Measuring the effectiveness of the code of conduct for SCM Practitioners within the Western Cape Government

Abstract

Unethical behaviour is now recognised as one of the South African (SA) government’s greatest challenges in the public sector. The Public Service Commission (PSC) has stated that the five most common manifestations of the unethical behaviour which is on the increase in the SA public sector are corruption, fraud and bribery, mismanagement of government funds, abuse of government resources and procurement irregularities. The focus of this study is on the analysis of the effectiveness of the code of conduct for the SCM practitioners. It is an important task for the Western Cape Government (WCG) in ensuring that all the relevant employees are aware of such code. This study proposes a conceptual framework that has been developed from literature to assist WCG in effecting the said code, with the aim of improving supply chain management performance. The effectiveness was exploratively tested by means of empirical research to determine whether all the relevant employees are aware of the code of conduct for the SCM practitioners. The study concluded that the code of conduct for the SCM practitioners is not fully effective within the Western Cape Government, as some of the participants lack awareness of the said code.