Ethical Perceptions of Public-Sector Employees and Citizens and their Impact upon Attitudes against Unethical Behavior

Abstract

This article addresses perceptions of employees and citizens about ethics in service provision in Turkey and their impact upon attitudes of both parties against unethical behavior in title-service workplaces. The case study was conducted in a traditional, large public organization, the General Directorate of Titles and Cadastral Affairs. Data for this study were gathered through a personnel survey and a citizen survey. The findings show that although employees and citizens seem to have internalized business ethics, there are some deficiencies in putting ethical principles into reality in the workplace because of reasons such as lack of ethical climate in the workplace and conceptual ambiguity about some unethical behaviors in both citizens' and employees' perceptions.