Unethical Practices In The Public Sector: Motivation and Behavior

Abstract

There have been considerable researches by both academics and non -academics on how to promote ethics in the public sector. The debate has given a better understanding of the responsibilities of leaders in business, government and organizations towards ethics and its importance.

This study aims to examine public sector ethics in the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) with particular emphasis on motivation and behavior. The study is an attempt to identify the most practiced unethical behaviors in the work place and the motives behind such behavior. This is an empirical research based on a questionnaire that was developed for the purpose. The questionnaire was distributed to a representative sample of 212 employees working in the public sector in the governorates of Hebron and Bethlehem, Palestine. In addition to the questionnaire, the study is based on facts gathered through review of textual sources. Research papers and relevant material on ethics have been reviewed and analyzed. From the findings it is apparent that absence from work giving falsified reasons, lying to clients and mistreatment of customers are major examples of ethical behavior practices .The motives behind such practices are work pressure, not taking decisive actions against those who behaved unethically and not being exposed to code of ethics and code of conduct manuals.. The author concluded that more emphasis should be focused on ethics training in the public sector. People employed in organizations with formalized ethics have more positive perceptions about their organization’s ethics and greater job satisfaction (Valentine, S. and Fleischman,G.,2004).