Students of public administration may ask whether the study of
Organizational Theory and behavior has an ethical dimension. One well-established view suggests that ethical questions are misplaced in this field
organizations are large, impersonal structures impervious to the kinds of moral dilemmas that human beings face every day.
Consequently, organizational Theory should be taught in schools of business and public administration by focusing on the macro-system and ignoring the personal characteristics of individuals who staff the organization.
If an organization is structured
properly, it will be efficient, effective, and morally neutral.
Questions of ethics and human relations should unquestionably be addressed, but in the context of disciplines that emphasize the individual, such as psychology or personnel
administration, rather than in the realm of organizational theory, which seeks to understand large, complex systems through empirical research. This
"macro"view has received widespread support since the early days of public Administration theory in the United States, but increasingly the perspective
has been dismissed as antiquated and myopic at the dawn of a new, progressive century.