6.3 Causes of unethical behaviour among some principals and educators
6.3.1 Greed or selfishness as a source of unethical behaviour
It emerged from the participants’ voices that there is no single cause of unethical behaviour.
This notion of varied reasons for unethical practices was shared by the majority of participants.
However, the findings seem to suggest that unethical behaviours that are demonstrated by some school principals and educators are as a result of selfishness. The exposure of staff to abundant and unguarded resources encourages unethical behaviour. In the case of greed, the school
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principals and teachers are easily tempted to mismanage and steal monies that are either meant for the buying of teaching and learning resources or paid towards tours or excursions on the side of teachers, mainly sports organisers. The foregoing assertions find resonance in the concurring voices of the participants:
A leader in an organisation who is unethical may be selfish and think that by his/her position can utilise resources under his/her supervision to her benefit. People who are selfish lack ethics and dismally fail to abide by the codes of ethics since they lack integrity and honesty.
(Mr Mnguni, principal of Intuthuko Secondary School)
The same notion was shared by Ms Thandi, post level one educator of Intuthuko Secondary, who had to the following to say: “Greed is the main cause of principals’ unethical behaviour.
They earn a lot of money but still go on to steal from the money allocated to maintain school and buy much needed teaching aids”. (Ms Thandi, post level 1 educator of Intuthuko Secondary School)
Congruent to the foregoing voice Mr Pelepele, the principal of Ikhethelo Primary posited that:
Money is something else, everybody will always want more cash, you cannot say because you are the school principal and you are earning more than anyone at the school then you don’t need extra money. That is where stealing from the school coffers starts. No one can be ever satisfied with the money he or she earns.
(Mr Pelepele, principal of Ikhethelo Primary school)
Mr Ngobese concurred with the latter voices in that greed is the driving force that makes principals want to steal from the school funds. This is what he had to say:
As a principal myself, I see no reason for a principal to steal from the school fund except greed. We as principals get paid enough to meet our basic needs and we have a right to claim for travelling expenses but that must to be done within the school policy rules. However, colleagues decide to enrich themselves instead of spending towards improving the learning and teaching environment.
(Mr Ngobese, principal of Zakhele Primary School)
The latter assertion finds congruence in the voice of Mrs Ngcobo who had this to say:
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I think principals are greedy because when they applied for their positions, they promised to serve the interest of the school but their exposure to resources makes them to want to serve their own interests and forget the learners and teachers. They want to leave fancy lifestyles and forget that they have a responsibility to spend money towards the benefit of the school community.
(Mrs Ngcobo, post level one educator)
The foregoing assertions reveal that most principals and educators engage in corrupt or unethical practices due to greed. It is an open secret that all organisations aspire for their leaders and employees to demonstrate high ethical standards in their behaviour, understanding that the opposite undermines or prejudices the organisation’s success. Unethical behaviour continues to be a major concern for the majority of the institutions. The violation of generally acceptable norms and standards is still prevalent and pervasive throughout various sectors, including the education sector. This results from leaders wanting to satisfy their own personal interests rather than those of the organisations they serve. When the principals engage in unethical behaviour, they are aware that what they are doing is unacceptable but continue because they are selfish.
Nowadays, principals appointed in positions are not promoted because of their character and capabilities, but instead because of their union or political activism. The character of a leader is important because he or she understands that his/her actions may jeopardise the functionality of the organisation. He or she should always strive to serve the interest of the organisation over his or her own. As most scholars have advocated that organisations are dependent on their employees in order to realise their goals, however, some leaders still engage in unethical activities intentionally to serve their own interests. It is not that they don’t understand that their actions are unethical; they fully understand that, as they disregard the written codes of conduct and set standards of the organisation, they are retarding or stagnating the ability of the organisation to meet its goals.
The latter assertions are corroborated by Butts (2012) who asserts that the primary motivation that triggers unethical conduct is greed, envy, anger, fear and jealousy. Manjunatha and Maqsud (2013) argue that some people engage in unethical knowing exactly what they are doing because they are propelled by self-interest, personal gain ambition and downright greed.
Maicibi, and Yahaya (2013) contend that leaders engage in unethical activities by using their authority for personal gain. Hitch (2015) avers that the principals’ need to pad or fill their pockets is one of the causes of unethical behaviour. Meanwhile Schurr, Ritov, Kareev and
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Avrahami (2012) posit that some principals engage in unethical activities only to the extent that allows them to maintain a self-concept of integrity. The latter clearly suggests that there is a particular standard that principals set for themselves and want to maintain at all costs.
Notwithstanding the foregoing assertion, Lašáková and Remišová (2015) opine that, ultimately, unethical leadership harms both employees and organisation.
6.3.2 Lack of consequence management and accountability for unethical behaviour