Ari Salminen

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Ari Salminen Kirsi Lähdesmäki Ethics Does it
play a role in the Finnish university reform?
23.-26.8.2009Public Management Faculty of
Public Administration
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Background

• Citizens First? Ethical Government in Terms of
  Citizens
• Research project funded by the Academy of Finland
  (2008-2010)
• The basic report Are we being heard? Ethical
  governance
• and citizens (2009) (published in Finnish)
• http//www.uwasa.fi/eettinenhallinto/english/

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Research questions

• What are the ethical challenges of the university
  reform
• in Finland?
• How is university understood as an ethical
  organisation?
• Analysing an ethical organisation of university
• Legal foundation
• University values
• Scientific research as ethical topic
• Professional ethics
• Role of the ethical manager
• Tools for developing ethics
• The research material is based on administrative
  ethics literature, official documents and
  strategy reports of 20 Finnish universities
  (2000-2008), and complementary interviews.

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University reform

• The new University Act (6/2009)
• Universities as independent legal personalities
  from beginning of 2010
• Public corporation or a foundation as new status
• Financial autonomy
• Managerial freedom and accountability

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University as an ethical organisation
The old model Pre-reform The new model Post-reform
Legal foundation (status) Public agency Public corporation
Ethical values Traditional and academic Entrepreneurial and managerial
Research ethics Rules of the scientific research Rules of the game in scientific environment
Professions and management Collective responsibility / Accountability Individual responsibility / Accountability
Codes of ethics Focus on research and learning Focus on research and innovation
Development Preventing / promoting Promoting / preventing
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Legal foundation

• Public agency
• Public corporation
• Internal operations more agency oriented
• External operations more entrepreneurial
  oriented

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Ethical values

• Maintaining good public reputation of
  universities
• Entrepreneurial vs. traditional values
• Protection of academic freedom
• Tension between public interest and private gain

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Research ethics

• The rules of the game in scientific environment
• New contractualism
• Contracts
• Networks

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Professions and management

• Professional management
• Managerial freedom
• Accountability and responsibility
• Imitating private sector models ?

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Codes of ethics

• Codes of research and education remain relatively
  stable
• Codes for managers will change
• Rules for research and innovation work

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Ethical development

• Preventing
• watchdogging
• control
• whistle-blowing
• Promoting
• Ethical committees
• Training of ethics