The impact of ethics on the organisational culture of a government department in South Africa (Research study) Gonasagrie Munsami Perumal WITS Business School Thesis presented in partial fulfilment for the degree of Master of Business Administration to the Faculty of Commerce, Law, and Management, University of the Witwatersrand April 2021 ii DECLARATION I Gonasagrie Munsami Perumal declare that this research report entitled”The impact of ethics on the organisational culture of a government department in South Africa” is my own unaided work. I have acknowledged, attributed and referenced all ideas sourced elsewhere. I am hereby submitting it in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Business Administration at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. I have not submitted this report before for any other degree or examination to any other institution. Gonasagrie Munsami Perumal Signed at Johannesburg on 30 April 2021 Name of candidate Gonasagrie Munsami Perumal Student number 2327414 Telephone numbers 082 929 4142 Email address Salomy.perumal@gmail.com First year of registration 2019 Date of proposal submission 31 October 2020 Date of report submission 30 April 2021 Name of supervisor Daniel Mokhohlane and Kambidima Wotela iii ABSTRACT Author: Gonasagrie Munsami Perumal Supervisor Daniel Mokhohlane Thesis title: The impact of ethics on the organisational culture of a government department in South Africa South Africa has witnessed an increase in corruption in recent years, despite the President’s commitment to “building an ethical state in which there is no place for corruption”. This study sought to determine the factors that contribute to unethical behaviour, the attitudes and behaviours to unethical behaviour, and the impact thereof on the organisational culture. The research paper deliberated on whether leadership encouraged ethical behaviour. The study was carried out in the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (the dtic). A sample of 12 respondents who have worked at the dtic for longer than a year was selected using a cross-sectional selection sample. A qualitative research methodology was employed, using semi- structured interviews to obtain the information, and thematic analysis was used to analyse the information. The main study findings were that there were many opportunities for unethical behaviour, exacerbated by lack of trust in leadership and inconsistent, irrational and sometimes non-transparent decision-making. Attitudes and behaviour of leadership to unethical behaviour and consequences for unethical behaviours applied only to junior staff and not management, creating an environment of distrust. Leadership generally did not encourage ethical behaviour, the mechanisms were insufficient to prevent unethical behaviour, and such unethical behaviours impacted on the culture of the organisation, hence ethics and mainly unethical behaviour has a direct impact on the organisational culture. Key Words: Ethics, Organisational Culture, Corruption, Tone at the Top, Mechanisms Johannesburg, April 2021 iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Declaration……………............................................................................................. ii Abstract………………………………………………………................…………………iii Table of contents ..................................................................................................... iv List of tables……...……………………………………………………..………………...vii List of figures ..........................................................................................................viii List of tables and figures in the appendices .........................................................ix Acknowledgements ..................................................................................................x Definition of key terms and concepts ....................................................................xi 1. Introduction to the research .............................................................................1 1.1 Background and context ...................................................................1 1.1.1 Ethics and unethical behaviour ..................................................1 1.1.2. Ethics in Public Service ............................................................2 1.1.3. Ethics in the Public Service in South Africa ..............................2 1.1.4. The dtic, its ethics mandate and culture ...................................3 1.2. Research conceptualisation..............................................................4 1.2.1. The research problem statement..............................................4 1.2.2. The thesis problem ...................................................................4 1.2.3.The research purpose (aim and objectives) statement..............5 1.2.4.The research questions and accompanying research hypotheses or research propositions, where applicable................................5 1.3 Delimitations and assumptions of the research study 6 1.4 Significance of the research study....................................................6 2. Literature review...........................................................................................................7 2.1 Ethics philosophy..............................................................................7 2.2. Research problem analysis ..............................................................7 2.2.1.Root causes...............................................................................7 2.2.3. Consequences........................................................................12 2.3. Research knowledge gap analysis...................................................13 2.4. Qualitative attributes key to the research .......................................16 2.5. Framework(s) for interpreting research findings .............................17 2.6. Summary and conclusion ...............................................................19 2.6.1 Summary of literature reviewed...............................................19 2.6.2 Proposed research strategy, design, procedure and methods arising from the literature reviewed ..........................................19 3. Research strategy, design, procedure and methods ......................................20 3.1. Research strategy...........................................................................20 3.2. Research design.............................................................................21 3.3. Research procedure and methods .................................................21 3.3.1 Research data and information collection instrument(s)..........21 v 3.3.2. Research target population and selection of respondents......23 3.3.3.Ethical considerations when collecting research data .............24 3.3.4 Research data and information-collection process .................25 3.3.5 Research data and information processing and analysis ........26 3.3.6 Description of the research respondents.................................27 3.4 Research strengths – reliability and validity measures applied........27 3.5. Research weaknesses – technical and administrative limitations ..28 4. Presentation of research results ..............................................................................29 4.1. What factors are perceived to encourage unethical behaviour? ......33 4.1.1 Response to research question 1 ..........................................34 4.1.2 Recap of responses to research question 1 ...........................34 4.2. What are the attitudes and behaviours around unethical behaviour? ......................................................................................35 4.2.1 Response to research question 2 ............................................35 4.2.2 Recap of responses to research question 2 ............................37 4.3. Does leadership encourage ethical behaviour? ...............................37 4.3.1 Responses to research question 3 ..........................................37 4.3.2 Recap of responses to research question 3 ............................40 4.4 What mechanisms are there to prevent unethical behaviour? .........41 4.4.1 Responses to research question 4 ........................................41 4.4.2 Recap of responses to research question 4 ............................45 4.5 The culture of the department ...........................................................45 4.5.1 Determination of the culture of the department .......................45 4.5.2 Recap of respondents views on the culture of the department47 4.6 Summary and conclusion..................................................................47 5. DIscussion of research findings .............................................................................49 5.1 Introduction .......................................................................................49 5.2 Analysis.............................................................................................49 5.2.1 Opportunities and contributors for unethical behaviour ...........49 5.2.2 Attitudes and behaviours around unethical behaviour............51 5.3 Does leadership encourage ethical behaviour? ................................51 5.4 Mechanisms and controls in place to identify and address unethical behaviour ........................................................................................53 5.5 The culture of the department ..........................................................55 5.6 Summary and conclusion.................................................................55 6. Summary, conclusions, limitations, and recommendations............................56 6.1 Summary..........................................................................................56 6.1.1 Research problem statement..................................................56 6.1.2 Purpose statement..................................................................56 6.1.3 Research questions ................................................................56 6.1.4 Conceptual framework.............................................................56 6.1.5 Research strategy, design, procedure and method................57 vi 6.1.6 Empirical research results ......................................................57 6.1.7 Empirical research results conclusion .....................................58 6.2 Conclusions.....................................................................................58 6.2.1 Research knowledge gap ........................................................58 6.2.2 Contribution of the research to the knowledge gap ................59 6.2.3 Comparison of the results to other similar studies..................59 6.3 Limitations ........................................................................................59 6.4 Recommendations ...........................................................................60 6.4.1 Ethics education ......................................................................60 6.4.2 Policy implication .....................................................................61 6.4.3 Proposed future research ........................................................61 REFERENCES ..................................................................................................................63 vii LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Respondents profile…………………………………………………....29 viii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: A conceptual framework of corporate and business ethics across organisations: Structures, processes and performance……..……17 Figure 2: A conceptual framework of corporate and business ethics across organisations: Structures, processes and performance.................18 Figure 3: Sample selection…….………………………………………………...30 Figure 4: Respondents by ethnicity……………………………………………..31 Figure 5: Respondents by level in the organisation...………………………...32 Figure 6: Respondents by sex..……………………………………………........32 ix LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES IN THE APPENDICES Appendix A: Data collection instrument(s).....................................................68 Appendix B: Bio of researcher.......................................................................70 Appendix C: Ethic documentation – Participant Information Sheet ...............72 Appendix D: Ethic documentation – Consent Form.......................................73 Appendix E: Ethic documentation – Ethics Clearance Certificate .................74 Appendix F: Ethic documentation – Title Approval Letter..............................75 x ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I give this thesis as an offering to the Supreme Lord of the Universe, Lord Sri Krishna, for giving me the intellect to complete this thesis. Lord Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita verse 15.15 “I am seated in everyone’s heart, and from Me come remembrance, knowledge, and forgetfulness”. Verse 13.18 states “He is knowledge, He is the objective of knowledge, and He is the goal of knowledge.” I give thanks to my family for their unwavering support and patience during this period of my study. I am truly honoured to have you in my life. I thank my employer, the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition, for affording me the opportunity to pursue these studies and to make available the resources for my case study. I extend my gratitude to the respondents who, even though at short notice and during the busy financial year-end processes, made the time available to assist me with my research. xi DEFINITION OF KEY TERMS AND CONCEPTS Bribery: Giving or receiving an unearned reward to influence someone's behaviour. Corruption: Dishonest or fraudulent conduct by those in power, typically involving bribery. Extortion: The practice of obtaining something, especially money, through force or threats. Ethics: A moral philosophy, concerned with the moral standards by which people must behave. Favouritism: When a person (usually a manager) demonstrates preferential treatment to one person over all other employees for reasons unrelated to performance. Kickback: An illicit payment made to someone in return for facilitating a transaction or appointment. Nepotism: The practice among those with power or influence of favouring relatives or friends, especially by giving them jobs. Organisational culture: The customs, rituals and values shared by the members of an organisation. It defines how people behave in an organisation. Self-enrichment: The act or process of increasing one's intellectual or spiritual resources. Self-interest: One's personal interest or advantage, especially when pursued without regard for others. Unethical behaviour: An action that falls outside of what is considered morally right or proper for a person, a profession or an industry. Whistle-blower: A person who informs on a person or organisation regarded as engaging in an unlawful or immoral activity. 1 1. INTRODUCTION TO THE RESEARCH 1.1 Background and context This research is designed to analyse the specific factors that contribute to ethical or unethical behaviour in the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (the dtic), that is to say, the factors that influence or impact its ethical culture. 1.1.1 Ethics and unethical behaviour “In law a man is guilty when he violates the rights of others. In ethics he is guilty if he only thinks of doing so.” — Immanuel Kant What is ethics? The Encyclopaedia Britannica (2020) states that ethics, also called moral philosophy, considers what is morally good or bad and right or wrong, also referring to values or principles. King IV (2016) defines ethics as treating others as one would like to be treated, and the consideration of what is right for oneself and others. Ethical values in decision-making, the conduct of management and employees, and the relationship between companies, their stakeholders and the society at large is what is referred to with regard to ethics in organisations. The Executive Members’ Ethics Act and Executive Ethics Code specifically require the executive to use its powers in the best interests of the public and to avoid conflicts of interest. It explicitly calls on members of the Executive to not abuse their positions for private gain (Rossouw, 2014). If a person is given an opportunity to be unethical, in the majority of the cases he will be unethical if he is to gain something at the expense of someone else (Soman, 2018; McVenn, 1919). Unethical behaviour starts with insignificant unethical acts, from stealing at the workplace, be it a pen, and coming late to work (stealing time from your employer) to using the photocopy machine to copy personal information. If left unaddressed, unethical acts will seem attractive and become bigger and bolder, eventually involving large amounts of money (Scott & Steinberg, 2009). 2 1.1.2. Ethics in Public Service The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa (1996) demands that politicians, and the Cabinet especially, act with the utmost moral and ethical responsibility, hence they have a responsibility not to misuse their official capacity for self-enrichment. This is referred to in the Executive Members’ Ethics Act (1998), which is also applicable to the President as a member of the Cabinet. In addition, the Constitution covers conflict of interest between personal and official responsibilities, hence there is a serious breach of the Constitution if nothing else (Rossouw, 2014). Raga and Taylor (2005) stated that ethics exists as long as mankind does, and has to do with the character, conduct and values of human beings. Gildenhuys (2004) stated that political power attracts corruption. Media reports, supported by the history of politics not just in South Africa but worldwide, reveal that many politicians have no principles, are opportunistic and power hungry. They have been found to lie and have no integrity. The cleaning up must start with public servants as they set the example and when they are corrupt the entire society will tend to be corrupt. Corruption is reported in the media almost daily. Officials justify why they are acting in a certain way, albeit unethically. Detection matters only when you are an unknown and have no ties with the rich and famous, more so with associates or family members of politicians. Compounded with the many recent cases of political corruption, this clearly indicates that unethical activities are becoming systemically embedded in our society (Punt, 2005). 1.1.3. Ethics in the Public Service in South Africa Notable legislations govern the behaviour of public officials, viz. the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa (1996), the Public Service Act (1994), the Public Service Regulations (2016), the Public Service Code of Conduct (1999), and the Public Administration Management Act (2014), with the objective to promote ethical behaviour in the public service; prevent unethical conduct, fraud and corruption; and support ethics, integrity management and anti-corruption. The Constitution of the Republic of South 3 Africa (1996) requires a high standard of professional ethics in the public service. Ethical conduct and organisational integrity are key to eradicating fraud and corruption in the public service and administration. It is therefore imperative that public servants act with the utmost integrity and trust. 1.1.4. The dtic, its ethics mandate and culture The dtic is a government department with the mandate to accelerate transformation of the economy, encourage the participation of previously marginalised sectors, encourage development in industries, attract investments, facilitate trade and stimulate economic growth. The annual report of the Department of Trade and Industry (2018) stated that, in respect of ethics, an ethics committee was in place and meetings were held quarterly; awareness and training around ethics was conducted for all levels of the department; public service corporate governance prescripts were adopted; frameworks for compulsory training were rolled out; and the department ensured no conflict of interest as all managers and officials disclosed their financial interests as per the requirement of the Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA). The structure of positions at the dtic are: Executive management, senior management, middle management, administration and support. 4 1.2. Research conceptualisation 1.2.1. The research problem statement The President of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa, announced his commitment to building an ethical state in which there is no place for corruption (Ramaphosa, 2020). The President also announced that a poor culture riddled with “corruption, nepotism and patronage” would not be tolerated and that action would be taken against those public servants who abused their power or stole public money. In addition, in the State of the Nation address (Ramaphosa, 2019), the President announced the creation of the Ethics, Integrity and Disciplinary Technical Assistance Unit, the role of which would be to strengthen the management of ethics and anti-corruption, and ensure consequence management for any breach of government processes. Furthermore, Ramaphosa (2018) announced the building of a capable, ethical and developmental state in which there would be zero tolerance for corruption, patronage and theft of public monies. The pledge year after year by the President of a state free of corruption, patronage and theft of public money seems to be just talk, as high levels of corruption and lack of consequences – viz. charges, monies recovered and being fired from public service – are the order of the day. Reported cases stem from former President Jacob Zuma and other parliamentarians, who were found guilty of acts of corruption and other unethical behaviours, but remained in the employ of the Government. 1.2.2. The thesis problem Even though many problems exist in the Government of the country, as detailed above, this thesis will focus only on one government department, i.e. the dtic. It will respond only to the problem of unethical behaviour in the department itself, i.e. the factors that result in unethical behaviour and the impact on the culture of the department. 5 1.2.3. The research purpose (aim and objectives) statement The purpose of this research is to determine the factors that shape the ethical culture of the dtic, by asking a range of players within the department about their perceptions of various aspects of ethical behaviour and the institutional framework in which this takes place. It is evident that unethical behaviour and corruption is rife. For many years, it has been evident that the system of governance has been affected by corruption, and there is existing evidence that this is prevalent in emerging and developing economies (Peyton & Belasen, 2012). The research is envisaged to determine if there are factors in the organisation that contribute to an unethical environment and, if so, what impact these factors would have on the culture of the organisation. Once determined, these contributing factors would have to be eliminated to ensure that public servants act in the most ethical and upright manner so as to achieve a conducive organisational culture that would encourage trust, good work ethic and excellent service delivery to the public. The aim would also be to determine what the culture of the organisation would be should there be no opportunities to act unethically and, furthermore, whether the tone at the top encourages ethical behaviour or the leadership itself is acting unethically. 1.2.4. The research questions Question 1: What factors are perceived to have encouraged the ethical or unethical behaviour? Question 2: What are the attitudes and behaviours around unethical behaviour? Question 3: Does leadership encourage ethical behaviour? Question 4: What controls and measures are in place to identify and address unethical behaviours? 6 1.3 Delimitations and assumptions of the research study The public entities and regional offices of the dtic would be excluded from the study. The public entities have autonomy from the dtic and the relationship of each entity is different from the next. 1.4 Significance of the research study Should the problem of unethical and corrupt behaviour and actions not be addressed, it would result in an increase in crime and vigilantism, and extreme distrust in the government (Bovaird & Loffler, 2001), and this could lead to a civil uprising or the government being overthrown and mass anarchy in the country. This untenable situation would lead to severe penalties from the global economy, the International Monetary Fund and South Africa’s trade partners. 7 2. LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Ethics philosophy Boone (2017) stated that ethics is also called moral philosophy, which is concerned with the moral standards by which people must behave, and seeks to decipher and make sense of the reasons why people should behave in an ethical way, and what factors contribute to such behaviour. It also seeks to understand what makes behaviours good or bad. The fathers of ethics and philosophy, Socrates, Plato and Aristotle, were famous Greek philosophers who coined the terminology “ethics”. They came up with the method of how to tackle philosophy and ethics. This was supported by MacIntyre (2003). Boone (2017) discussed the importance of ethics in life, society and religious practices, which require ethical behaviour. Kaptein (2011) provided clarity on ethics culture and that it relates directly to unethical behaviour in the workplace. Beekun et al. (2005) discussed the importance of the Utilitarian Theory of Ethics, which refers to people acting in such a way that their actions benefit the good of many, not just oneself, with relevance to the improvement of society. Schein (1996) defined culture as shared beliefs, values and norms. In their study of ethical climate and ethical culture, Trevino and Weaver (2003) found that there is a direct and strong relationship between ethical leaders who walk the talk and encourage ethical conduct, and an organisation that is compliant and values its staff and society at large. 2.2. Research problem analysis 2.2.1. Root causes Leaders who formulate legislation do not practise what they preach and transgress these legislation and frameworks. There is a lack of political will on the part of leaders to prevent corrupt actions, as they themselves are guilty of such. Sebola (2018) stated that while government proclaims that the highest authority is the Constitution, there is little to no evidence that the politicians themselves uphold the Constitution. Rossouw (2014) wrote that 8 numerous legislation are in existence, however, the Public Prosecutor’s Nkandla report (2014) stated that President Zuma had not breached legislation but the code of conduct, and hence could not be prosecuted and no action could be taken against him. This gave way for the flock to follow, as it had been proven that no action would be taken against unethical behaviour. Sebola (2018) supported the fact that the legislative frameworks to prevent unethical behaviour are ineffective as they are undermined by the very people who have to implement them. He further stated that public officials continue to act unethically as if there were no legislation. Leaders behave in an immoral way, setting a negative precedence and example for the rest of the public officials, who view the lack of consequences for unethical conduct as an opportunity to act unethically. Sweden’s Council of Basic Values of the Government (n.d.) inferred that employees observe the personal actions and behaviours of politicians at various levels and then follow their example. Beeri et al. (2013, p.62) reported to the contrary that research suggested “employees more willingly commit to and accept the consequences of decisions they were involved in”. There is a lack of political will of leaders to prevent corrupt actions as they themselves are guilty of such, and when found to be guilty there is neither remorse nor payback. Rossouw (2014) noted that with regard to the Nkandla investigation, the President should have acknowledged his transgression and apologised or made an effort to repent or repay some of the State monies as an act of good faith, but neither was done, except to deny the allegations. Gildenhuys (2004) noted an uproar around allegations of a R43-billion arms deal, where all recommendations by the Standing Committee on Public Accounts were ignored and the guilty parties let off scot-free. When there is alleged unethical conduct, the Public Prosecutor investigates the allegations and submits a report to the President for action. The President analyses the findings and reports to the National Assembly. There is, however, no process or guidelines for when the sitting President is himself accused of unethical behaviour, as the investigation report would go to him for action (Rossouw, 2014). The sitting President cannot be both player and referee. 9 Poor management of public affairs, together with politicians escaping any form of consequence or repercussion for unethical conduct, is rife. The United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA, 2000) confirmed the valid concerns of “poor, dishonest management of public affairs and corruption (immoral acts)” (UNDESA, 2000, p.1) and that “in the bureaucracy, corrupt tendencies in routine course of government business can become entrenched” (UNDESA, 2000, p. 29)”. It further stated that there is a serious lack of follow-through where there is wrongdoing (UNDESA, 2000). Unethical actions continue in the absence of stringent actions or punishments. The Minister of Communications, Telecommunications and Postal Services, Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams, is a classic example. The following unethical behaviours were reported in 2020 alone. In January 2020, Ndabeni-Abrahams travelled to Switzerland and France with her spouse, apparently for their wedding anniversary celebrations, without obtaining approval from the President. This cost the taxpayer R76 719 (Wa Afrika & Ngoepe, 2020). In April 2020, Ndabeni-Abrahams was fined R1 000 for a lockdown violation (Cilliers, 2020) and, in August 2020, the husband of Ndabeni-Abrahams was allegedly involved in the COVID-19 grant saga. There were inconsistencies in different people’s testimonies (Cape Times, 2020) and nothing came of this issue. Financial Mail (2020) reported that Ndabeni-Abrahams meddled at the post office, resulting in an organisation that had been improving descending into “shambolic dysfunction”; she also ignored Parliament and appointed councillors at ICAS, and continually interfered at the SABC. A survey conducted by Sweden’s Council of Basic Values (n.d., p. 14), concluded that basic values would be weak in workplaces where there is an attitude of tolerance to unethical behaviour. Gildenhuys (2004) stated that senior government officials, such as Ministers and Directors-General, shift responsibility to junior staff when things go wrong. They get away with it and continue to act unethically. The lack of an independent arm to oversee, investigate and prosecute is another reason for flaws in the system. The Public Service Commission investigates in an advisory capacity and does not have the mandate to prosecute. In some instances, there are inadequate resources, 10 political independence and even interference. This is supported by UNDESA (2000, p. 30). Rossouw (2015) stated that this was also a result of weaknesses in the Executive Members’ Ethics Act, which makes no provision for when the President is under investigation. The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (1996) supports this problem by indicating that enforcement must be backed up by “independent and adequately resourced prosecution and investigation services” to ensure credibility by the public. Lack of competency as well as processes and procedures in dealing with irregularities and offences were cited by Sweden’s Council of Basic Values (n.d.). 2.2.2. Trends and symptoms 2.2.2.1. Procurement irregularities Generally, the vulnerabilities and challenges in the procurement process give rise to unethical behaviour when private individuals and companies wish to influence the decisions of public officials regarding procurement. Sweden’s Council of Basic Values (n.d.) stated that officials in the procurement function are vulnerable as contracts for government work are attractive. Lawton et al. (2013) supported that there are many challenges to procurement decisions, while Gildenhuys (2014) stated that government sometimes puts out tenders not for services or items required, but to negotiate deals with suppliers for personal benefit. The daily media reports of PPE corruption during the COVID-19 pandemic are a symptom of the weak controls in the system of government procurement. The BBC (2020) reported that the Auditor-General of South Africa, Kimi Makwetu, stated that “frightening findings” had been discovered, and there were cases where personal protective equipment (PPE) had been purchased for more than five times the usual price. 11 2.2.2.2. Favouritism and nepotism Recruitment and promotion processes are affected when officials assist family members and friends to secure jobs. This is prevalent in government. These incidents are found via strong ethnic relationships and a payback process (repayment of a favour). This is supported by UNDESA (2000), Lawton et al. (2013), Sweden’s Council of Basic Values (n.d) and Gildenhuys (2004). Favouritism and nepotism is caused when leadership abuses the discretion bestowed upon it. The perpetrator is not acting in his own interest, but in the interest of someone linked to the official, be it a friend, family member or affiliate. Nepotism refers to officials hiring a relative for advancing the family interest or the relative (Hubert et al., 2007). 2.2.2.3. Unethical people are rewarded Most organisations do not reward ethical behaviour, even though they do not condone unethical behaviour. Unethical behaviour is irewarded where the ill- gotten gains and behaviours benefit the organisation, and there are no sanctions for such unethical behaviour. Sometimes the organisation's processes are silent on this, and the legislation contradicts the ethics code of conduct. Lawton et al. (2013, p.40) supported this problem, stating that “the status of the Knight can change if the knavely behaviour seems to be rewarded. Unethical behaviour may be rewarded.” Menzel (2012) stated that the best way to ensure that organisational goals are achieved ethically is to include ethics in the process of managing employee performance. 2.2.2.4. Bribery Bribes are given to government officials mainly in the form of gifts. The definition of gifts is blurred and so gives rise to bribery. In addition, officials accept small gifts in the performance of their duties, which could constitute bribery. The intention to influence the public official must be questioned or proved at the time of presentation of the gift as it may only become evident later. Bribery of traffic officers, for example, is rife in efforts to prevent traffic 12 fines. This sentiment is supported by Sebola (2018), Sweden’s Council of Basic Values (n.d.), Lawton et al. (2013), Beeri et al. (2013), Gildenhuys (2004), Rossouw (2016), and Hellsten and Larbi (2006). 2.2.3. Consequences 2.2.3.1. Distrust in the government and increase in crime The majority of South Africa’s citizens do not trust the government. Too many incidents of unethical behaviour have been reported with no effort by government to punish the offenders. The continued unethical actions and corruption that take place at political level and among high-ranking officials has led to the citizens having no trust in the government. Sebola (2018) stated that there is a global outcry that politicians and public officials cannot conduct public administration in an ethical manner, supported by the view of Sweden’s Council of Basic Values (n.d.) that corruption leads to a general deterioration of trust among citizens. This deterioration of trust is supported by Lawson et al. (2013), Beeri et al. (2013), and Hellsten and Larbi (2006). The unemployed turn to organised crime and regard robbing, stealing and looting as necessary for their survival (Gildenhuys, 2004). 2.2.3.2. Service delivery failure and non-development of the country and its people Service delivery failures and non-development of the country result from unethical behaviour, as monies meant to service the citizens of the country and enable development instead go to the coffers of politicians. This means less or no monies for the citizens (Sweden’s Council of Basic Values, n.d.). Beeri et al. (2013) stated that this issue is undeniable. These causes and consequences could result in the non-payment of taxes and diminishing foreign investments tax, and would hamper democracy (Gildenhuys, 2004). The poor are hurt, and the social and economic development of the country is seriously hampered. 13 2.3. Research knowledge gap analysis Beeri et al. (2013) conducted a survey to examine the relationship between ethics and performance in local governance. They tested the effects over time of an ethics programme in an Israeli regional council on the perceptions of employees (awareness of the code of ethics, ethical leadership, inclusion of employees in ethical decision-making [EDM], ethical climate [EC], organisational commitment and quality of work life [QWL], and behaviour [organisational citizenship behaviour]). A longitudinal study of 108 employees was employed, with data from before and after implementation of the ethics programme used to determine its effectiveness. The assessment was done objectively by obtaining managers’ evaluations of employees’ behaviour. Main findings: The main findings indicated the effectiveness of the ethics programme, which was positive and therefore effective. This resulted in more awareness of the code of ethics, and an increase in involvement and participation in the ethical decision-making. Beeri et al. (2013) also found that ethical leadership had a positive bearing on the employees’ awareness of the code of ethics, together with an increased awareness of the codes. This resulted in an improved ethics culture, more organisational commitment and a better quality of work life for all employees. The importance of an ethics programme was highlighted for fostering and maintaining ethics values within the organisation. The findings affirmed the positive effect of the ethics programme. A year after the implementation of the ethics programme, the variables relating to the ethics culture and process had increased substantially. The study merely affirmed that ethics programmes elevate the ethical culture in organisations. Knowledge gap: Beeri et al. (2013) found that there was no evidence for a relationship between the resources for ethics and the organisational citizenship behaviour; the gap could be that there was difficulty in aligning the managers’ views with those of the employees in terms of the method used, i.e. informal, spontaneous, non-rewarded behaviour, and that asking managers about this behaviour would not have been captured by the study. There was also no control group that was not exposed to the ethics 14 programme. In addition, the authors did not conduct a post-implementation study. Johnson et al. (2012) examined the relationship between ethical leader behaviour and organisational trust, satisfaction with organisational outcomes, and perceived organisational effectiveness. The study intended to close the gap where there was no evidence that ethical leaders were better off than those who were less ethical. Main findings: Johnson et al. (2012) conducted the survey with working adults and the study revealed that ethical leaders and their perceptions related to the collective trust of the employees of the organisation. Employees who believed that their leaders acted with integrity and ethics scored the organisation as more competent, transparent and showing concern for employees. They could identify with their managers, were satisfied with the outcomes of the organisation, and rated the effectiveness of the organisation highly. Immediate managers were perceived as more ethical than executives. The study also asserted that ethical leaders were effective leaders. Knowledge gap: The scope of the investigation was narrow. The study focused only on the relationship between ethical leadership, trust, satisfaction and the effectiveness of the organisation, but the exact natures of the relationships were not determined. Kalshoven et al. (2012) undertook a study to investigate the validity of ethical leader behaviours as measured with Ethical Leadership at Work (ELW), and included variables relating to ethical leadership that were investigated previously. Main findings: It was found that there was a positive relationship between ethical leadership and commitment, trust, effectiveness of the leader and job satisfaction. The study also revealed that leaders who were consistent in their behaviour, guided ethical behaviour and clarified work responsibilities were perceived as more effective. In addition, such leadership was aligned with trust. There was a higher correlation between Ethical 15 Leadership Scale (ELS) and trust, more so than ELW, indicating the importance of leaders who can be trusted. Other significant findings were that power sharing and fairness were critical for ethical leader behaviour. When employees observe that their direct managers share power, they behave in a responsible way, assist others and engage in the goals of the organisation. Employees reciprocate fair treatment, in line with the social learning theory, which states that if employees are treated fairly by their leaders, they will treat others in the same way. Knowledge gap: The following gaps were identified with the methodology, data, findings and conclusions. The ELW used the reflective measurement model and hence did not consider the measurements the formative model would have given to develop leadership measures. This measurement was omitted. Research must determine the validity of the ELW scales in different contexts and for different outcomes, expanding the sample. Self-report measures were used, hence there could have been biases in observed relationships. The recommendation is to use multiple sources, e.g. the study could have used supervisor or another more objective performance measure, as only employee views were considered for this study. In addition, participants were from different organisations and leaders had different tasks, which would not be comparable in terms of the performance measures. Multiple ethical leader behaviours should be considered. A cross-functional study must consider different functions and levels. The data for one of the studies was collected using a snowball method. The response rate could therefore not be calculated and the sampling error could have been flawed, by either a positive bias or variance restriction. In addition, employee effectiveness was assessed with two items only. In order to accurately assess the effectiveness of employees, more items must be considered and the effectiveness must be measured using objective data instead of perceptive data. Also not included was the relation of the ELW to other outcome variables, e.g. ethical behaviours of employees. 16 A study by Oyadare (1998) sought to obtain information from the subjects on issues that touch on professional standards in the civil service. The study covered 18 federal ministries with 300 respondents. Main findings: Findings from the field revealed that serving civil servants acknowledged that the level of professional conduct in the civil service was low. Observers alleged that for this situation low work ethics was expected, however, that was not the case based on the outcome of this study. The study also revealed that civil servants acknowledged their weaknesses, while scoring their performance high. The Nigerian civil servant was found wanting on all four of Dunsire’s taxonomy. Findings revealed that civil servants were not prompt in coming to the office, absenteeism was rampant, and there was a breach of respect for office rules, diligence and attentiveness. In addition, civil servants were expected to be free of unethical behaviours and attitudes, but the study revealed a complete breach. The study found that Nigerian civil servants were experts at extortion, and when entrusted with public funds were found guilty of financial mismanagement, even though cases were grossly mismanaged. Examples of corruption were reported as fictitious consultancy fee payments, padded contract sums, the deliberate diversion of huge funds into pockets of individuals and over-costing of projects, while the cost of government in Nigeria appeared to bear no relevance to actual activities. In addition, civil servants placed their personal interests above any other consideration, and the relationship between civil servants and political executives involved collusion and non-cooperation. This impacted on service delivery to the public, which was extremely poor. 2.4. Qualitative attributes key to the research The test in this research will be qualitative as the subject deals with people’s behaviours and personalities. The following attributes will be included in the study: Employees’ perceptions of leadership; if leadership sets the tone at the top; if employees act ethically; whether there are ethical codes, and if these are adhered to; if measures are in place to curb unethical behaviour; and how unethical behaviour is treated (whether condoned or punished). 17 2.5. Framework(s) for interpreting research findings This is an academic study. In the absence of a definitive established framework that is widely referred to and used, many authors have developed frameworks based on their impressive studies. The following frameworks will be considered: King IV (2016) advised that there are four key pillars by which organisations must be managed, i.e. ethical culture, good performance, effective control and legitimacy. Figure 1: A conceptual framework of corporate and business ethics across organisations: Structures, processes and performance (King IV, 2016) King IV (2016) outlined three key principles for the management of an ethical organisation: Principle 1 requires ethical and effective leading by the Accounting Officer; Principle 2 requires the Accounting Officer to support the ethical culture; and Principle 7 requires the Accounting Officer to possess the requisite skills and competencies. For the purposes of an active, robust and leading-edge ethics practice and culture, King IV (2016) recommended a social and ethics committee that carries a greater responsibility than a compliance function; and a higher standard for the committee with the majority of members being non-executive to ensure independent judgement. Members must be competent and act with due care and skill. It also recommended that the governing Board (Executive Board in the case of the dtic) should set the direction for the approach to the 18 management of ethics; the Board must approve the ethics policies, programmes and codes of conduct. Svenson and Wood (2007) provided both an external and internal methodology for ethics, which encompasses the entire organisation, the structures to manage ethics, relevant processes, and the performance of the organisation in line with ethics policies and ethos. This is illustrated in the Figure below. Figure 2: A conceptual framework of corporate and business ethics across organisations: Structures, processes and performance (Svenson & Wood 2007) This conceptual framework is a continuous and robust process that entails regular revisions and iterations to remain relevant. The success of the ethics programme and effort depends on the “structures” in place (which includes the Ethics Committee, codes of conduct, ethics education, whistle- blowing procedures and ethics audits) that lay the foundation for ethics development, management and monitoring. Commitment will be achieved when an organisation provides protection for whistleblowers (Wood & Rimmer, 2003). The “processes” would be enabled by such supporting structures. “Performance” refers to the monitoring, assessment and 19 sustainability of the organisation-wide ethical actions, behaviours and practices. 2.6. Summary and conclusion 2.6.1 Summary of literature reviewed The literature states that corruption in the country is ever-present, if not becoming worse. The root cause of such decay is mainly the greed of politicians, who are power hungry, opportunistic and liars (Gildenhuys, 2004). Rossouw (2014) stated that there is no legislation governing investigation and enforcement processes when the sitting President is accused of wrongdoing, and this does not eliminate interference from politicians. The root cause of unethical behaviour is there are no repercussions for unethical behaviour and no follow-ups to reports of unethical or corrupt behaviour. Procurement irregularities are ever-increasing. There is no independent arm to investigate and enforce the actions, as the Public Service Commission plays merely an advisory function and does not have the mandate to enforce. Serious consequences will befall the country unless swift action is taken. The frameworks by renowned authors on this subject matter recommend obligations and responsibilities of the Accounting Officer in an organisation (national public administration), supportive structures that would enable ethics processes to be implemented and thrive, and to gauge the effectiveness of the programmes. 2.6.2 Proposed research strategy, design, procedure and methods arising from the literature reviewed The research will follow a qualitative strategy, using a cross-sectional research design for the collection of data. The research data-collection instrument is the interview schedule, which will be used to interview respondents to obtain the required data. The research data-collection instrument will be semi-structured face-to-face-interviews. Convenience/opportunity sampling will be used, owing to the diversity of respondents required to obtain robust and extensive views. 20 3. RESEARCH STRATEGY, DESIGN, PROCEDURE AND METHODS 3.1. Research strategy A research strategy introduces the main components of a research project, including the research topic area and focus, research perspective, research design and research methods. It refers to how one proposes to answer the research questions set, and how one will implement the methodology. The research strategy is based on the theoretical framework and research questions. There are three research strategies, viz. qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods. The qualitative approach involves looking at the characteristics or qualities that cannot be quantified, as it discusses people’s opinions, feelings and emotions. Qualitative studies mainly use non- numerical data, e.g. verbal information and visual displays (Leedy & Ormrod, 2015). The research strategy is an overarching phase that refers to the collection, analysis and interpretation of interviews, participant observation and document data in order to understand and describe meanings, relationships and patterns (Tracy, 2013). “Qualitative research is a means for exploring and understanding the meaning individuals or groups ascribe to a social or human problem. The process of research involves emerging questions and procedures, data typically collected in the participant's setting, data analysis inductively building from particulars to general themes, and the researcher making interpretations of the meaning of the data” (Creswell, 2009, p. 37). Cox (2009) stated that qualitative research is about the framework, settings, language and suppositions drawn regarding the nature of social occurrences. This study used the qualitative approach because the researcher believed that no single reality underlies the research problem as individuals may have different valid realities (Leedy & Ormrod, 2015). This topic entails people’s perceptions, views and experiences as well as their biases. 21 Authors who used this research strategy were Beeri et al. (2013), who conducted a qualitative research to demonstrate that a well-devised, well-applied and well-executed ethics programme would result in superior and developed ethical consequences and other organisational outcomes. 3.2. Research design Research design is the framework for the collection and examination of the data. It tells one how the research will be carried out, including who will be participating in the research. There are five generic research designs for the collection of data (Brymans, 2012), viz. cross-sectional, longitudinal, case study, comparative and experimental. This study employed the cross-sectional study, using questionnaires and some structured interviews for the data collection. Respondents were diverse and the study was at a point in time, not over different periods. People interviewed were in senior, junior, middle management positions and had worked at the department for varying lengths of time. The respondents were drawn from all ethnic groups. Cox (2015) applied the cross-sectional research design because it maximised range and depth. . The advantages were the respondents’ own assessment of generalisability, the interviewer’s own identification of the respondents, and the depth of the studied area showed that there is a universal existence among the group of respondents, which would be indicative of the population. 3.3. Research procedure and methods 3.3.1 Research data and information collection instrument(s) A research data-collection instrument is the medium and means of collecting the data. This study followed the interview schedule. The researcher invited respondents to Ms Team meetings via meeting requests, owing to the impact of COVID and the cautionary around face-to-face interviews. The researcher documented interview questions to obtain responses from the respondents. “Interviews provide opportunities for mutual discovery, understanding, 22 reflection and explanation via a path that is organic, adaptive, and oftentimes energising” (Tracy, 2013, p. 132). The advantage of interviews is the personal interaction with the respondent, and clarity can be sought immediately to ensure the integrity and accuracy of the respondents. In this way, it removes subjectivity from the respondents. It also allows for the collection of data from a large number of people in a short time. In addition, it is convenient to analyse as the same questions will be posed to all respondents. Oyadare (1998) used this research data and information-collection instrument to obtain information from subjects on issues of professional standards in the civil service. Eighteen federal ministries with 300 respondents were covered. Interviews and the random sampling method were used. The manner in which the research data is collected in the instrument could be structured, semi-structured or unstructured. For this study, the researcher used a semi-structured data- collection method. Longhurst (2003) stated that semi-structured interviews rely on interactions between the interviewer and interviewee, and focus on obtaining views on complexity in behaviours, peoples’ opinions and the emotions they feel, their experiences, thoughts, feelings and perceptions. Based on the literature review, the researcher sourced questions for the interview schedule from the frameworks by King IV (2016) and Svenson and Wood (2007). The interview schedule comprised four components. The first entailed screening to ensure that the person qualified to participate in the interview; the second contained their perceptions of ethical leadership, the tone at the top and the trust in the organisation, together with the opportunities that exist in the organisation for unethical behaviour, and their observations of unethical behaviour; the third contained ethical questions of the respondent in terms of how ethical they are and if they have transgressed the ethical principles; and the fourth prompted the controls that are in the department to prevent unethical behaviour. This is in line with the components of the framework. 23 3.3.2. Research target population and selection of respondents 3.3.2.1 Research target population The target population refers to the universe of people who will be considered for the study. The target population of this study was: a) employees of the dtic; b) employees from all levels of the organisation, that is, executive, senior management, middle management and junior levels; c) full-time employees and part-time employees/contractors; d) an equal number of male and female employees; e) employees who have been at the dtic for a minimum of one year; and f) a diverse sample by ethnic groups. The benefit of the target population is to obtain as many responses as possible, and by engaging with employees at different levels, it will be clear at exactly which levels the unethical behaviour is prevalent (if at all). The researcher is employed by the dtic and has access to all staff information and will therefore be able to select as large a number as possible. It will also give the researcher variation. Kalshoven et al. (2012) undertook a study to investigate the validity of ethical leader behaviours, as measured with Ethical Leadership at Work (ELW), and included variables relating to ethical leadership that were investigated previously using a similar target population, viz. a sample of the total population. The advantage was to obtain as diverse a view to understand the ethical climate of the organisation. 3.3.2.2 Sampling or selecting respondents from the target population Sampling is the process of selecting units for observation. Good qualitative researchers use purposeful sampling, the data of which they purposefully choose to fit the parameters of the project’s research questions, goals and purposes (Tracy, 2013). There are various types of sampling, i.e. random, convenience/opportunity, maximum variation, snowball, theoretical construct, typical instance and critical instance. The researcher utilised convenience/opportunity sampling due to the diversity of sample being selected, i.e. different race, number of years (several to low), different levels 24 (senior to junior) and different divisions, etc. The advantage is that a diverse cross-cutting sample will give a good reflection of the state of ethics organisation-wide. Cox (2015) chose to select respondents using convenience sampling, as he was attempting to maximise the scope and selection as well as certain rationality. The aim with this selection was to maximise the range and depth of the research. For this study, the researcher used convenience/opportunity sampling because it is specific to the research and included employees from different branches across the organisation, who had been employed for varying lengths time and were from different ethnic groups. Sample size is the number of individuals in a sample. The dtic has an establishment of +1 300 employees. The sample size was to have been 1% of the establishment, i.e. 13 employees. In an effort to obtain as many respondents as possible, 26 emails were sent to secure meetings to conduct interviews, however, only 12 respondents accepted. 3.3.3. Ethical considerations when collecting research data Ethics considers the moral principles that govern human behaviour and actions. The researcher must consider procedural ethics (human beings), situational and cultural ethics, and relational ethics in carrying out the research (Tracy, 2013). The researcher has been sponsored by her employer, the dtic, to complete her MBA qualification. The researcher will use the knowledge gained in this qualification to implement good practices at the dtic as she is the Ethics Officer of the department, hence the choice of topic for the thesis, viz. ethics. The practices the researcher will implement (on approval by the employer) will be in line with the request by the President and the anti- corruption initiatives for government. The researcher’s sponsor will benefit from the study and the survey. The researcher’s positionality: As the Ethics Officer of the department, the researcher is privy to information about ethics and the organisation. The researcher will, however, not prompt, influence, judge or 25 lead any of the responses. The researcher will accept the responses given by all respondents, even though they may not be correct and may be perceptions. Ethical Issue: Deception – The researcher will not deceive any respondents, will disclose the reason for the interviews, with the details of the researcher, and make available the consent form. Ethical Issue: Harm – The researcher will not in any way harm or stress the respondents (physically or developmentally) or drive them to a point of “losing self-esteem”. Ethical Issue: Informed consent – The researcher will not obtain any information without the signed consent form. Participants will be made aware that their participation will be voluntary. Ethical Issue: Invasion of privacy – The researcher will protect the respondents, including securing the data obtained and not revealing their identity. The data will be encrypted once obtained. 3.3.4 Research data and information-collection process Research data collection refers to the gathering of data for the answering of the researcher’s questions. Information will be collected, analysed and interpreted. The collection of data will be via personal interviews. Due to COVID-19 measures, respondents were not comfortable with face-to-face interviews and, in addition, were approved to work remotely. All interviews were therefore held via MS Teams meetings. There are four methods of data collection, viz. participant observation or ethnography, interviews (face to face, telephonic or internet-based), focus group discussion and documents. For this study, the researcher used face- to-face interviews via MS Teams. The current COVID-19 pandemic imposed restrictions whereby respondents did not wish to meet in person. The researcher recorded and transcribed all interviews, and sent the respondents the transcriptions of their responses. Respondents signed the interview schedule confirming that the transcriptions were a true reflection of their interviews. 26 The advantage of face-to-face interviews is that participants have the time to express what is on their mind and to answer the questions frankly. The researcher prompted and clarified where questions were not clear or where the respondents required clarity. The identities and information of all respondents is kept confidential. Only the researcher has access to the information and recordings, which were digitally encrypted. Once the interviews were transcribed, the respondents were given fictional names in the report. 3.3.5 Research data and information processing and analysis 3.3.5.1 Research data and information processing Research data processing means taking raw data and turning it into information that can be used to make decisions, inputting it into a computer, extracting graphs, and summarising and explaining what the results mean. Data coding refers to labelling and systematising the data. Coding can be accomplished by using a variety of materials, including an Excel spreadsheet or computer-aided qualitative data analysis software (Tracy, 2013). Data entry into a computer refers to taking the numerical codes and inputting them into a computer so that the computer can analyse the information. Cox (2015) used a monster grid, a data matrix created in Excel, with the respondents on one axis and the interview questions on the other. Data cleaning could either be code cleaning (checking for code feasibility and rectifying) or contingency cleaning (cross-checking variables and looking for illogical information). There were no data errors that the researcher had to fix. For single-response questions, the researcher checked for multiple responses, routing and filtering. The respondent could have missed answering questions. The respondents were prompted at the interview to complete all questions. 3.3.5.2 Research data and information analysis Research data analysis refers to examining and establishing the meaning of the data, and how it relates to the questions and the reason for carrying out 27 the research in the first place. Many methods can be used for the analysis of data, e.g. regression analysis, cluster analysis and content analysis. Nowell et al. (2017) described thematic analysis as analysing, organising, describing and reporting themes found within a data set. The method provides an adaptable methodology and is useful for examining the viewpoints of different research participants, emphasising similarities and differences, and producing unexpected and novel insights. The researcher used the thematic analysis to analyse the data. This tool was beneficial as the research involved interviewing respondents, and the responses were qualitative in nature. 3.3.6 Description of the research respondents The description of the respondents was based on the information from the samples above. Respondents met the screening criteria, i.e. be employed by the dtic. Age did not matter; what mattered was the length of service and level of employment. The ethnic diversity will determine whether there are any biases with the ethical actions of management and leadership. Their roles are not relevant. 3.4 Research strengths – reliability and validity measures applied Research reliability refers to the stability and reliability of the research results. Golafshani (2003) stated that research reliability refers to the reliability and dependability of the research; that the research is of good quality, generating understanding and probing for a good understanding of the data. Reliable studies can be replicated in the same way, irrespective of who is conducting the studies (Tracy, 2013). Reliability and validity will determine the honesty, credibility and believability of the research results. It is important to ensure reliability and validity to remove the researcher’s subjectivity, which would cloud the interpretation of the data and results. Reliability must align to the intended purpose, and validity can influence the extent to which the researcher can learn something about what is being investigated (Leedy & Ormrod, 2015). Research validity is when the researcher checks for accuracy of the findings. 28 There are four main types of validity for a quantitative research strategy, i.e. measurement validity, internal validity, external validity and ecological validity; and four types of validity for a qualitative research strategy, namely credibility, dependability, transferability and conformability. Gibbs (2007) stated that qualitative validity requires the researcher to check for accurateness of the findings, while reliability refers to the consistency of the researcher’s approach across different projects and other researches. The researcher will measure reliability and validity in the research using dependability, transferability and conformability for a qualitative research strategy. The researcher will ensure that the respondents are under no influence to respond in a certain way. The researcher will ensure that the respondents and the responses are trustworthy, that the coding is valid and trustworthy, and that the measures and scoring are done in a consistent manner. Leedy and Ormrod (2015) defined the three types of validity as: 1) internal validity, which ensures conclusions are reached about cause and effect and other relationships between variables; 2) external validity, which gives assurance that the results of the study can be generalised to the larger population or context; and 3) credibility and trustworthiness, viz. all individuals will find the study convincing and reliable. 3.5. Research weaknesses – technical and administrative limitations Limitations of the research could include senior management and executives being too busy to participate, and it may be a struggle to get all respondents to respond due to the possibility of exhaustion, as issues voiced were perhaps not addressed previously. In addition, civil servants may not have time to partake in the survey since resources have been severely cut by National Treasury. At the dtic, which is the subject of the study, the respondents may not be available due to travel, which is in line with the mandate of the department to stimulate economic growth by attracting investment. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, respondents may not want to have face-to-face personal interactions for the responses. 29 4. PRESENTATION OF RESEARCH RESULTS Introduction Research data analysis refers to examining and establishing the meaning of the data and how it relates to the questions and the reason for carrying out the research in the first place. Thematic analysis was used in this study, by using themes found within the data set that examined the viewpoints of different research participants, emphasised similarities and differences, and produced unexpected and novel insights (Nowell et al., 2017). Causal relationships were explained in the data obtained (Yin, 2003). The study intends to assist organisations and mainly the public service by unpacking factors that contribute to ethics in an organisation and presenting empirical evidence with the utilisation of interviews and analyses. The data is presented and analysed based on the following research questions: (1) What factors are perceived to have encouraged ethical or unethical behaviour? (2) What are the attitudes and behaviours around unethical behaviour? (3) Does leadership encourage ethical behaviour? (4) What mechanisms and measures are in place to identify and address unethical behaviours? Table 1: Respondent profile Respondent * Job Level Ethnicity Sex Length of service in years VCMS SMS Coloured Male 8.5 PIFS SMS Indian Female 19 SCFS SMS Coloured Female 11 AIMM MMS Indian Male 21 JIMM MMS Indian Male 2.5 SBFA Admin Black Female 10 TIFA Admin Indian Female 12 PBFA Admin Black Female 5 AWFP PA-Support White Female 24 RWFP PA-Support White Female 7 30 Respondent * Job Level Ethnicity Sex Length of service in years TWFP PA-Support White Female 13.3 *Pseudonym is used for respondents name. 1st digit is the first letter of the respondent’s name. 2nd digit 3rd digit 4th digit C Coloured M Male S SMS I Indian F Female M MMS W White A Admin B Black P Support Sample selection A sample of 13 respondents was targeted. Twenty-six meeting requests, inclusive of all criteria as listed in Chapter 3, were sent to potential respondents to participate in the study. Despite reminders and follow-ups, only 12 positive responses were received, as shown below. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and remote working policies at the dtic, all interviews were conducted via MS Teams. 11 3 15 8 8 3 9 3 5 4 4 2 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 Requests sent Accepted invite coloured indian white Black Female Male Sample selection Figure 3: Sample Selection Of the 26 invitations sent, the acceptance rate was low as indicated above. 31 Respondents by Ethnicity Black, 18% White, 27% Coloured, 18% Indian, 36% Black White Coloured Indian Chart Title Figure 4: Respondents by ethnicity Ethnicity was considered for this study in light of the diversity in the South African landscape as well as the public service. Ethnicity would reflect personal experiences in terms of how ethics is perceived in the dynamic and changing political arena, wherein the majority of leaders are black. Thirty-three per cent of whites and 33% of Indians participated in the survey. Whites and Indians are not the biggest populations at the dtic, but responded most favourably to the invitations sent. 0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 exec sms mms admin support over 20 yrs 16-20yrs 10-15 yrs under 10 years Level in organisation vs years of service 32 Figure 5: Respondents by level in the organisation The sample selected was represented by respondents in all categories of length of service. Male, 25% Female, 75% Male Female Sex of respondents Figure 6: Respondents by sex The perception of different sexes in terms of how they experience the ethical climate at the department was important to determine the factors that could contribute to the different views. The majority of the respondents were female. Although 11 requests were sent to male respondents and 15 were sent to female respondents, only three males (25%) responded to the request, as opposed to nine females (75%) who responded. The research findings are presented based on the responses per each research question below. The responses per question are appended in Appendix G. 4.1. What factors are perceived to encourage unethical behaviour? Key theme emanating from this research question: Opportunities and contributors to encourage unethical behaviour 33 4.1.1 Response to research question 1 In answering research question 1, the following findings are presented based on the responses gathered during the interview process. To the question of what opportunities exist for management and staff to act unethically, respondents were unanimous that there are many. Abuse of power by leadership, procurement irregularities, and collusion by managers with human resources (HR) in the recruitment process were among some of the responses. Respondent VCMS voiced strongly that “senior management and most of leadership feel they are untouchable. Abuse of power exists, people are scared to challenge these people for fear of occupational detriment and loss of job security and that they will be victimised and/or intimidated” and “there is no mechanism to pick up kickbacks”. Similarly, Respondent PIFS said, “Opportunities would exist where there is no common knowledge of what is ethics and how does it apply in the organisation. There are different ethical standards and practices. The problem is that it is not known to all employees.” Respondent AWFP suggested that “lots of work is being given to staff, but they are not getting paid. People may think it’s not fair to do all this work and not be paid. Posts are being abolished and staff have to take on extra work and not be paid; this could cause them to act unethically.” 4.1.2 Recap of responses to research question 1 The main contributors and opportunities in the department include abuse of power (hence employees fear challenging unethical behaviours), leadership not wanting to walk the talk and set the example, procurement irregularities, collusion in the recruitment processes, the absence of a common understanding of ethics, and staff who are overworked and underpaid may be tempted to act unethically. 34 4.2. What are the attitudes and behaviours around unethical behaviour? Key themes emanating from this research question: Visibility of unethical behaviour, consequences for unethical behaviour 4.2.1 Response to research question 2 Visibility of unethical behaviour When questioned on whether employees generally act ethically, two respondents stated ‘no’, while the majority were in disagreement and believed there were instances when employees did act unethically and it was known. Respondent TWFP felt strongly about stealing time from the company, stating: “Not adhering to working hours, one can be unethical if you get to work at 9, have lunch at 1, you know you already late and take three- quarter lunch and leave at 3; they don’t work in the time.” This sentiment was echoed by Respondent VCMS: “During Covid, people are not doing their work; people come late. I came late; I was supposed to be here at 8, but came at 9. Government workers generally tend to not put in their full pound of flesh; I am also guilty of that. Generally, unfortunately in IT, people feel like the dti and government owes them something and they don’t deliver. Not competent, and second they in cruise mode and overstaffed. Twenty per cent of people in IT are unproductive.” Respondent VCMS also stated that 20% of the people employed in his unit could be taking bribes due to their type of work. He said he was offered a bribe, but turned it down. Respondent TIFA was upset to mention, “I have been asked to act unethically for the audits by management”. Asked if she would act unethically if given the opportunity, she stated, “To get out of situation, it is that you don’t have a choice, to rectify a situation that something we missed; for example, if something needs to be uploaded it required for particular reason, they will upload it even though it is not supposed to have been done now.” When questioned about recurrences of unethical behaviour (possibly post disciplinary actions taken), Respondent SCFS stated, “Yes, despite the 35 disciplinary process, depends on the level of discipline executed, for example, they behave for six months then they continue the behaviour and the cycle continues, whether the discipline is internalised yes and no.” Respondent SBFA had a different view: “Junior staff, they will not as action is taken, but I doubt actions are taken for senior staff. Junior staff are powerless, but management know how to manoeuvre. Knowing what to do, having power to stand on your leg.” Seven respondents (64%) were of the view that unethical behaviour was highly visible. Respondent VCMS stated, “It’s very difficult to address it, as they are good in running around and covering up. So we are using people 30% of their full capacity, thus also a management issue.” Where acts were not visible, respondents had heard about them. Consequences for unethical behaviours/transgressors of the codes Consequences provided by respondents included dismissal and loss of job opportunities. Respondent SBFA stated, “There are rules and regulations with regard to that. DTI has rules and regulations of how to go about disciplining and what measures to take.” Respondent RWFP agreed, “Fair dismissal and even trying to go to the union you will get fired.” Respondent AWFP concurred that “you will be penalised and in Govt. they may not fire you, but they can lay you off”. To the question of whether there are visible consequences for managers or staff who are found to have breached the code of conduct or ethics policy, the majority of respondents were of the view that there were visible consequences. Respondent SCFS elaborated, “In terms of disciplinary process that I have instituted it has come out in defence of employer.” There were, however, divergent views. Respondent VCMS agreed that “there are processes, but are too tardy, protracted and not seen through, e.g. an amount should have been recovered, but nothing was done.” Respondent SBFA believed that “they will not publicise, never heard of a senior person being disciplined or actions being taken. Sometimes, e.g. reports or petty things, when it’s a junior staff who doesn’t want to submit verification, etc. vetting stuff with junior staff, it’s 36 easier to issue warning or disciplinary, but you will find some management will not submit and no actions are taken.” Respondent PBFA elaborated on this view, saying that “in some instances there is favouritism; depends on who you are and who you know and action will be taken against you; there’s no consistency. Others are favoured.” The last camp was unsure of consequences or did not know if there were any consequences. 4.2.2 Recap of responses to research question 2 Respondents affirmed that unethical behaviours were visible in the department, for example, coming late to work and not working back the time. Also clear from the responses was the sense of entitlement in government and that people do not work, but sit back and expect to be rewarded. Respondents stated that there were consequences for a breach of the ethics policy and code, however, it was clear that consequence management was applied to junior staff, while senior staff go unpunished. 4.3. Does leadership encourage ethical behaviour? Key themes emanating from the research question: Actions and behaviours of leadership; trust in leadership; tone at the top (assessment of the HOD/DG); decision-making 4.3.1 Responses to research question 3 Actions and behaviours of leadership The question of whether respondents believed that the actions of leadership are ethical elicited divergent views. Respondent VCMS believed that there is “blatant abuse of power if they caught out regarding wrongful conduct and influencing other people”. This view was supported by Respondent TWFP, who argued that “rules don’t apply to everybody, not in our organisation though, in dtic everyone are aware of what’s right and what’s wrong; out of the organisation, they know what they are doing is wrong and they are getting away with it.” Respondent PIFS believed that “sometimes there is an element of irrationality‘ one cannot justify or rationalise the decisions and just 37 simple examples in terms of applying one’s minds relating to HR or operational management of the organisation, one finds favouritism. One finds nepotism. Favouritism goes beyond considering one person over another, but state resources are being used in ensuring one person is preferred over another, careers with financial benefits or overlooking one ER-related matter.” This view was supported by Respondent JIMM, who stated that “nepotism is a key factor”, and also evident in the response from Respondent AIMM, who emphasised, “CD [chief director] show favouritism, CDs were not transparent.” Respondent AIMM had a different view of Deputy Directors-General (DDGs). He stated that they “showed good leadership and managerial skills as they sorted out issues, which was factual and transparent”. The other camp suggested that leadership displayed ethical behaviours. For example, Respondent SBFA suggested that “in terms of information, within the dtic with regard to decisions being taken by management, ExBo, its published decisions they took and unions are free to dispute decisions taken”. Respondent AWFP supported this view, saying that “they live the values, morals and principles of the dtic and they do what is part of the Batho Pele (dtic’s values programme) principles.” Respondents were divided in their views with regard to the question of whether there is trust in leadership. There were three camps with distinct views. Three support staff and one in the administration function were in favour of leadership. In the second camp, another support staff member (Respondent TWFP) trusted some leaders, but not others, adding, “Yes, I do trust our leadership. There not work with and I keep my distance. I don’t feel comfortable around certain people, so I have my red lights, I have the bubble and stay there. There are people higher up who do unethical things.” This sentiment was shared by Respondents SBFA and SCFS, who elaborated that “it depends on which camp you are sitting in, e.g. union or bargaining environment appears not a lot of trust from that area on leadership”. Other responses were from Respondent AIMM, who said, “60% good, 40% bad”. The third camp believed that leadership could not be trusted. Respondent VCMS believed that “some DDGs are unethical and have no 38 integrity. There is lack of trust with certain individuals and I stood up against them.” Respondent SCFS elaborated on this view, “I think with general manager there is a level of mistrust in leadership whether they are taking the right decisions, making right choices, are they withholding information which the rest of the organisation is not informed of, but for myself, I’m a very trusting person, I will take things at face value and experience a trust relationship with my management. If there is a break in trust, I will discern that.” This view was also apparent in the response from Respondent PIFS, who said, “Leadership does not walk the talk.” To the question of whether the respondents experienced a lack of trust from leadership, Respondent VCMS stated, “Honesty and integrity doesn’t exist where 1 DDG is involved and they had influenced others in my case.” Respondent PIFS said, “Even though it has not affected me personally, as part of the fabric clearly when one sees these practices it creates lack of trust in leadership.” This view was supported by Respondent PBFA, who had “seen it from a distance”. Respondent AIMM had experienced this lack of trust, stating, “Yes, referring to leaders of our section, in plain sight the correct dti procedure was not followed.” Tone at the top – assessment of the Head of Department (DG) To the question of whether the Accounting Officer leads ethically and effectively, the majority of respondents agreed that he does. Respondent VCMS, however, expressed a different view, stating, ”In his subliminal mind he thinks that he does, but when it boils down to certain things then you see a different side of him.” The other respondents did not seem to know or had not come into contact with the DG. To the question posed as to whether the DG supports the ethics culture, the majority of respondents were not sure or did not know. Respondent PIFS stated, “I don’t know if he supports it, but the ethical culture is not enhanced and it is not apparent.” To the question of whether the DG has the requisite skills and competencies to manage ethics in the organisation, one respondent believed the DG does not, stating, “No, I don’t know and don’t think so, he’s legally 39 qualified and in his mind wants to do the right thing, but he makes decisions that are bad for the dept and don’t follow advice of experts. Implementation is not being adhered to. He’s not a best leader.” Six of the respondents merely stated ”yes”, while four were unsure or did not know. Decision-making by leaders Respondent PIFS suggested that “there is a lack of consistency in how decisions are made, it’s not always transparent in decision-making and in leading the organisation, there are issues of communication, which is very important and it is also a concern as communications from leadership indicate lack of ethical leadership.” This view was also apparent in the response from Respondent PFBA, who said, “In some instances, there are inconsistency when they take decisions.” Respondent SCFS suggested that leaders are hesitant to make decisions; “we work in government, there is lots of responsibility and accountability that we have and we need to take ownership of and those levels are accountable and responsible. The requirements are quite harsh and strict in a way. Certain people do not want to make decisions as it may put them in a situation where they must be accountable and answerable.” This view was apparent in the response from Respondent PIFS, who stated, “It’s not always transparent in decision-making and in leading the organisation.” Respondent SBFA had a different view from the two camps, stating, “50/50 as a junior person who doesn’t know what’s involved in making decisions, it’s a NO, but as I work in the CD’s office I know why decisions are made, then it’s a yes.” Respondent VCMS thought that the “DG makes decisions that are bad for the department and don’t follow advice of experts”. 4.3.2 Recap of responses to research question 3 The majority of the respondents stated that the actions and behaviours of leadership are fraught with abuse of power and favouritism in recruitment; 40 that they do not walk the talk and cannot be trusted; and that decision- making is largely inconsistent, irrational and transparent. 4.4 What mechanisms are there to prevent unethical behaviour? Key themes emanating from the research question: Key controls and measures; processes have ethics embedded therein and ethics is entrenched in practice; visible solutions for ethical dilemmas 4.4.1 Responses to research question 4 Key controls and measures There are three camps of differing viewpoints. In the first camp there seemed to be consensus that there are NO controls. Respondent VCMS believed that “there is no mechanism to pick up kickbacks”. Respondent AIMM stated that “a client can phone any employee offering a bribe – now only legal services are allowed any inspections, also not 1 person goes for inspection, always 2 or 3. Another – gifts are recorded in gifts register.” This sentiment was echoed by Respondent SBFA, who stated, “None, nowadays you even get surveys they are doing, people don’t trust if it is not anonymous. At the moment they do surveys, but not about ethics.” In the second camp, respondents believed that mechanisms ARE in place to prevent unethical behaviour. Respondent SCFS stated, “Structures and controls in place – we have good controls in place that guide us in ethical behaviour, guidelines, policies include the necessary principles structures, controls, that guide ethical behaviour, e.g. supply chain function – we know what rules are and policies are, which keep us on an ethical path. There are functional units like IA, which audits performance, functions, financial delegations and other processes as well, which requires us as Govt. officials to disclose matters as well, even to the level of every submission I produced; we have a section that talks to some kind of disclosure of not being advantaged in a certain way by approving or recommending submissions. dtic have done well in putting these structures in place as it derived this path, there is lots of checks and committees in place, e.g. 1 committee and another 41 committee, etc., which is involved. There is also audits, RM. Also declarations, whether on procurement or financial declarations.” Respondent PIFS stated, “Controls in place currently are the gifts and sponsorship register.” Respondent TIFA agreed, saying there are “training courses on induction, also open office policy where client was trying to sweet talk me into approval, offering gifts, because of open-door policy it was easy to get advice from managers. Also, our managers bring to our attention that if one is not comfortable we can refer it to them.” This view was apparent in the response from Respondent TWFP, who stated, “For me its newsflashes, workshops, very very good was the ethics training via the school of governance online training.” When asked if these mechanisms work, Respondent VCMS stated, “The process is too long to get to conclusion and wrapping up of investigation. Mechanisms are protracted and takes too long. HR should have picked it up and there must be action on HR people who should have verified the salary, but did not do their job.” Respondent PIFS stated, “Declarations and gift policy, which is voluntary declaration, one could omit to declare them.” Respondent AIMM suggested, “There’s still opportunities for people to accept a bribe we will not know that 20% could be accept the bribes.” Respondents were asked whether they were aware of the following mechanisms in the department, and below are their responses: Code of Ethics: The majority of respondents responded in the affirmative. Ethics Committee (EC): Responses are divided into those who think one exists and those who are not aware. When asked if the members of the EC are competent, the majority of respondents did not know who the EC members were. Of the two respondents who did know (or thought they knew), Respondent VCMS stated, “CFO is the acting head of ethics and he is competent and capable. The COO as the Chair is not as she is also unethical; DDG 1 is ethical when it suits her, she’s sometimes not competent. She is striving to be good person, she covers her back when she does something wrong.” Respondent PBFA stated, “No, wouldn’t know for now. 42 Previous – competent they were. Capable they were not hence committee was dissolved.” Whistleblowing policy: The majority of respondents were aware that the department had a whistleblowing policy. Protection of whistleblowers: Even though the majority of the respondents stated that there was protection for whistleblowers, there did not seem to be assurance of such protection, as was evidenced by the responses. Respondent SCFS stated, “I have not been aware of any kind of scenario where the whistleblower has not been protected; general feeling is that when you are stepping out and taking an action of reporting something it is difficult as there is a lot of talk. I don’t think the dtic has a very good approach to keeping confidential things, confidential whether it’s on an individual level or on a broader level, there seems to be a lot of leaked info around – this one said this, that one said that, that kind of culture can also be applied to there will be a lot of corridor talk, that’s why people’s judgements come as well via the corridor talk, it may be negative to a person’s promotion opportunities.” While in agreement, Respondent TWFP also stated, “Somehow it does always come out I don’t know how, but there’s few instances they were always not protected.” This view was apparent in the response from Respondent SBFA, who elaborated that “at the dtic haven’t looked into the whistleblowers and haven’t come across it, but in news they say there’s no protection, don’t know about the dtic – should be more awareness of the impact people think they are not protected.” Respondent AIMM was sceptical about the protection and said, “I’m unsure although they say there is protection, but if you record something what if you need to testify in recording behind closed doors, if this person wants to see who you, then what happens.” Ethics education, awareness and training and the quality thereof The majority of the respondents stated that they were aware of ethics education in the department. The majority were also satisfied that the training was satisfactory to good, however, Respondent AIMM thought that “every 43 year, it’s the same thing – do something differently if you attend the 1 course it’s the same 60% good”. Processes have ethics embedded therein and ethics is entrenched in practice There seems to be consensus around the existence of processes, however, these do not seem to be entrenched in the practice, as was stated by most of the respondents. Respondent SCFS said, “It’s there, but an individual must decide whether they want to abide by it or not – coming as an employee, to the workplace and doing 2 hours of work and going for 2 hours lunch yes, in terms of disciplinary process that I have instituted has come out in defence of employer.” This was supported by Respondent SBFA, who was of the view that it “depends where you are at the dti, people will complain I’ve been doing this and others get 1st preference. Other divisions and units experience sometimes you won’t know if its favouritism or lodging grievance as they are being forced to work, there’s 2 sides to every story, people scream because they don’t want to work.” This was echoed by Respondent AIMM, who stated, “Collude with HR to fill an advertised post. CD and HR can manipulate the recruitment process, they just follow what is recommended by the CD.” Visible solutions to ethical problems/dilemmas The majority of respondents believed that there were solutions, with Respondent TWFP stating, “Yes, I think there are – when people come late, etc. these things are not unethical, its unintentionally, not everybody thinks the same way as us – to make up the time. Consequences is if your manager sees you coming late and talks to the staff, using the printer who is making copies of private stuff, there are repercussions where you can be traced and tracked, is it work number or private numbers on work cellphones.” Respondent VCMS, however, stated, “Solutions are there but implementation is a problem.” 44 4.4.2 Recap of responses to research question 4 The sentiment is that solutions for ethical dilemmas were available, but not effectively implemented. Processes were in place, but employees chose not to adhere to these processes, resulting in unethical behaviour. The majority of respondents were aware of the department’s mechanisms such as ethics education, whistleblowers policy and protection for whistleblowers. Many respondents, however, believed that even though the mechanisms were there, there were incidents where the whistleblower was exposed as there was a lot of talk in the department and no anonymity. 4.5 The culture of the department In order to determine what employees felt about the culture of the department, and their attitudes towards it, they were asked what they thought the culture was, whether management’s actions affected the culture, and whether they identified with their department’s goals. 4.5.1 Determination of the culture of the department Where respondents believed that the culture in the department was unethical, and in response to the question of what is the biggest contributor to this culture, Respondent PIFS stated, “We have not taken a stand in the organisation, on our ethical culture, contributor does rest with leadership in an organisation – leadership does not walk the talk”, and “another contr