Ethics and Integrity: Meaning of Integrity

Integrity is the elementary value for any profession. It is important for all those who exhibit strong moral and ethical principles. It deals with exhibiting fairness and honesty in all professional and personal relations. It is considered as a personal choice which is uncompromising under any kind of circumstances. It ensures correct actions and stands in stark contrast to hypocrisy. Integrity is thus considered as one of the most important virtues and has many interpretations as:

Integrity as self-integration

It establishes a formal relation to self and people integrate different facets of their personality to an intact whole. It is mainly a matter of keeping oneself totally intact and uncorrupted.

Integrity as identity

It includes the commitment which one makes with oneself, people, relations, institutions, traditions and culture etc.

Integrity as standing for something

The self-integration and identity see integrity as a matter of personal choice. Persons with high integrity show consistent endorsements as they take a stand for something within a community.  Integrity is thus considered as matter of having proper regard for one’s role in the community process of deliberation over what is valuable and worth doing.

Integrity as purpose

This places moral checks on the kinds of commitments a person of integrity must honour. Thus, a person of integrity is always morally correct despite him having a substantial moral disagreement on some issues with a section of society.

Integrity as-Individual, Professional and Institutional

Integrity forms the building block of ethical conduct and competency. It can be seen at three different levels and all are essential for an individual’s professional survival.

Personal integrity

It stands for showing accountability for all personal actions and conducting all personal relationships fairly and honestly.

Professional integrity

It is conducting of one’s professional duties and obligations with complete honesty in conformity with the professional code of ethics.

Institutional integrity

It is a wider concept and is driven by mission-and-vision statements of an organisation, the established code of conduct and the procedures. It stands for cementing ethical conduct throughout the organisation through personal example, management practices and ethical training.

Integrity is also important to foster public interest in democracy. It is integrity which makes sure that public interest overrides personal and organisational interests. In India, integrity for public officials means the following:

D+P+V+E=Iii (individual and institutional)

Here,

• D is for democracy which stands for justice, impartiality, truth, liberty, equity, citizenship etc.
• P is for professionalism which stands for merit, impartiality, competence, quality, self-awareness, understanding, esteem, responsibility etc.
• V is for values which stands for moral, ethical, personal etc.
• E is for ethics which stands for ethical conduct, principles, duties , judgment and responsibility
• I is for integrity which stands for authentic, sincere and a genuine sense of being whole and intact.