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Papers by Simcha B. Werner
... Administrative corruption was long a neglected area of research in American public administra... more ... Administrative corruption was long a neglected area of research in American public administration. ... primarily to the axiomatic belief of earlier scholars that American public administration ... of public administration, and given Woodrow Wilson's division of politics and administration ...
Your article is protected by copyright and all rights are held exclusively by Springer Science+Bu... more Your article is protected by copyright and all rights are held exclusively by Springer Science+Business Media B.V.. This e-offprint is for personal use only and shall not be self-archived in electronic repositories. If you wish to self-archive your work, please use the accepted author’s version for posting to your own website or your institution’s repository. You may further deposit the accepted author’s version on a funder’s repository at a funder’s request, provided it is not made publicly available until 12 months after publication.
Political Corruption, 2017
Public Administration, 1982
Studies of administrative reform have neglected or underestimated the tenacious nature of opposit... more Studies of administrative reform have neglected or underestimated the tenacious nature of opposition. Vested interests first seek to obviate reform and, if unsuccessful, force reversion to the initial status quo. Such nullifying behaviour is discussed and illustrated with a case study of the incorporation of the United States Post Office Department. OVERVIEW One of the recurring obstacles mentioned in the literature of public administration reform is the apparently inevitable political and bureaucratic opposition to reform. Reformers are 'prophets before their time' who 'want to do things that other people are not yet willing to accept' (Caiden 1978, 114). Also, reform ideas seldom spark sufficient excitement 'to get any one to do something about them' (Leemans 1976, 142). Most of all, they threaten vested political interests. That is exactly why most reforms are prematurely defeated. Studies of administrative reform have tended to focus on identifying the reasons for political opposition and subsequently on formulating conciliatory strategies that will enable reform to be implemented. However, it is not generally recognized that opposition does not necessarily disappear after reform has been implemented; rather, such opposition can reemerge and can indeed hinder reform during and even after its implementation. The more vested interests are weakened, the more scrutiny the reform will undergo, in the hope of showing that it is a failure. Reverting to the old structure or procedures now becomes the goal. In this Simcha 8. Werner is a Fellow of the Canada-lsrael Foundation for Academic Exchange and is currently teaching at the University of Manitoba. This paper was researched while the author was on sabbatical at the University of California, Berkeley. The author wishes to thank the Institute of Governmental Studies at uc-Berkeley, for partly supporting this paper and Dr Stephen Zatuchni for his invaluable suggestions.
Political Studies, 1983
The paper emphasizes the effects of various societal forces on the development of corruption. The... more The paper emphasizes the effects of various societal forces on the development of corruption. The study of these factors contributes to an understanding of how corruption can thrive in countries with high levels of political development. Three stages of the life-cycle of corruption have been identified in Israel, which serves as a case study. The embryonic stage is associated with foreign domination of Palestine. The period after Israel became independent and until 1967 marks the development stage of corruption, when inhibiting and stimulating forces intermingled and produced white corruption, which was rationalized, condoned and allowed to prevail. The period since 1967 evidences the maturation of corruption. In this period, inhibiting forces of corruption are declining, while catalyzing forces of corruption are accentuating. The result is numerous scandals of black corruption that upset the political system.
Journal of Business Ethics, 1992
This paper presents a succinct review of" the movement for moral genesis in business that arose i... more This paper presents a succinct review of" the movement for moral genesis in business that arose in the 1970s. The moral genesis movement is characterized by: (a) the rejection of-the premise that business and ethics are antagonistic; (b) the rise of the Issues Management approach, Rejection of the premise that business and morality are antithetical In contrast to the prevailing premise that business and ethics are rivals, recent publications and research findings give evidence to the argument that, in the long run, adopted ethical practices are more beneficial than they are determintal. In The Hard Problems of Management: Gaining the Ethics Edge, Mark Pastin provided a list of 25 "high ethics-high profit" organizations. These highly-ethical corporations include Cadbury-Schweppes, Atlantic Richfield, Motorola, Northern Chemical Co., and Apple Computers. High ethics/high profit corporations are characterized by an obsession with fairness and a commitment to their social enviromnent. They feel at ease interacting with diverse internal and external stakeholder groups (e.g., employees, shareholders, suppliers, consumers, government and special interest groups), and act under the proposition that the good of these groups is inseparable from their own good. In these firms, individuals assume personal responsibility for the actions of the firm. James O'Toole, the author of Vanguard Management: Redesigning the Corporation Future, characterizes
Journal of Business Ethics, 2012
Ethics in public administration has been a subject of growing interest for both researchers and p... more Ethics in public administration has been a subject of growing interest for both researchers and practitioners interested in the future of governance. This study examined the relationship between ethics and performance in local governance. We tested the effects over time of an ethics program on employees' perceptions (awareness of the code of ethics, ethical leadership, inclusion of employees in ethical decision making [EDM], ethical climate [EC], organizational commitment, and quality of work life [QWL]) and behavior (organizational citizenship behavior) in one Israeli regional council. We conducted a longitudinal study of 108 employees, using data from a two-phase survey (before implementation of the ethics program and a year after) and objective assessments of employees' behavior through managers' evaluations. The main findings show that the ethics program was very effective, resulting in greater awareness of the code of ethics, increased inclusion of employees in EDM, and an improved EC. Furthermore, ethical leadership was positively related to employees' awareness of the code of ethics, increased inclusion of employees in EDM, an improvement in the EC, greater organizational commitment, and higher QWL. Implications and suggestions for future studies are discussed.
Public Administration Review, 1983
... Administrative corruption was long a neglected area of research in American public administra... more ... Administrative corruption was long a neglected area of research in American public administration. ... primarily to the axiomatic belief of earlier scholars that American public administration ... of public administration, and given Woodrow Wilson's division of politics and administration ...
International Journal of Public Administration, 2011
ABSTRACT Fixers can thrive in any level of political, bureaucratic, or institutional development.... more ABSTRACT Fixers can thrive in any level of political, bureaucratic, or institutional development. Paradoxically the academic research of the phenomenon of fixers is in its infancy. There exists no accepted definition of fixers; the boundaries between fixers and lobbyists remain murky, in terms of comparative administration only limited knowledge about the forces that breed different types of fixers in different political settings is available; and no deductive theory was articulated that might determine when and how fixing might become dysfunctional and corruptive. In an attempt to better understand the phenomenon of fixers more theoretically; this study analyzes fixers in view of three theories of bureaucratic corruption, and in view of the emerging theory of alternative politics. Using Israel as a case in point, the study shows that within certain national and local branches of government fixers not only create a shadow copy of official institutions, but also foster institutional corruption.
... Administrative corruption was long a neglected area of research in American public administra... more ... Administrative corruption was long a neglected area of research in American public administration. ... primarily to the axiomatic belief of earlier scholars that American public administration ... of public administration, and given Woodrow Wilson's division of politics and administration ...
Your article is protected by copyright and all rights are held exclusively by Springer Science+Bu... more Your article is protected by copyright and all rights are held exclusively by Springer Science+Business Media B.V.. This e-offprint is for personal use only and shall not be self-archived in electronic repositories. If you wish to self-archive your work, please use the accepted author’s version for posting to your own website or your institution’s repository. You may further deposit the accepted author’s version on a funder’s repository at a funder’s request, provided it is not made publicly available until 12 months after publication.
Political Corruption, 2017
Public Administration, 1982
Studies of administrative reform have neglected or underestimated the tenacious nature of opposit... more Studies of administrative reform have neglected or underestimated the tenacious nature of opposition. Vested interests first seek to obviate reform and, if unsuccessful, force reversion to the initial status quo. Such nullifying behaviour is discussed and illustrated with a case study of the incorporation of the United States Post Office Department. OVERVIEW One of the recurring obstacles mentioned in the literature of public administration reform is the apparently inevitable political and bureaucratic opposition to reform. Reformers are 'prophets before their time' who 'want to do things that other people are not yet willing to accept' (Caiden 1978, 114). Also, reform ideas seldom spark sufficient excitement 'to get any one to do something about them' (Leemans 1976, 142). Most of all, they threaten vested political interests. That is exactly why most reforms are prematurely defeated. Studies of administrative reform have tended to focus on identifying the reasons for political opposition and subsequently on formulating conciliatory strategies that will enable reform to be implemented. However, it is not generally recognized that opposition does not necessarily disappear after reform has been implemented; rather, such opposition can reemerge and can indeed hinder reform during and even after its implementation. The more vested interests are weakened, the more scrutiny the reform will undergo, in the hope of showing that it is a failure. Reverting to the old structure or procedures now becomes the goal. In this Simcha 8. Werner is a Fellow of the Canada-lsrael Foundation for Academic Exchange and is currently teaching at the University of Manitoba. This paper was researched while the author was on sabbatical at the University of California, Berkeley. The author wishes to thank the Institute of Governmental Studies at uc-Berkeley, for partly supporting this paper and Dr Stephen Zatuchni for his invaluable suggestions.
Political Studies, 1983
The paper emphasizes the effects of various societal forces on the development of corruption. The... more The paper emphasizes the effects of various societal forces on the development of corruption. The study of these factors contributes to an understanding of how corruption can thrive in countries with high levels of political development. Three stages of the life-cycle of corruption have been identified in Israel, which serves as a case study. The embryonic stage is associated with foreign domination of Palestine. The period after Israel became independent and until 1967 marks the development stage of corruption, when inhibiting and stimulating forces intermingled and produced white corruption, which was rationalized, condoned and allowed to prevail. The period since 1967 evidences the maturation of corruption. In this period, inhibiting forces of corruption are declining, while catalyzing forces of corruption are accentuating. The result is numerous scandals of black corruption that upset the political system.
Journal of Business Ethics, 1992
This paper presents a succinct review of" the movement for moral genesis in business that arose i... more This paper presents a succinct review of" the movement for moral genesis in business that arose in the 1970s. The moral genesis movement is characterized by: (a) the rejection of-the premise that business and ethics are antagonistic; (b) the rise of the Issues Management approach, Rejection of the premise that business and morality are antithetical In contrast to the prevailing premise that business and ethics are rivals, recent publications and research findings give evidence to the argument that, in the long run, adopted ethical practices are more beneficial than they are determintal. In The Hard Problems of Management: Gaining the Ethics Edge, Mark Pastin provided a list of 25 "high ethics-high profit" organizations. These highly-ethical corporations include Cadbury-Schweppes, Atlantic Richfield, Motorola, Northern Chemical Co., and Apple Computers. High ethics/high profit corporations are characterized by an obsession with fairness and a commitment to their social enviromnent. They feel at ease interacting with diverse internal and external stakeholder groups (e.g., employees, shareholders, suppliers, consumers, government and special interest groups), and act under the proposition that the good of these groups is inseparable from their own good. In these firms, individuals assume personal responsibility for the actions of the firm. James O'Toole, the author of Vanguard Management: Redesigning the Corporation Future, characterizes
Journal of Business Ethics, 2012
Ethics in public administration has been a subject of growing interest for both researchers and p... more Ethics in public administration has been a subject of growing interest for both researchers and practitioners interested in the future of governance. This study examined the relationship between ethics and performance in local governance. We tested the effects over time of an ethics program on employees' perceptions (awareness of the code of ethics, ethical leadership, inclusion of employees in ethical decision making [EDM], ethical climate [EC], organizational commitment, and quality of work life [QWL]) and behavior (organizational citizenship behavior) in one Israeli regional council. We conducted a longitudinal study of 108 employees, using data from a two-phase survey (before implementation of the ethics program and a year after) and objective assessments of employees' behavior through managers' evaluations. The main findings show that the ethics program was very effective, resulting in greater awareness of the code of ethics, increased inclusion of employees in EDM, and an improved EC. Furthermore, ethical leadership was positively related to employees' awareness of the code of ethics, increased inclusion of employees in EDM, an improvement in the EC, greater organizational commitment, and higher QWL. Implications and suggestions for future studies are discussed.
Public Administration Review, 1983
... Administrative corruption was long a neglected area of research in American public administra... more ... Administrative corruption was long a neglected area of research in American public administration. ... primarily to the axiomatic belief of earlier scholars that American public administration ... of public administration, and given Woodrow Wilson's division of politics and administration ...
International Journal of Public Administration, 2011
ABSTRACT Fixers can thrive in any level of political, bureaucratic, or institutional development.... more ABSTRACT Fixers can thrive in any level of political, bureaucratic, or institutional development. Paradoxically the academic research of the phenomenon of fixers is in its infancy. There exists no accepted definition of fixers; the boundaries between fixers and lobbyists remain murky, in terms of comparative administration only limited knowledge about the forces that breed different types of fixers in different political settings is available; and no deductive theory was articulated that might determine when and how fixing might become dysfunctional and corruptive. In an attempt to better understand the phenomenon of fixers more theoretically; this study analyzes fixers in view of three theories of bureaucratic corruption, and in view of the emerging theory of alternative politics. Using Israel as a case in point, the study shows that within certain national and local branches of government fixers not only create a shadow copy of official institutions, but also foster institutional corruption.