MAINS DAILY QUESTIONS & MODEL ANSWERS
Q1. Using instances, talk about the need of integrity in public service. How can moral leadership help companies develop an integrity-focused culture?
GS IV – Ethics-related issues
Introduction:
- The foundation of public service is integrity, which guarantees that representatives operate in society’s best interests. A culture of integrity inside an organisation is greatly enhanced by ethical leadership, which sets the standard for moral behaviour.
Integrity’s Place in the Public Sector:
- Foundation of confidence: Integrity is the cornerstone of public service and is necessary to foster public-government confidence. It guarantees that public servants behave in the public interest while upholding accountability and openness.
- For instance, during India’s freedom campaign, Mahatma Gandhi, who was renowned for his steadfast honesty, motivated millions of people with his moral leadership.
- Good Governance: By encouraging justice, fairness, and respect for the law, integrity improves the effectiveness of governance. It guarantees that choices are made on the basis of merit rather than self-interest and lessens corruption.
- Transparency International, for instance, states that nations with higher public sector integrity levels typically have lower levels of corruption and better governance outcomes.
- Public Trust: When public servants are honest, the public has more faith in government agencies, which in turn promotes citizen involvement and participation. It contributes to the stability and cohesion of society.
- Example: The high levels of public trust in government institutions in Singapore are a result of the government’s zero-tolerance attitude towards corruption.
Leadership with Ethics and Promoting Integrity:
- Establishing the Tone: By exemplifying moral behaviour and exhibiting a dedication to maintaining moral principles, ethical leaders establish the tone for integrity across an organisation.
- As an illustration, Nelson Mandela’s leadership in South Africa was distinguished by his steadfast dedication to integrity, which aided in the nation’s transition from apartheid to democracy.
- Establishing a Culture: By supporting moral decision-making, encouraging candid communication, and holding people accountable for their actions, ethical leadership helps an organisation develop a culture of integrity.
- Example: The founding father of Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew, was a model of moral leadership and integrity. With his steadfast dedication to honesty and meritocracy, he turned Singapore from a faltering city-state into a major player in the world economy.
- Promoting Transparency: Open communication of information and transparent decision-making are two ways that ethical leaders encourage transparency. This aids in the prevention of unethical behaviour and corruption.
- As an illustration, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has received recognition for his moral leadership, which has improved accountability and openness within the organisation.
- Handling Ethical Dilemmas: Moral leaders are skilled in handling ethical disputes and dilemmas by using moral principles and ideals to arrive at equitable and just solutions.
- As an illustration, consider the tireless work that Nobel laureate and child rights activist Kailash Satyarthi has done to promote children’s rights and end child labour.
- A culture of integrity inside organisations is cultivated by ethical leadership, which is essential for effective public service. Ethical leaders may foster confidence and trust by sustaining moral principles and encouraging openness. This will improve governance results and create a more equitable society.
Q2. Analyse the connection between decision-making skill and ethics. In administrative circumstances, how may ethical concerns be resolved effectively?
GS IV – Ethics-related issues
Introduction:
- Two important factors that affect decision-making in administrative settings are aptitude and ethics. While aptitude refers to a person’s innate skill or propensity to complete a certain task, ethics refers to a set of moral standards that guide a person’s behaviour or the performance of an activity.
The connection between decision-making aptitude and ethics:
Moral Guidance and Judgement Making:
- Ethics as a Basis: Ethics offers the fundamental ideas around which choices are based. It helps people determine whether their behaviours are right or bad, guiding them in making decisions that are consistent with moral principles.
- Analytical aptitude: Analytic aptitude aids in the examination of intricate circumstances, allowing administrators to comprehend the effects of their choices from a variety of angles.
Honesty and Responsibility:
- Integrity and Ethics: Integrity is ensured by ethics, which promotes honesty and transparency in decision-making while upholding moral standards.
- Ability in Accountability: Having the ability to defend and rationally justify judgements based on analysis makes administrators accountable for their actions.
- Example: Assigning funds to a community that needs them is the responsibility of a civil servant. By applying virtue ethics, the civil servant would try to make decisions that are consistent with compassion and fairness by taking into account how their acts show these qualities.
Stakeholder Opinion:
- Ethics compels administrators to think about how actions may affect different stakeholders, such as the government, employees, and members of the public.
- Administrators that possess aptitude are better able to reconcile the divergent interests of several parties and make equitable and just judgements.
Moral Conundrums and Making Decisions:
- Recognising Ethical problems: Ethical problems arise when conflicting ethical ideals are encountered by administrators. A decision that helps one stakeholder may, for instance, hurt another.
- Resource Allocation: When resources are scarce in administrative settings, decision-makers must decide how to allocate resources most ethically. They can morally overcome this conundrum by taking into account the requirements of all stakeholders and maximising the advantages for the largest number of individuals.
- Ability to Make Decisions: Ability to make decisions allows administrators to consider the effects of several options and select the one that best complies with moral standards and the greater good of society.
Handling Moral Conundrums in Administrative Situations:
- A methodical strategy that strikes a balance between moral ideals and pragmatic considerations is necessary to properly resolve ethical challenges in administrative contexts. There are several tactics that can be used:
Frameworks for Ethics:
- Administrators can prioritise choices that benefit the majority by adhering to utilitarianism, which focuses on the greatest good for the greatest number.
- Example: A decision about whether to allow a development project that may harm the environment but will create jobs must be made by a government authority. The official would use the utilitarian method to weigh the project’s financial advantages against its environmental costs in order to decide which course of action was the most moral.
- Deontology: Places a strong emphasis on upholding moral obligations and values, directing administrators to behave morally regardless of the results.
- Example: When a suspect admits to a crime but requests that the officer not report it, the police officer is presented with a dilemma. Even though the confession would hurt the suspect, the officer would prioritise publishing the confession and following the law if they were to apply the deontological approach.
Stakeholder Discussion:
- Involving Stakeholders: Consulting with stakeholders facilitates understanding their viewpoints and issues, resulting in decisions that take everyone’s interests into account.
- Transparency: By preserving openness throughout the decision-making process, ethical conflicts are less likely to arise since it increases credibility and trust.
Moral Guidance:
- Creating an Example: Moral leaders set the standard for moral conduct, encouraging others to do the same and developing an ethical culture inside the company.
- Whistleblowing: An employee strikes a balance between their moral need to maintain integrity and their ability to take necessary action to rectify wrongdoing when they discover unethical acts within an organisation and disclose them to the relevant authorities.
- Decision-making Frameworks: Giving administrators standards and frameworks for making decisions can aid them in resolving moral conundrums more skillfully.
Education and Training:
- Ethics Education: Regular instruction in ethics and decision-making can improve administrators’ understanding of ethical dilemmas and their capacity to resolve them.
- Case Studies: Examining actual case studies aids in the development of administrators’ abilities to recognise and address moral conundrums.
Examine the Mechanisms:
- Ethics Committees: Forming ethics committees can offer a venue for debating and settling difficult moral dilemmas, guaranteeing morally good outcomes.
- Audit and Evaluation: Regularly carrying out audits and assessments of choices can assist in locating and addressing any ethical transgressions.
- In decision-making, aptitude and ethics are interwoven; aptitude facilitates the practical analysis needed for effective decision-making, while ethics provides the moral basis. In order to ensure that actions are both morally right and practically achievable, resolving ethical issues in administrative contexts calls for a combination of ethical frameworks, stakeholder involvement, ethical leadership, training, and review procedures.
