Ethics Management in Public Sector – Background and Tools

The article presents the conceptual background debated in the professional literature related to ethics management in general and also in particular, in the public sector. Works in this area present the concepts, the general theories, the problems and instruments we can use in a managerial activity. This paper tries to extrapolate these general data to the public sector in a country. The main purpose of the study is to identify those specific instruments that can be implemented successfully in public institutions, in correlation with specific ethical problems we find there. Sources of evidence include valuable works of specialists and studies conducted and focused on ethics in public sector. The main argument of our research is based on the fact that some theories, concepts or instruments are too general, needing a customization for the public sector, especially for those countries where corruption and unethical behaviors are at a high level. Conclusions of the paper refer to the applicability of various instruments of ethics management in the public sector, proving also a strong connection between ethics and competitiveness and in consequence, between ethics and investments. The results and conclusions are focused on the main areas of public sector from countries where corruption and lack of ethics is a real problem.