Shiva Hari Adhikari Nepal Administrative Staff College

1. Integrity and Ethics Shiva Hari Adhikari Nepal Administrative Staff College

2. Outline • Foundations and elements of integrity and ethics • Factors affecting integrity and ethics in civil service • Characteristics of ethical and unethical behaviour • Ways to promote integrity and ethical behavior in professional life

3. Video • Why are some people different than others?

4. Discussion • Is there any kind of systematic advantage to ethical behavior or any kind of systematic disadvantage to unethical behavior in our workplaces?

5. Integrity • State or quality of being complete, undivided or unbroken moral soundness, honesty, uprightness • Knowing and doing right things • Dictionary meaning: • Devotion to moral and ethical principles • Dependability of moral character • The quality of being honest and morally upright • The state of being whole or unified

6. Ethics • Individual and professional standards • The basis of harmony in society and social order • Declaration of the moral values and standards of behavior required by all in an organization • Ethics is knowing right or wrong, good or bad in actions that affects others.

7. Group Work • Work in group • Present your thoughts in picture/ diagram/symbol to explain what does integrity and ethics mean to you at your workplace. • Each group have 15 minutes to prepare and 5 minutes to present.

8. Study findings Source: CIAA Annual Reports.

11. Officer, Non-officer and Corruption complaints Note: Table generated based on the cases published in CIAA annual reports (2006 - 2015).

12. Table: Statistical analysis of the gap between law and practice regarding integrity in public sector (1 = very weak and 5 = very strong) Source: Field Survey, 2017

14. Foundation: Integrity and Ethics • How supportive are the political institutions? • How are the relationships among social groups and between social groups and the political system in the country? • How is the socio-economic situation of the country? • How supportive are the prevailing ethics, norms and values in society?

15. Prisoner’s Dilemma Two thieves arrested for a crime promise not to betray each other. But the police put them into separate rooms and tell each thief the same thing as follows: If you confess and your partner keeps silent, you go free and he gets 5 years in prison; if he confesses and you keep silent, he goes free and you get 5 years in prison. If you both confess, then you both get 3 years in prison. If you both keep silent, then we will give you each 1 year in prison on a lesser charge”.

16. Prisoner’s Dilemma: Case • “Banker’s Association (BA) tried to fix the interest rate for all the 28 commercial banks” • “NIC Asia Bank broke the term of gentleman’s agreement and hiked its interest rate at 10% for savings and 12% at fixed deposits” • “The BA members decided not to conduct any kind of inter-banking transactions with NIC Asia” • “BA and NIC Asia Bank have reached an agreement to lower interest rates on fixed deposits”

17. How much important is integrity in our workplace? Why?

18. Importance of Integrity • Corruption eventually hurts everyone, but the disadvantaged are hurt much more (UNDP, 2009). Photo Source: Google Images

19. Importance of Integrity • Education important yet vulnerable ! Photo Source: Google Images and newspapers

20. Importance of Integrity • Health important yet vulnerable ! Source: Newspapers

21. Importance of Integrity • Basic utilities important yet vulnerable ! Photo Source: Google Images

22. Importance of Integrity • Infrastructures important yet vulnerable ! Photo Source: Google Images

23. Importance of Integrity • Environment and safety standards important yet vulnerable ! Photo Source: collected from different sources

24. Video • कानुनभन्दा माथि मानबिय मूल्य र मान्यतालाई अंगालेर काम गर्ने प्रशासक

25. Importance of Public Sector Integrity and Ethics • Corner stone of good governance • Rising expectations from ordinary citizens, media and civil society which is the result of media attention and public awareness • Integrity, an essential aspect of democratic institution

26. Drivers of Public Sector Integrity and Ethics At society level At individual level Interest and capabilities At profession level At organization level

27. Public Sector Ethics: Critical Aspects • Publicness in public service (rival & excludable) • Culture of integrity in public service • Motivated primarily by money or professional fulfilment • Sense of ownership: attachment, team sprit, proudness, …

28. Public Sector Ethics: Critical Aspects OECD Framework (Toolkit of Integrity)

29. Issues in Public Sector Ethics and Integrity • Confusion over what is ethical: multiple standards exist • The “Boss” bribing the subordinates to get the job done in the organization or vice versa. • Mostly protectors are the violators • Ethical person becoming odd or unpopular member in the team

30. Issues in Public Sector Ethics and Integrity • Difficult to work honestly or ethically – more difficult to make people believing that one is ethical! • Unethical behaviors deeply rooted in the work culture / myths being valued or re-enforced

31. Consequences of Unethical Behavior • Damages the society • Puts lives at risk (unsafe) • Worsens the governance • Makes service and delivery unfair • Increases income inequality • Threatens livelihood

32. Consequences of Unethical Behavior • Legal consequences • Morale decline and negative image • Trust deficit • Violation of rule of law • Social costs increases • Women, Poor and Excluded suffer most • Huge gap between haves and have nots

33. There is no excuses

34. No Excuses • I didn’t know that I was committing a crime… • Ignorance is never a defence - you could still be found guilty. • I didn’t personally profit from or gain an advantage from the arrangement… • Corrupt activities are illegal for a reason – somebody dishonestly gained from your action or in-action, even if you did not • I wasn’t physically involved in the offence… • If you ask a third-party (e.g. agent) to pay or receive a bribe on your behalf, you are still involved, and still responsible. This is also true if you knew of the offence and did nothing to stop it, or failed to report it afterward.

35. No Excuses • I was told to do it… • You are still responsible UNLESS you can prove that you were physically forced to commit the offence or felt that you (or others) were in danger of physical harm or loss of life/liberty if you did not comply with their demands • I was told I’d lose my job if I didn’t do it… • Again, unless you (or others) are in immediate physical danger you should not commit any corrupt act on behalf of your employer, or allow it to happen. If you are concerned about the behaviour of your employer, report them.

36. No Excuses • No money exchanged hands… • It does not have to: remember that gifts and favours given with the intent to influence a decision is considered an act of bribery. The only defence is if you can prove that the gift/favour etc was not given/received with the intent to bribe. If in doubt, seek further guidance from IMC. • The other person didn’t stick to our agreement, so no offence actually took place… • You could still lose your job if your employer or IMC discovers your intent – particularly if money exchanged hands – and you could still be convicted of a corrupt offence under the definitions of fraud and collusion

37. No Excuses • Everyone does it… • Any form of Corruption is unacceptable, illegal and will not be tolerated, even if it is considered ‘normal business practice’ and other people are committing the same offence. If you get caught you will be prosecuted, regardless of who else does it.

38. Approach: Does One Size Fit All? • A lawyer’s approach • Toughening laws & legislations • A businessman’s approach • Offering incentives to officials to disengage from corruption (buy out corruption). • A market or an economist’s approach • Introducing or increasing competition • An institutional approach • Genuine political/leadership commitment • An integrity building approach • Fixing the problem, dealing with corruption challenges, advocating for better services, ensuring fewer public funds are wasted

39. Lessons Learned From CPI Top Ranked Countries • Administrative culture: • Rules are brief, clear and strict • Few level of bureaucracy • Autonomy on the local level • Collective decision system • Job security (a public official‘s bread may be thin but at least it is long) • The presence of women in decision making post

40. Lessons Learned From CPI Top Ranked Countries • Transparency of the work • Supervision of decision: • Justice and the Parliamentary • Watchdog agencies • Law enforcement: • Investigation • Prosecution on corruption, fraud, crime

41. Lessons Learned From CPI Top Ranked Countries • Social factors: • Equality in income • Welfare society: Social security • High standard of living (the higher the standard of living, the lower the level of corruption) • Role of Media