Conflict of interest: The case of a non-decision-making committee at a South African public higher education institution
| Autor: | Jacobus S. Wessels, Elmarie Sadler |
|---|---|
| Jazyk: | angličtina |
| Rok vydání: | 2021 |
| Předmět: | |
| Zdroj: | The Journal for Transdisciplinary Research in Southern Africa, Vol 17, Iss 1, Pp e1-e12 (2021) |
| Druh dokumentu: | article |
| ISSN: | 1817-4434 2415-2005 |
| DOI: | 10.4102/td.v17i1.878 |
| Popis: | The avoidance of a conflict of interest within private and public institutions is closely associated with good corporate governance. This study departed from the question of whether a conflict of interest is possible within a non-decision-making institutional committee. For this purpose, a high-level non-decision-making committee within a South African public higher education institution was selected as a case study. This article reports on an exploratory qualitative study consisting of qualitative content analysis of the constituting and operational documents of this committee, as well as on a study of the perceptions and lived experiences of the selected committee. It was found that the selected committee was established to be a high-level consultative body for the executive management committee of the university on decisions of strategic operational nature. This committee does not have any decision-making duties. Conflict of interest is perceived by committee members in terms of either the explicit or the hidden agenda metaphor. According to the explicit agenda metaphor, a conflict of interest within a non-decision-making committee is not possible, whilst the hidden agenda metaphor holds that a conflict of interest is the reality of members’ lived experiences. This article provides a comparison of the two perspectives according to three defining attributes of the concept and shows a need for a logical and principled definition of the concept ‘conflict of interest’ within the context of higher education and the public sector at large. |
| Databáze: | Directory of Open Access Journals |
| Externí odkaz: |
|