| The objective of this research was to investigate moral development and ethical decision-making in local government. The completion and outcome of this study were very significant and enlightened others regarding issues of moral development as it relates to local public sector agencies' and employees' (managers and non-managers) perceived behaviors, decision-making and thinking, as well as the ethical aspects of government entities.The focus of this dissertation, which directed at the ethical decision making norms, explored Lawrence Kohlberg's cognitive moral development (CMD) theory, which was widely acclaimed as the approach of assessing adults' ethical maturity level unlike his predecessor Jean Piaget concentrating on child development.The participants of this survey were local government employees, administrators, managers, and supervisors (managers and non-managers) of county agencies, neighboring cities, and other municipalities. The survey assessed the moral development and the ethical organizational structure of the respondents' organization as it is related to their perceived behaviors and decision-making and thinking, and also other demographic variables. Such surveys were directed to a small size sample of approximately 400 candidates. The administered instrument for this survey was "The Defining Issue Test (DIT)." The validity and reliability of DIT have been profusely tested over time since that instrument was developed by James Rest and it has been shown to quantifiably provide a dependable measurement of moral maturity and development.The gathered data from the survey with the help of the selected above instrument (DIT) provided answers for the analysis and results. This analysis supplied answers to identify potential avenues at improving entity effectiveness through lower level employees', administrators' and managers' decision-making and behaviors, by incorporating moral development principles as well as the organization ethical components in the daily routine.At last, the final chapter summarized the result, brought meaning to the study, made appropriate conclusions, and also pointed out the study's limitation. Finally, it presented recommendation for future research. |
