Introduction Corruption takes many forms, and can have a devastating impact on economies, and on the effectiveness of government. For that reason, it is best practice to have a code of ethics for managers who are involved in acquisitions, purchasing and contracts. Ethical lapses contribute to a wide array of issues, including waste, a decline in confidence in the institution of government, and underperformance because the wrong vendors were selected. Larezos (2008) notes that when evidence of corruption arises, governments may need to recompete contracts, projects can be delayed or go way over budget, and there can be increased cost to taxpayers as well. If chronic weak governance leaves a populace disenchanted with government, then the political fallout can be severe as well. In essence, corruption represents the trade-off between the personal gain for the government officials in question versus the overall government or economy.

Combatting corruption is a complex task, but one of the elements of this task is to develop an effective code of ethics to govern acquisitions. Managers who are involved in acquisitions would then need to adhere to this code of ethics, and their performance could be weighed against it. Yet, there is little research that has been conducted to define the elements of an effective code of ethics for managers in acquisition. This research paper will examine this topic, and seek to identify some of the key elements of an effective code of ethics that governments can implement in order to improve their acquisitions and thereby improve the variety of political, social and economic outcomes that go along with acquisitions.

Edelstein and Clegg (2016) provide some important context for the role of a code of ethics in organizations, and these lessons apply well to managers of contracts in acquisition. They note that the code of ethics “can be used to define organizational interests ostentatiously by stipulating norms of employee ethics.” They also note, however, that codes of ethics also serve an insurance function, and often serve as much to protect management as they do to guide organizational behavior. However, understanding the flaws in codes of ethics has a valuable purpose – to highlight areas of potential improvement, and strengthen future codes of ethics.

Case-Based Training

One of the challenges for a code of ethics is to tie it to the training that managers must undergo. Harkrider et al (2012) note that case-based ethics training is one of the most common forms of ethical training. In order to have effective case-based training, however, it is necessary that the training be aligned with some existing standard of ethics. The code of ethics, therefore, serves as the basis for the training. The authors note that case-based training is most effective when combined with codes of ethics. Codes of ethics on their own are often fairly short, and may be written in language that is unclear once applied to real world conditions. This is by necessity, as codes of ethics need to be written in language that is sufficiently broad so as to capture a wide variety of different scenarios. But this broadness of language can also turn into vagueness when a manager is confronted with a situation that lies outside of the boundaries of their normal experience, or what might have been documented in the code.

Ultimately, the code of ethics is a set of guidelines, and as with any set of instructions, there needs to be sufficient training on how to apply them, if best results are to be achieved. There are many different variants of ethics, even within the Western canon, much less other schools of thought, and in many cases there is significant room for interpretation. Thus, the code of ethics has to be simple enough that it can be understood when confronted with a moral dilemma, but general enough so as to be applied to situations that fall well outside the norm. It is not, after all, an ethical dilemma when there is a clear cut rule.

The fact that a code of ethics is more effective when combined with case based training rooted in that code has specific implications for the content of the code. Openness of the language used is important, but there does need to be specificity that covers the more common situations. If one is engaged in case-based training, that would be something that is illegal (like bribery), where there is no ethical ambiguity, and therefore it can be written specifically and clearly that accepting bribes is not allowed.

An effective code of ethics must be able to provide guidance for such ambiguous situations, because at this point the ethical standards of the organization go well beyond the laws of the land.
Training has been shown effective for the simple reason that what is clear to some is not clear to all – a code of ethics may not be as obvious as its authors think it is. Neu, Everett & Rahaman (2015) showed that, in particular, when practice and the code differ considerably, it is important to combine the code. The training puts the managers in a position where they can role play, and ask questions, and receive clarification before they are faced with the pressure of real life situations. Such preparation, the authors note, is essential to “shaping the ethics and moral behaviors of organizational actors,” creating disciplined, ethical subjects.

Does the Code of Ethics Need a Clear Ethical Framework?

Because there are multiple schools of thought with respect to ethics – virtue ethics, deontological ethics and consequentialist ethics in Western thought, and others in other cultures – it is important that the code of ethics has a consistent approach to developing ethical parameters. An ethical dilemma arises when there is no clear cut ethically correct answer, and the person is therefore faced with a dilemma in whatever decision they are making at the time (McConnell, 2018).

It is difficult enough to...…do their jobs, because the code has built in examples that are unique to their roles.

That said, it is also important that there is an overarching organizational code of ethics, and that these two codes are consistent and aligned. After all, if there is conflict between the two codes, then the manager might be left with insufficient guidance for governing his or her behavior. Therefore, it is important that the overall code of ethics is taken into consideration, so that there is clear consistency between the two codes. The overall code should be the basis for the code of ethics for contract managers in acquisition.

Conclusions

A code of ethics for contract managers in acquisition can play a number of different roles, and to ensure that the code of ethics is at its most effective requires an acute understanding of these roles. The code sets the bounds of acceptable behavior, establishes a clear ethical framework, and should also provide examples that are clear and actionable to the intended audience. It should be written in line with the code of ethics for the organization as a whole, so that there is internal consistency of ethical standards within the organization. Furthermore, it should be useful in terms of providing actionable guidance for specific common situations and a set of clear principles for managers to turn to for any other situation.

Beyond that the code of ethics for contract managers in acquisition needs to be written with training in mind, so that the managers can be trained on how to use the code of ethics, how to apply it to different situations. This is because at the end of the day, the code of ethics is a tool, and the managers need to be trained on how to use this tool, in order for it to be effective. In particular, attention should be paid to the types of ethical dilemmas that might not be common, but which could arise – if the code fails to provide guidance when reference, it will cease to be a valuable resource to which managers will turn.

Specific sections should focus on issues like cross-cultural ethics, as this can be a particularly tricky area, and control Discussion of control helps contract managers to contextualize the code – they understand what happens if they violate it, and what that process looks like and the punishments. That context helps to make the code real, especially when combined with senior leadership buy-in.

While some might take a cynical view that a code of ethics exists mainly to insulate leadership – and that might partially be true – an effective and well-written code can set the ethical tone for the organization, or in this case for the role in question. Because of its potential to have a lasting influence on the organization, and improve governmental and societal outcomes across the board, it is important to take the role and influence potential of the code of ethics for contract managers in acquisition seriously.…