Central values of government and business: Differences, similarities and conflicts

Abstract

ABSTRACT Over the last decades scholars have been devoting more and more attention to differences and similarities between public and private sector organizations. Relatively underrepresented, when compared to studies on organizational status and management, are comparative empirical studies on the differences and similarities between the central values of public and private sector organizations. This article presents an overview of the academic debate on differences and similarities between the morals and values of public and private sector organizations. Public and private sector values derived from Administrative Ethics and Business Ethics literature are compared, as well as values that are mentioned in public and private sector codes of conduct. In addition, intra-sector comparisons between the values derived from literature reviews and those in codes are conducted. After the distinguished values are weighted, combined and supplemented, taking into account empirical research on public and private sector values as well, a definitive 'value panorama' is presented as a basis for empirical comparative research. Implications and strategies for future research are presented. INTRODUCTION Integrity and value-based perspectives occupy an increasingly prominent place in organizational studies, within both Public Administration and Business Administration (see e.g. Huberts & Van den Heuvel 1999; Kaptein & Wempe 2002; Paine 1994; Seeger 1997; Van Luijk & Schilder 1998). However, little comparative empirical research has been done on the prominence and content of organizational values in public and private sector organizations. In discussions about the differences between government and business, normative arguments prevail and empirical arguments are scarce. It is a debate with an ideological twist (cf. Noordegraaf & Abma 2003: 857). This article aims to offer a starting point for more comparative empirical work on organizational values. Values mentioned in the separate bodies of Administrative Ethics and Business Ethics literature and in organizational codes of conduct are studied and compared, enabling an analysis of the differences and similarities between the values of government and business and the way in which they relate to one another. It should be noted that this is a somewhat limited perspective. After all, values mentioned in academic literature and codes are sometimes more 'should be' than 'actual' values. However, the existing empirical research on public and private sector values, which is in most cases fragmented and incomparable, will be taken into account when the definitive value panorama is constructed. The panorama can be used as a research tool that enables more systematic and grounded empirical comparative research than the empirical research that has been conducted so far. The remainder of this article is divided into five sections. Section two examines the meaning of some of the basic research concepts that are used in this article: ethics, morals, values, norms and integrity. Section three describes two contrasting views on the differences and similarities between public and private sector values and the way they are related to each other. The fourth section presents an overview of prominent public sector values, derived from academic literature and codes of conduct. Section five gives a similar overview for the private sector. Section six discusses the differences and similarities between the values of government and business and then presents, as a first typology based upon the academic literature review, a public- private value continuum. Then an overview of existing empirical research on public and private sector values is presented. The empirical research is used to enhance the list of values derived from the literature review. This article concludes with a list of values as a survey research tool and an elaborated 'value panorama'. CENTRAL CONCEPTS: ETHICS, MORALS, VALUES, NORMS AND INTEGRITY In the debate on organizational values the content of the central concepts often leads to confusion. …

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