Approaches to Ethics Management in the Public Sector A Proposed Extension of the Compliance-Integrity Continuum

The compliance-integrity continuum is the dominant framework for conceptualizing approaches to ethics management. This article proposes extending it in the form of a fourfold typology inspired by grid-group theory. An application to gift policies shows how the typology can support managers in their creative search for an appropriate approach. It also shows how the typology helps to avoid the deterministic thinking that is almost inherent in the use of a continuum. The article concludes with a recommendation as to how the four types should be combined in practice. Recent years have seen an impressive increase in interest in public sector ethics management, partly in reaction to public management reform in general (maintain, modernize, marketize, minimize; see Pollitt and Bouckaert 2000) and more specifically to New Public Management (NPM). These reforms include the introduction of competition both within government and between governmental agencies and private sector organizations, the use of performance management systems, a transformation of the role of the manager from administrator to public entrepreneur, and the introduction of instruments of quality management and a customer service focus (see deLeon and Denhardt 2000; Hood 1991). These reforms are alleged to have changed public sector values, and ethics management is seen as an appropriate reaction to complement these reforms and compensate for their possible negative impact on the ethics of public servants (OECD 1996, 2000). The interest in ethics management has also been linked to broader changes in society. It has been proposed as a lever to restore trust in government in a time when concern about public trust in government is increasing all over the Western world Public Integrity, Winter 2004–5, vol. 7, no. 1, pp. 21–41. © 2004 ASPA. All rights reserved. ISSN 1099-9922/2004 $9.50 + 0.00.