Ethics was identified by the Ethiopian government as one of the areas requiring attention and was made an integral part of the ongoing Civil Service Reform Program since 1996. Despite the reform efforts that have been going on for about two decades, no rigorous academic and empirical research has been conducted to understand the nature and depth of the problems. Moreover, the theoretical discourses in the general literature and the national efforts made by the government and its development partners also emphasize on the structural and procedural issues of ethics, giving little focus to the behavioural components or dimensions of ethics of civil servants. The purpose of this study was to investigate and critically analyse the nature and dynamics of work ethics in the Ethiopian civil service; and to assess the ethical environment within which the public sector operates in the country. Mixed research method was applied. Questionnaires were used to collect primary quantitative data from two groups of research participants – civil servants and the service users; whereas primary qualitative data were collected employing in-depth interviews from managers and key experts in the field. Data from secondary sources were also used. The quantitative data were analysed using descriptive analysis. The qualitative ones were analysed using the qualitative data analysis technique with the emphasis on the phenomenological approach. The study showed that there is clearly growing awareness of ethical challenges within the civil service, though a fundamental change in the ethical conduct of the employees is not yet realized. It is also found out that there is no problem of legislation and policy frameworks; rather the problem lies in the weak implementation and enforcement of them. Leadership behaviour, absence of strong institutions, poor accountability system, poor remuneration and politicization of the civil service were identified as the biggest challenges to foster ethical conduct. Accordingly, it is suggested that the government play a key role in addressing the problems that hamper the effective implementation of the reform efforts. Other stakeholders such as the civic society organizations, religious institutions, the private sector, schools and the general public should also work closely with the government. Ensuring ethical conduct requires synergy of all actors, ranging from ordinary citizens to high-level decision-making bodies. / Business Management / D.B.L.

This thesis is entitled “Fostering collective teacher efficacy through values-based leadership in Ethiopian institutions of higher education”, which is delimited to the private universities. The main question was “What constitutes/determines the institutionalisation of values-based leadership (VBL) to foster collective teacher efficacy (CTE) in the context of Ethiopian private universities (EPrUs)?” The sub-questions were: 1) what does the current state of CTE and its perceived outcomes look like in EPrUs? 2) What sets of behaviours are desired to institutionalise VBL so as to foster CTE in EPrUs? 3) What are the institutional contexts required to institutionalise VBL so as to foster CTE in EPrUs? In addressing these issues, academic leaders, students and teachers from EPrUs participated in the study. As methods of data gathering both the survey method and interviews were used. Results revealed that CTE is not high enough in EPrUs and hence it needs to be fostered so as to bring the desired change in students’ learning. To foster this, institutionalisation of VBL is required that involves two inter-related aspects. The first one is about institutionalising desired values (behaviours), which are linked to the academic leaders’ yearning for positive sets of values and the teachers’ moral contract to their professional values. To this effect, the positive sets of values that academic leaders should yearn for and the sets of values that teachers should espouse as their professional values are explored. The commonalities between these values are also described and how these would be institutionalised is suggested. The values include integrity and trustworthiness, humility/selflessness, compassion and sense of gratitude, accountability and self-discipline, sense of collaboration and teamwork, and envisioning in leadership as the driving force. The second aspect is about institutionalising the contexts conducive to foster CTE and VBL support behaviours. The need to institutionalise those behaviours and contexts arise out of the perceived leadership gap (between what the teachers believe are the leadership priorities of the leaders and the behaviours they actually see in the leaders). This gap has been linked to CTE, and hence a model has been developed that would foster this efficacy. / Educational Leadership and Management / D. Ed. (Educational Management)