“A man without ethics is a wild beast loosed upon this world” Albert Camus
Ethics is about the guiding values, principles and standards that help people determine how ‘things ought to be done’. It refers to the judgements that people make and the process of arriving at those judgements. It is the process by which people make value-based decisions. Upholding the principles and standards of right conduct by public office holders at all levels of government is an important aspect of public service ethics.
According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), corporate governance is one key element in improving economic efficiency and growth as well as enhancing investor confidence. Corporate governance involves a set of relationships between a company’s management, its board, its shareholders and other stakeholders. Corporate governance also provides the structure through which the objectives of the company are set, and the means of attaining those objectives and monitoring performance are determined. Good corporate governance provides proper incentives for the board and management to pursue objectives that are in the interests of the company and its shareholders and facilitates effective monitoring. The presence of an effective corporate governance system, within an individual company and across an economy as a whole, helps to provide a degree of confidence that is necessary for the proper functioning of a market economy.
