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THEME: WOMEN IN PUBLIC SECTOR LEADING THE ETHICAL REVOLUTION
TOWARDS SUSTAINABLE SERVICE DELIVERY
PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS – KRISH KUMAR
WOMEN ARE MORE ETHICAL THAN MEN
• This is a controversial statement.
• However, a study done by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton
School suggests that women are less willing to sacrifice ethical values for money and
social status, and that women associate business with immorality more strongly.
• Dr Jessica Kennedy from Wharton says that after seeing the study results, other
people have enthusiastically agreed that her findings about gender resonate with their
real-world experience.
• However, prior to the study, she says, there was a general silence about the topic and
had not heard anyone explicitly say women value ethics more than men.
WOMEN ARE MORE ETHICAL THAN MEN
• In another study published in the Journal of Organisational Behaviour, it was found
that men have lower moral standards as opposed to women.
• For instance, men tend to lessen the consequences of moral wrongdoing, to
implement questionable approaches in strategic endeavors, and to involve in greater
trickery.
• Men will not hesitate to forfeit their moral standards if that is the only way to ensure
their victory and get a chance to be a winner, mostly in negotiation processes.
IMPACT OF MOTHERS ON ETHICS
• Many people know that a person's character and personality is largely established by
the time they are very young.
• The traits that define an individual throughout their life can be clearly identified when
he or she is as little as 7 years old.
• In a new study by the University of California, scientists found that by the time children
start going to school, they already exhibit the personality traits that will remain with
them throughout their lives.
“My mother was the most beautiful woman I ever saw. All I
am I owe to my mother. I attribute all my success in life to
the moral, intellectual and physical education I received
from her.” - George Washington
IMPACT OF MOTHERS ON ETHICS
• Now we all know that mothers play the most important part in our lives when we are
born and in our formative years.
• Accordingly, I say that women play the biggest role in developing our character,
personality, ethics and morality.
• Hence I regard women as the most important nation builders in our society.
• I am sure that you will all agree me with me that the biggest influence in our lives have
been our mothers.
CONSUMER AND ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS
• According to research by the Future Foundation and commissioned by British
Telecom, ethical consumers are characterised by a heightened sense of concern
about crime, education and unemployment.
• But they are also more worried about a broader range of problems from discrimination
and homelessness to the global environment.
• While ethical consumers make up one in three of us, the survey found that they are
most likely to be aged between 35 and 55. They are also more likely to be women.
• Women are more caring and compassionate and hence care about the environment
and other social issues more and hence are more ethical consumers.
• In line with this, more women are vegetarians than men.
ETHICAL LEADERSHIP
• Leadership has never been in greater crisis.
• In its Outlook on the Global Agenda 2015, the World Economic Forum rated
dissatisfaction with leaders as the third largest challenge for the year.
• More than 87% of those surveyed expressed an opinion that current leaders are failing
to get things done. We ask ourselves: “Where have all the great leaders gone?”
• If this was the same world, traditional leadership could still be an option. But current
events require new models of leadership and new ways of thinking, especially when
the world is changing so much faster than us.
• Leaders need to act with conviction founded on core values, because only principled,
ethical leadership will survive the challenges ahead.
• These SIX principles can help:
1. STOP AND THINK
• It might seem counterintuitive, but in our fast-paced world, what is more important?
• Pausing creates an oasis of composure amid the chaos; it sharpens our awareness.
• With refined focus, we can connect our consciousness with our conscience.
• Active pausing is the heart of ethical decision-making, because it encourages
reflection and lessens the likelihood of knee-jerk reactions.
2. EXTEND TRUST
• Aristotle taught us that the virtue of trust lies in giving it away.
• Ethical leaders should know that the best way to be trusted is to trust others.
• When Nelson Mandela became the president of South Africa, he trusted people with
the truth: that it would take hard work to create a new, integrated nation.
• Being honest with people, rather than offering them sugar-coated niceties,
demonstrated how much he respected and believed in them.
• It also allowed them to rise to the occasion.
3. HAVE 2-WAY CONVERSATIONS
• Leaders used to be able to say: “It’s my way or the highway.” Now, they need to
engage with colleagues, customers and other stakeholders with mutual respect. Acting
in a vacuum doesn’t work.
• This is something Netflix learned the hard way in 2012 when it split its subscription
services and increased membership fees.
• The move drove away 800 000 subscribers, who felt betrayed because they hadn’t
been consulted.
• CEO Reed Hastings apologized to consumers for his “lack of respect”, saying he’d
been blinded by success and had “slid into arrogance”.
• It was a stop and think moment for Netflix: by reconnecting with its underlying values,
the company embarked on a genuine journey of change.
• It is now a “focused passion brand”, intent on providing the
best service it can.
4. DEMONSTRATE MORAL AUTHORITY
• Ethical leaders realize their power isn’t over people, but through people.
• Leaders can enlist people in any cause if there is a sense of a common mission and
shared values.
• Julia Bluhm, a 14-year-old girl, successfully petitioned Seventeen Magazine to stop
airbrushing pictures of its young models.
• Bluhm’s principled stance against the effect of impossible beauty standards on
teenagers’ self-esteem struck a chord. By the time of its delivery, the petition had
gathered more than 84 000 signatures. The movement spread, eliciting similar
pledges from brands such as Dove and Modcloth.
Julia Bluhm
4. DEMONSTRATE MORAL AUTHORITY
• Sarah Kavanagh, age 15, persuaded PepsiCo and Coca-Cola to stop putting the
chemical BVO in sports drinks.
• Mia Hansen, age 10, convinced Jamba Juice to stop using Styrofoam cups.
• What unites these girls is what brings them to life: principled convictions.
• To achieve real impact, leaders should rely on moral authority.
Sarah Kavanagh
Mia Hansen
5. SHAPE THE CONTEXT
• Ethical leadership requires reconnecting with your deepest values and re-examining
how you think, behave and make decisions.
• This means reminding others what you stand for and leading by example.
• One leader who understands this is Paul Polman, CEO of Unilever. For the past few
years, Polman has devoted himself to improving the sustainability of Unilever’s supply
chain, making long-term choices in spite of the short-term costs.
• One of his first reforms was to do away with the company’s quarterly earnings report.
Polman said, “I don’t think our fiduciary duty is to put shareholders first. I say the
opposite.”
• He believed his vision for Unilever’s future would still benefit shareholders, suppliers
and the environment in the long run.
• Now, because he has embedded his beliefs in the company’s
structure, every employee is encouraged and free to focus on the future.
6. LEAD WITH PURPOSE
• Now more than ever, success is a by-product of pursuing a higher purpose.
• Recently, a chain of restaurants stopped serving pork after a supplier failed their
animal welfare standards.
• The corporate commitment to core values transformed what could have been a
disaster into positive publicity.
• In the new global context, choosing between what’s practical and what’s principled is a
false choice.
• As Aristotle explained, the highest good is both practical and principled.
• Just as with ethical leadership, in an interdependent world principled performance is
the only kind of performance, because it is the only kind that works.
ETHICS & SERVICE DELIVERY
• Ethical conduct and ethics are not necessarily the main variables influencing service
delivery.
• However, some ethical concepts are likely to impact significantly on service delivery.
• In particular, the cost of delivery services and value for money are key issues relating
to procurement.
• Fraud and corruption resulting in inflated costs, poor quality, delays in projects, etc.
• There should be a zero tolerance approach to fraud and corruption and noncompliance.
• Most public servants are honest and ethical. We need to weed out the few bad apples.
CIGFARO
• CIGFARO is committed to the development of women.
• This seminar bears testimony to that.
• In addition, CIGFARO is very involved in the training of women financial practitioners
and increasing their knowledge.
• From an ethics perspective, we have a strong code of conduct that we strictly apply.
• We certainly encourage principled and ethical leadership.
CONCLUSION
• All public service manager should comply with essential management principles such
as accepting diversity, upholding ethics and values, balancing work and personal
needs, being flexible and able to adapt, and adopting a zero tolerance approach to
fraud and corruption.
• Women are leaders in ethical behavior – they are more ethical than men.
• They mould the personality, character, ethics and morality of their children as mothers
– they are nation builders.
• They are ethical consumers – many care about the environment, animals and are
vegetarians.
• Remember the 6 Principles of ethical leadership: stop and think; extend trust; have a
two-way conversation; demonstrate moral authority; shape the context; and lead with
purpose.
• CIGFARO is leading by example in respect of the development of women financial
practitioners and ethical leadership.
THE END