after all internal procedural mechanisms provided by the organization has
been exhausted (that is, option (a), as broadly and properly understood) is to reveal a defect or
misbehaviour in the organization anonymously in order to avoid retaliation. But it seems that this
requirement is not satisfied in Dr Stockman’s case.

Option (c) is possible but Dr Stockman must first consider that resignation must only be resorted to if
all possible internal mechanisms within the organization have been exhausted. He must not give up too
easily. As Svara (2007, p. 103) explains:

Officials should not resign for frivolous reasons or refuse to follow orders because they would prefer a different
approach or outcome than does their superior. They must be sensitive, however, to situations when important
consequences are at stake and when their action or inaction will violate an important principle, break the law,
inflict harm on innocent persons, or cause substantial waste of resources. Then they must carefully weigh all the
facts, responsibilities, ethical perspectives, and options, and make a reasoned and defensible choice.

As a public servant, part of Dr Stockman’s duty is not only to uphold the law and the policy goals of
his organization but also ‘to improve on the law through the governmental process; for example, by
conducting research on needs and by policy recommendations’ (Svara, 2007, p. 25). His commitment to
public service implies that he must ‘persist and persevere in order to carry out the tasks’ entrusted to him
by his superiors as well as by the public.

It would have been prudent for Dr Stockman to first report the information to his political superior
and recommend proposals to remedy the problem. As a civil servant, it is his duty to respect democratic
procedure, faithfully fulfil the policies and goals of the organization and to show honesty in the
identification of needs and problems pertaining to his specific role. This is option (a) as described above.

Providing a reasoned justification for the decision

As already mentioned, option (a) is the best alternative for Dr Stockman. It would have been wise for him
to first resolve the problem internally in order not to cause panic to the public which could lead to protests
and demands detrimental to a democratic order. This is also the prudent thing to do because it spares him
from the risk of losing his job. Subscribing to the proper method of troubleshooting a problem required by
the organizational set-up does not violate the principle of truth-telling or denying the public of their right to
information. This is so because the political authority, which represents the people in a democratic society
and which is directly accountable to them, has been informed. In other words, the people are indirectly
informed when the individuals whom they have chosen to represent them have been informed. After all,
political authority derived its mandate to rule from the people themselves. So here, the apparent conflict
between the duty to respect the democratic process and political authority on the one hand and the duty to
respect the right of the public to be informed on the other hand are reconciled and are both upheld.

Although Dr Stockman is accountable to the people as a public official, he is also accountable to the
organization and political authority he serves. Though he may be convinced that he has the moral duty
to inform and alert the public of the danger posed by the contaminated baths, he also has the duty to
support democratic procedure in place in the organization. Dr Stockman’s responsibility as a public
administrator is inextricably linked to ‘institutions and processes of democracy’. John Burke calls
this notion of responsibility ‘procedurally grounded conception of responsibility’ (Burke, 1994, p. 468).

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14 Ryan C. Urbano

So Dr Stockman needs to go through the difficult route of democratic process in getting his moral
predicament resolved before he attempts to opt for extra-organizational means of realizing his moral
conviction or belief. As Svara (2007, p. 25) argues:

The ethical obligation to uphold the law requires that one subjugate one’s personal beliefs (i.e. one’s sense
of morality) to discharge the duties of the office. Furthermore, it is a violation of administrative ethics to
substitute one’s own view of morality for law and policy. The administrator can seek to change the policy
through appropriate channels and methods within his or her organization…, but if these efforts are not successful
he or she must accept the established policy. If one cannot subjugate their personal morals to the law,
however, he or she should change positions or leave administrative office to seek to change the policy as a citizen
through the political process. He or she should not ignore the law nor try to covertly undermine it.

Arguably, Dr Stockman’s effort to follow the democratic process was not good enough. He did not
really fully exhaust the available channels or methods within the organization. His reaction to the
Mayor’s disagreement to his plan was somehow excessive because he immediately exposed the defect
of the baths to the community. Part of his obligation as administrator is to encourage his political
superiors to fulfil their responsibilities (Svara, 2007, p. 43). He should have known that there was still
time to find ways to influence his superiors because the summer season when tourists visit is still distant.
A better solution to the problem could have been achieved had he reconsidered the ways to make his
proposal agreeable to his political superior. So when the mayor expressed his objections to Dr Stockman’s
report and his unwillingness to have it presented to the baths committee, it was advisable and prudent for
Dr Stockman to consider agreeing with the mayor and then revising his report to adjust to the objections.

Dr Stockman should have thought that civil servants, in the words of Svara, ‘are not sole practitioners
who set up their own practice. They operate within an authority structure, they work with others to
advance organisational mission, and they have a responsibility to make the organization as strong,
effective, and ethical as possible’ (Svara, 2007, p. 5). Though the mayor warned him not to disclose the
information, he could have sought the opinion of the other members of the committee of the municipal
baths. These members also have the right to be informed of the real condition of the baths. Perhaps, his
proposals, with the backing of the committee members, will be considered or at least an agreement could
be reached without compromising all the interests of the stakeholders. By disclosing the information to
the public without giving the committee a chance to review and decide on the issue could be construed
as Dr Stockman’s imposition of his own judgment over the judgment of the committee. Failing to seek
the opinion of these members perhaps indicate a lack of deliberation and prudence on his part as a public
administrator. In fact the committee should be informed because withholding information from them is
tantamount to undermining their authority and this will weaken their power as a policy-making or
implementing body that oversees the operation of the municipal baths.

It was also improper for the mayor to instruct Dr Stockman to withhold his report from the committee.
And Dr Stockman himself could have firmly, but nicely, reminded the mayor of this procedural
requirement. By doing so, the mayor might have been much less reluctant to follow this requirement if
he (Dr Stockman) has agreed to revise the report to consider the mayor’s objections.

When Dr Stockman claimed that what he did was in the name of public interest, this does not imply
that he has untrammelled discretion to do as he deems right. Indeed he has the authority and the expertise
in handling the situation being a medical officer of the municipal baths, but he also needs to consider the
political, economic and social implications of his decisions. As to the political, economic and social

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Public Administration Ethics 15

impact of his plan or recommendation, he may not have the expertise and sufficient knowledge to deal
with them. And this means that he needs to consult with his political superiors and fellow administrators
who can best handle the matter in the best possible way. Moreover, Dr Stockman had not considered all
consequences of his solution. He could have used the collective resources of the organization to search
for and evaluate alternatives including his own.

Perhaps Dr Stockman’s failure was that he prematurely revealed the information about the baths to his
friends in the media without first informing the Mayor and the members of the committee of the municipal
baths. The Mayor had a point when he said to Dr Stockman: ‘But I most definitely must insist that all
necessary steps be taken and carried out in a businesslike manner by the legally constituted authorities.
I can’t condone any sly or underhanded activities’ (Ibsen, 2007, p. 127). This is quite clear that the Mayor
himself insisted on proper channels; so Stockman should have little difficulty in getting him to send the
revised report to the committee.

If Dr Stockman doubted that his proposal, upon his discovery that the baths were contaminated, will
not be accepted by his political superiors because of his prior experience when his objection to the wrong
position of the conduit pipes supplying water to the baths (which now is the reason for contamination)
was not listened to, he must at least give political authority the benefit of the doubt. He cannot assume
that political authority will suppress his recommendation on the ground that political authority sets the
policies and goals of the organisation and his role is simply to implement those policies. While it is
true that he cannot violate the law of the organization he serves as well as go against its policies and
goals, still he can go ‘beyond the law’ in the sense that [he] understands the reason for the law, is able to
relate it to broader reasons for ethical action, and is capable of questioning whether change in the law—
or in policy or program goals—should be considered’ (Svara, 2007, pp. 21, 34). So Dr Stockman cannot
be cynical or at least cannot allow his cynicism to dictate his actions. Moreover, there is no reason to be
cynical if he has good arguments and adequate opportunities for persuading the committee that something
has to be done to address their present predicament.

One important justification in choosing option (a) is that public administrators in a democratic
organization have more discretion and autonomy in dealing with situations relating to their specific roles
within their organization (Herring, 1997, p. 76). They have the knowledge, expertise and the experience
to handle problems within the parameters of their job. They also have the time to focus their attention on
issues and problems affecting their positions. All these resources should enable them to make good
arguments and persuade effectively their political superiors. Studies also indicate that civil servants act
according to the sense of values or their sense of belief so that in the end what determines what govern-
ment is and how it serves common interest is largely interpreted, shaped and determined by public
administrators, especially by the so-called street level bureaucrats (‘invisible men’) who directly interact
with people (see Svara, 2007, pp. 41–42; Yates, 1981). It follows then that they are not mere passive
instruments or ‘cogs in the wheel’ of political authority that simply carry orders from above. Rather, they
‘bring ethical values and professional norms and expertise to their positions, and it is appropriate to
draw on these sources in making recommendations and deciding whether to carry out instructions’
(Svara, 2007, p. 38). If this is the case, then there is a need to check and control the behaviour of these
bureaucrats from outside (external control) in order to avoid excesses and abuses in the exercise of their
discretionary powers and in order to hold them accountable for their roles and obligations. Giving public
administrators too much power in their roles might tempt them to serve only their own interest instead
of that of the public. This explains why public administrators need to observe the ethical and legal
norms of their profession.

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16 Ryan C. Urbano

Based on this assumption, Dr Stockman should have restrained himself or exercised self-control
before making a drastic move in disclosing the information to the public. His intention may be considered
laudable in the sense that he is honest, but possessing this virtue is not sufficient. As Svara (2007, p. 52)
says, ‘the truly virtuous administrator may be good but not know how to do good, not know which way
to be good among alternatives, and not know how to distinguish being good as a private person and as
an administrator’. Moreover, Svara pointed out in his ‘triangle approach’ to ethics that if one is convinced
that he already has the virtue, there is a tendency to overlook the real meaning of public interest, disregard
political authority and organizational goals and policies and ignore consequences that benefit the public.
Over-reliance on the virtue approach leads to self-righteousness and makes one complacent. One may be
so convinced that one is already virtuous that he thinks that his decision is already right to the point of
disregarding the opinion of others. Dr Stockman’s behaviour seems to exhibit this tendency because of
his assertiveness and combativeness in relating to political authority and in the manner he fulfils his
moral beliefs and convictions. Dr Stockman was so confident of his service to the community and so
enamoured with his ideals of truth and freedom that he somehow ignored the negative consequences of
his decision, especially those that might befall his family. He should have heeded Aslaksen’s advice in
the play: ‘I always make every effort for moderation. Because moderation is a citizen’s chief virtue—
in my opinion, anyway’ (Ibsen, 1970, p. 145). Elsewhere, Aslaksen also said: ‘Proceed in moderation,
or you’ll never get anywhere. You can trust my word on that, because I’ve gleaned my experience in the
school of life’ (Ibsen, 1970, p. 146).

Monitoring and evaluation of results. Making adjustments if necessary

Suppose Dr Stockman failed to convince and change the opinion of his political superior regarding the
baths after exhausting all the available internal mechanisms (or going through the democratic procedure),
then the next best option for him is to stay in office and fight the issue from within. He could have blown
the whistle with more care. In this way, he keeps his job and thereby secures his family’s interests. In the
play, Dr Stockman blew the whistle prematurely and this was very costly on his part.

The next option is to resign and seek a solution to the problem concerning the baths as a private
citizen. This is option (c) as previously described. I think the value of the sanctity of human life and the
duty to protect others (the tourists) from harm is too important a value to be sacrificed in exchange for
economic benefit. Though the town and its people depend so much on the baths for a living, the value of
human life is of paramount importance. Undoubtedly, human life has priority over economic value. In
the end, ethical decision-making in public administration is a matter of balancing public values, and on
this regard, public administrators are left on their own to ultimately decide which public value or values
should prevail when these values conflict with one another (see Yates, 1981, p. 38). In promoting public
interest, public administrators are required to ‘maintain the delicate balance of accountability and
independence, responsiveness and neutrality, and deference and assertiveness in their relationship to
political superiors’ (Svara, 2007, p. 45).

Conclusion

In pointing out the relevance of Svara’s problem-solving model to public administration ethics using
Ibsen’s play An Enemy of the People, two main stages for discussion have been laid down. First, there is
the stage of working within the system by exhausting formal channels in solving issues in public

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Public Administration Ethics 17

administration. Second, there is the option of whistle-blowing when all formal channels have been
exhausted and the desired result is not achieved. The first or earlier stage is more important for civil
servants than the second. Civil servants should not only follow formal channels, but also should do
everything in their capacity to ensure that these channels would produce the decision that they think is
best. If all civil servants do this, the need to consider whistle-blowing would rarely arise. This does not
mean, however, that civil servants will just simply observe rules and principles in a democratic system.
They also need to exercise their sworn and mandated duties with prudence. As Garofalo and Geuras
(2009, p. 70) argue: ‘Public servants are moral actors whose discretion and decisions demand the
application of moral judgment in policy and management, rather than simple obedience to hierarchical
directives. While this does not exclude the need for laws, codes, and sanctions, these legalisms are not
surrogates for genuine moral leadership’. However, if the second stage (that is, whistle-blowing) is to be
resorted to, it should not be done prematurely (as in Dr Stockman’s case) and the civil servant must
seriously think about the consequences of his decision by balancing carefully his personal (and family)
interests and public common good.

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