Khan, A. R. (2016). Politics, Ethics, and Professionals in Policy Evaluation. Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences Studies (FORMER NAME SILPAKORN UNIVERSITY JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES, HUMANITIES, AND ARTS), 16(2), 41-72.
Khan (2016) delves into the role of ethics, politics, and professionals in the domain of policy evaluation. The three aspects are closely intermingled and impact on the success of policy evaluation. In public policy and public administration – policy evaluation is gaining more traction in the contemporary world. The policy evaluation determines the necessity and value of a policy. This comprises of whether the policy is actually needed or not and the capacity of being implemented. The policy evaluation is a political activity that requires professionals to “understand the nature and complexities of politics in the process” (Khan, 2016). The involvement or inclusion of politics in the policy evaluation does not make wrong or bad, rather make the part and parcel of processes evaluators have to endure. Thus, politics are involved in the policy evaluation, where professionals conduct the process to determine the value of the policies.
The application of ethics exerts a rather demanding measure in which politics should be based on and the professionalism degree in which professionals should conduct the evaluation process. The ethical issues revolve around compliance with aspects such as transparency, accountability, and personal qualities that determine successful compliance with the set standards. Khan (2016) states that ethics comprise of the high demand for “systemic inquiry, competence, integrity and honesty, respect for people, accuracy, and responsibility for the general and public welfare.” Thus, the emphasis on ethics in policy evaluation is fundamental to the overall benefits that the policy can create in the organization. Hence, politics and professionalism should be based on high value to ethical principles and practices to attain high standards in policy evaluation.
Nuseir, M. T., & Ghandour, A. (2019). Ethical issues in modern business management. International Journal of Procurement Management, 12(5), 592-605.
Nuseir and Ghandour (2019) examine the role of ethics in the business world that is continuously changing and rapidly transforming. The contemporary world, characterized by globalization and digitization of business practices, has impacted on the extensive altercation of ethical issues and challenges impeding the conduct of organizations. The 21st-century complexities induce profound value in the transformation of organizations to successfully overcome the ethical issues experienced in the current era. The business management practices call for aggressive and robust measures to ascertain business continuity and adherence to ethical values. Nuseir and Ghandour (2019) note that the company’s policies and management practices determine the adherence to ethical values and principles.
The contemporary issues such as workplace safety, child labor, diversity, privacy, cybercrime, social networking, information disclosure, transparency, surveillance, social media protection measures, environmental protection, financial fraud, among others, pose profound ethical problems (Nuseir & Ghandour, 2019). The operations of organizations must be built on strong and vibrant organizational cultures that adhere to the ethical values and principles. The survival capacity of an organization is dependent on its value to ethical practices to impact in brand creation and reputation of the company. Thus, it affects the market share, positioning, and competitiveness of the company.
Velasquez, M.G. (2014). Business Ethics Concepts and Cases. Seventh Edition, Pearson New International Edition.
The article extensively discusses the concept of ethics as it applies to business and organizational functionalities. Velasquez (2014) outlines ethics as a discipline that is concerned with the evaluation of moral standards of an individual or the moral standards of the society. The application of ethics impacts profoundly on an individual and the society in overall determining the course of moral norms that guide their actions. The application of ethical principles and guidelines is fundamental to enhancing the productivity of an organization. Corporations have a moral responsibility to pursue their objectives through the application of moral principles and values. “Despite raising profound questions on the applicability of ethical qualities as attributed to people to apply to corporations – it is fundamental to note that corporations, like people action intentionally” (Velasquez, 2014, 17). Therefore, organizations should be held morally responsible for their actions and accountable for the policies they pursue.
Velasquez (2014) asserts that corporate social responsibility is a fundamental feature in which ethics can be assessed in an organization’s functionalities. The corporate social responsibility indicates the impacts of an organization in ascertaining the realization of its obligations to society. For example, companies’ commitment to donate to charities, taking up environmental conscious courses, and determination to raise the wages of the employees in respective areas. According to Velasquez (2014), “Friedman views on corporate social responsibility monitor the companies’ actions as they strive to make as much money as possible, i.e., ascertain quality for the consumers amid high demand.”
Furthermore, the ethical principles based on critical theories, such as utilitarianism ethics, assert the value of social costs over the benefits generation. This depends on the evaluation of the consequentialist approach that determines the impacts of the actions of an organization. The rights and duties ethics as advanced in the deontological ethics posit the value of fulfilling the obligations of an organization. The pursuit of justice and fairness by the organization is fundamental. Senator Strom Thurmond emphasizes the value of justice as equality in the organization. The virtue ethics that depict the right and the wrong actions pursued by an organization.
Summary
The articles emphasize on the value and significance of ethics as applied in policy implementation and evaluation. The overall achievements of the organizations are profoundly embedded in compliance with ethical principles and values. Contemporary business practices assert the value of ethics in guiding the operations of the organizations. The article’s analysis through approaches such as corporate social responsibility, assessment of nature, and complexities of ethical issues, and the policy evaluation emphasize the significance of ethics in organizational operations. The building of the organizational culture is fundamental to shape the practices of the employees and the organization guided by accountability, transparency, integrity, and high focus on honesty. Thus, the impact on the organization’s productivity and competitiveness in different industries.
Furthermore, policy implementation based on ethical values and principles determines the success or failure of the organization. The potential to compose the policy implementation approach based on ethical principles guarantees high competitiveness and productivity: the organization’s conduct and professionalism is enhanced through ethics. Therefore, ethics plays an integral role in an organization’s policy implementation and evaluation, asserting its capacity as a leader in the industry.
