CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2013
| Author | Nastase, Andreea |
|---|---|
| Title | Ethics Management and Individual Views towards Ethics in the European Commission |
| Summary | Taking the European Commission as a case study, the thesis seeks to reveal the mechanism by which organizational ethics management influences employees’ views towards public ethics. Ethics management represents a set of systematic managerial measures meant to promote integrity within an organization. With corruption recognized as a devastating governance problem world-wide, it has become a best practice standard, in both the public and business sectors, yet empirical research on its effects is scant. The thesis uses the theoretical perspective of organizational socialization, understood as a social learning process by which individuals come to appreciate the values, knowledge and expected behaviours associated to organizational roles. In this view, ethics (understood as public role morality) represents something that organizational members learn, and the structures and instruments dedicated to ethics management can feed this learning process. The thesis uses a qualitative methodology, combining document analysis with interviews with officials and ethics experts in the European Commission. Findings show that Commission employees think about ethics in largely similar terms (which is significant, given the heterogeneous nature of Commission staff), and that their reasoning incorporates the messages and concerns expressed internally through official channels (particularly in the wave of ethics awareness-raising and guidance actions implemented after 2008). However, ethics is frequently described as a matter of “common sense”; moreover, the preference, when confronted with a dilemma, is to seek advice from close colleagues and superiors (instead of using specialized structures). This indicates an indirect pattern of influence. Although ethics management instruments are not perceived as particularly relevant for day-to-day work, the Commission’s efforts in this area nevertheless have an impact, because they put ethics on the map in the internal organizational life. Thus, ethics management contributes largely indirectly to the “learning” of ethics, by problematizing the topic – staking it out as an “issue” – which stimulates employees’ sensitivity and leads to ethics questions being picked up in internal discussions. The thesis also highlights the importance of public image considerations. The Commission responded to a shattering scandal (the Santer Commission resignation) with ethics reforms that featured a hard-line approach. During Siim Kallas’ mandate (2004 – 2009), attempts were made to move closer to a “modern” system based on guidance and shared values. The switch was not entirely successful, because it implied rolling back controls, which risked being interpreted as the Commission letting its guard down. Thus, the initial framing of ethics as a cure for corruption diminished the political profitability of reforming the system later on, leading the Commission into a situation where a higher premium was placed on how it looked, rather than what it needed. In conclusion, the thesis shows that ethics management is an exercise with a double purpose – it targets the organization’s integrity, as well as its public image – and these are not (always) complementary objectives. |
| Supervisor | Batory, Agnes |
| Department | Public Policy PhD |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2013/nastase_andreea.pdf |
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