Transcript Ethical Decisions Presented By Michael Clark Overview • • • • • • • • Air Force Core Values Ethics Definition Prescriptive Approaches Decision Making Government Auditing Standards Code of Ethics General Ethics Principles Ethical Decision Making Process Examples.

Ethical
Decisions
Presented
By Michael Clark
Overview
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Air Force Core Values
Ethics Definition
Prescriptive Approaches Decision Making
Government Auditing Standards
Code of Ethics
General Ethics Principles
Ethical Decision Making Process
Examples of Poor Ethical Decisions
Air Force Core Values
• Integrity first
• Service before self
• Excellence in all we do!
Exploring Ethics
What is the right thing
to do?
Ethics in the public
service
• Why are ethics important?
• Why should we act ethically?
• How important are ethics in the
public service?
Exploring ethics
• What are my ethics?
• What are my ethics based on?
Ethics Definition
• Ethics
o The inner-guiding moral principles, values,
and beliefs that people use to analyze or
interpret a situation and then decide what is
the “right” or appropriate way to behave.
What is an Ethical
Dilemma?
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A situation where values are in conflict
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Two or more values you hold dear - or –
Personal value conflicts with
organizational value
Value
Value
Prescriptive Approaches
• Focus on consequences (consequentialist theories)
• Focus on duties, obligations, principles
(deontological theories)
• Focus on integrity (virtue ethics)
Focus on Consequences
(Consequentialist Theories)
Utilitarianism - best known
consequentialist theory
• Identify alternative actions and
consequences to stakeholders
• Best decision yields greatest net
benefits to society
• Worst decision yields greatest
net harms to society
Consequentialist
Questions
• Can I indentify all the stakeholders?
o Immediate, distant?
• What are the potential actions I could take?
• What are the harms and benefits for
stakeholders given potential decisions/actions?
• What decision will produce the most benefit
(and least harm) for the greatest number of
people, and for society at large?
Focus on Duties, Obligations,
Principles (Deontological Theories)
• Decisions based upon abstract
universal principles: honesty,
promise-keeping, fairness, rights,
justice, respect
• Focus on doing what’s “right”
(consistent with these principles)
rather than doing what will
maximize societal welfare (as in
utilitarianism)
Focus on Integrity
(Virtue Ethics)
• Focus on integrity of moral actor rather than
the act
o Considers character, motivations, intentions
o Character defined by one’s community
• Need to identify relevant community
• Disclosure rule
Government Auditing Standards
• Provide Accountability
– Ensure management and officials manage government
resources and use their authority in accordance with the law
– Ensure government programs are achieving objectives
– Ensure government services are provided effectively and
efficiently
• Competence, Integrity, Objectivity, and Independence
• Ethical Principals
– Public Interest
– Integrity
– Objectivity
– Proper use of Information
– Professional Behavior
Code of Ethics
Principles
1. Integrity
The integrity of internal auditors establishes trust and thus provides the basis for
reliance on their judgment.
2. Objectivity
Internal auditors exhibit the highest level of professional objectivity in gathering,
evaluating, and communicating information about the activity or process being
examined. Internal auditors make a balanced assessment of all the relevant
circumstances and are not unduly influenced by their own interests or by others in
forming judgments
3. Confidentiality
Internal auditors respect the value and ownership of information they receive and
do not disclose information without appropriate authority unless there is a legal or
professional obligation to do so.
4. Competency
Internal auditors apply the knowledge, skills, and experience needed in the
performance of internal audit services.
General Ethics Principals
5 C.F.R. § 2635.101
”The following general principles apply to every employee and
may form the basis for the standards contained in this part.
(1) Public service is a public trust, requiring employees to place
loyalty to the Constitution, the laws and ethical principles above
private gain.
(2) Employees shall not hold financial interests that conflict with
the conscientious performance of duty.
(3) Employees shall not engage in financial transactions using
nonpublic Government information or allow the improper use of
such information to further any private interest.
General Ethics Principals
5 C.F.R. § 2635.101
(4) An employee shall not, except as permitted by subpart B of this
part, solicit or accept any gift or other item of monetary value from
any person or entity seeking official action from, doing business
with, or conducting activities regulated by the employee's agency,
or whose interests may be substantially affected by the
performance or nonperformance of the employee's duties.
(5) Employees shall put forth honest effort in the performance of
their duties.
(6) Employees shall not knowingly make unauthorized
commitments or promises of any kind purporting to bind the
Government.
(7) Employees shall not use public office for private gain.
General Ethics Principals
(8) Employees shall act impartially and not give preferential
treatment to any private organization or individual.
(9) Employees shall protect and conserve Federal property and
shall not use it for other than authorized activities.
(10) Employees shall not engage in outside employment or
activities, including seeking or negotiating for employment, that
conflict with official Government duties and responsibilities.
(11) Employees shall disclose waste, fraud, abuse, and
corruption to appropriate authorities.
General Ethics Principals
5 C.F.R. § 2635.101
(12) Employees shall satisfy in good faith their obligations as
citizens, including all just financial obligations, especially those such
as Federal, State, or local taxes that are imposed by law.
(13) Employees shall adhere to all laws and regulations that
provide equal opportunity for all Americans regardless of race,
color, religion, sex, national origin, age, or handicap.
(14) Employees shall endeavor to avoid any actions creating the
appearance that they are violating the law or the ethical
standards set forth in this part. Whether particular circumstances
create an appearance that the law or these standards have been
violated shall be determined from the perspective of a reasonable
person with knowledge of the relevant facts.”
Gifts
• Government employees may not accept or
solicit gifts:
• Offered because of their official position, OR
• From a “prohibited source” (such as a government
contractor). 5 C.F.R. § 2635.202.
• A gift to a government employee’s spouse,
parent, child or sibling -- because of the
person’s relationship to the government
employee -- is considered to be a gift to the
government employee .
Gifts
 Questions to Consider:
 Does an Exception Apply?
 $20/$50
 Based on Personal Relationship
 Discount/Similar Benefits
 Award/Honoary Degree
 Based on Outside
Employment/Business
 Gift in Connection with Political
Activities
 Widely Attended Gatherings
Gifts
$20/$50 Rule
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You may accept gifts up to $20 in value at
one time (but never cash or investments).
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Gifts from one source (e.g., one company)
cannot exceed $50 in value in a calendar
year.
• You may not “buy down” to $20, i.e., pay $5
and then accept a gift worth $25.
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The $20 limit is per occasion and per source.
For example, at a trade show you may
accept gifts worth $20 or less from several
different contractors on the same day.
Gifts between Employees
• Gifts to Superiors.
 An employee may not:
“(1) Directly or indirectly, give a gift to or make a
donation toward a gift for an official superior; or
(2) Solicit a contribution from another employee for a gift
to either his own or the other employee’s
official superior.” 5 C.F.R. § 2635.302
• Gifts from Employees Receiving less Pay.
 “[A]n employee may not, directly or indirectly, accept a gift from an
employee receiving less pay than himself unless:
(1) The two employees are not in a subordinateofficial superior relationship; and
(2) There is a personal relationship between the two
employees that would justify the gift. “ 5 C.F.R. §
2635.302
Conflict of Interest
(18 U.S.C. § 208)
• You may not participate personally &
substantially (e.g., make a decision, give
advice, make a recommendation) in any
government matter that would affect the
financial interests of:
• You, your spouse, or your minor child,
• Your general partner
• An organization in which you are serving as an
officer, director, trustee, general partner or
employee, OR
• An organization with which you are negotiating
for employment, or have an arrangement for
future employment.
Conflict of Interest -- Stock
 Federal employees, including reservists, may not
work on any government matter (e.g., contract,
source selection or claim) that affects the
financial interests of a company, if they (or their
spouse or minor child) own stock in the
company.
 Exception if value of stock owned by you, your
spouse & minor children in all companies
involved in the matter is $15,000 or less. 5 C.F.R. §
2640.202(a).
Misuse of Position
• Use of Government property. An employee has a
duty to protect and conserve Government property
and shall not use such property, or allow its use, for
other than authorized purposes.
• Use of an employee's own time. Unless authorized in
accordance with law or regulations to use such
time for other purposes, an employee shall use
official time in an honest effort to perform official
duties. Every employee not on leave has an
obligation to expend an honest effort and a
reasonable proportion of his time in the
performance of official duties.
Misuse of Position
• Compensation for teaching, speaking or writing.
Except as permitted by paragraph (a)(3) of this
section, an employee, including a special
Government employee, shall not receive
compensation from any source other than the
Government for teaching, speaking or writing that
relates to the employee's official duties.
Misuse of Position
• Teaching, speaking or writing relates to the employee's official
duties if:
• (A) The activity is undertaken as part of the employee's official
duties;
• (B) The circumstances indicate that the invitation to engage in
the activity was extended to the employee primarily because
of his official position rather than his expertise on the particular
subject matter;
• (C) The invitation to engage in the activity or the offer of
compensation for the activity was extended to the employee,
directly or indirectly, by a person who has interests that may
be affected substantially by performance or nonperformance
of the employee's official duties;
Misuse of Position
• (D) The information conveyed through the activity
draws substantially on ideas or official data that are
nonpublic information as defined in § 2635.703(b);
or
• (E) Except as provided in paragraph (a)(2)(i)(E)(4)
of this section, the subject of the activity deals in
significant part with:
Off-Duty Employment
• DoD employees must get prior approval of
off duty employment if they file a financial
disclosure report and if they will work for a
“prohibited source” (such as a DoD
contractor).
• Off duty employment can be disapproved
only if it is prohibited by statute or
regulation, would detract from readiness,
or would create a security risk.
STEPS OF THE ETHICAL
DECISION MAKING PROCESS
1. Gather the facts
2. Define the ethical issues
3. Identify the affected parties (stakeholders)
4. Identify the consequences
5. Identify the obligations (principles, rights, justice)
6. Consider your character and integrity
7. Think creatively about potential actions
8. Check your gut
9. Decide on the proper ethical action and be
prepared to deal with opposing arguments
Poor Ethical Decisions
• Former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell and his wife
were convicted this year of taking bribes to
promote a dietary supplement in a corruption case
that derailed the career of the onetime rising
Republican star.
• A federal jury in Richmond convicted Bob
McDonnell of 11 of the 13 counts he faced;
Maureen McDonnell was convicted of nine of the
13 counts she had faced. Both bowed their heads
and wept as the court clerk read a chorus of "guilty"
verdicts.
Va. Governor Bob
McDonnell Conviction
Poor Ethical Decisions
• Former New Orleans mayor C. Ray Nagin — who
became the face of a desperate, drowning city during
Hurricane Katrina — was convicted Wednesday on
charges of accepting bribes from city contractors while
in office.
• Nagin, a Democrat, was found guilty by a federal jury on
20 of 21 criminal counts, including bribery, conspiracy
and wire fraud. He was acquitted on one count of
bribery.
• Prosecutors said that Nagin accepted illegal gifts from
contractors, beginning before Katrina hit and continuing
afterward. Among the gifts: money, free vacation travel
and truckloads of granite for Stone Age LLC, a business
Nagin and his sons owned.
New Orleans Mayor
Nagin Conviction
Poor Ethical Decisions
• Two San Diego-area defense contractors and one of
their companies have been convicted in a long-running
scheme that authorities said exchanged bribes and gifts
for millions of dollars in Navy contracts.
• Contractors showered Navy officials at Naval Air Station
North Island in Coronado, CA, with cash, checks, gift
cards, flat screen TVs, luxury massage chairs, bicycles,
model airplanes, and other items, the FBI reported.
• The defendants also submitted fraudulent invoices to the
Department of Defense that appeared to bill the
department for goods and services within the scope of
legitimate contracts.
Conclusion
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Air Force Core Values
Ethics Definition
Prescriptive Approaches Decision Making
Government Auditing Standards
Code of Ethics
General Ethics Principles
Ethical Decision Making Process
Examples of Poor Ethical Decisions