Over 80 public sector leaders learned about a new approach to values and ethics at a UQ Business School seminar featuring renowned management education specialist, Professor Mary Gentile of Babson College Boston USA.

The event – Public sector values, ethics and integrity – revealed how to develop ethics codes and values systems and empower staff to act on them, and how to deal with conflicting values. When an employee is faced with an ethical dilemma and a values conflict this innovative approach provides strategies, tactics, and tools to voice those values and take practical steps to resolve the issues.

The seminar was based on the approach pioneered by Professor Gentile and outlined in her book, Giving Voice to Values.

The event was hosted by Professor Ken Wiltshire, AO of UQ Business School with other speakers including Dr David Solomon AM, Queensland Integrity Commissioner; Lynelle Briggs, former Public Service Commissioner with the Australian Public Service; Donna Andrews, Director of the Ethical Standards Branch of Queensland Public Service Commission; and Peter Forster, Director of The Consultancy Bureau. Ken Wiltshire, who is Professor of Public Administration at UQ Business School said: “The seminar has proved extremely popular with our public sector audience and outlined a new approach to governance. It explained not only how to develop an ethics system but, importantly, how to defend values when under pressure. We all face conflicts of interest at some point in our career and the seminar provided some very practical advice on how to speak up for what we believe is right and help prevent ethical transgressions.”

About UQ Business School

The University of Queensland Business School is independently ranked as one of the top business schools in Australia and amongst the leading institutions worldwide. Based in Brisbane, it brings together over 130 subject experts with over 7,000 students and offers undergraduate and postgraduate degree programs and executive education across the range of business disciplines.

UQ Business School is renowned internationally for the quality of its research and also provides contract research and consultancy services to organisations throughout the world. The teaching – research – consultancy loop is central to its success, ensuring that the school maintains its position at the forefront of academic knowledge while staying closely attuned to modern business requirements. For further information see www.business.uq.edu.au

Fast facts

• UQ Business School was the first in Australia to meet the standards of the world’s two most influential accrediting bodies - the US-based AACSB International and Europe’s EQUIS.
• It is ranked in the world’s top 50 universities for executive education by the Financial Times.
• Its MBA program is rated in the top 50 worldwide by The Economist and in the top two in Australia by the AFR’s BOSS Magazine.
• The MBA course has been awarded the highest possible rating of five stars for seven years running by Australia’s most influential rating body, the GMAA.
• The school was classed as above world standard in its 4 major fields of business research in the Australian government’s ERA assessment