Factors that influence responsible leadership in Singapore: an exploratory study

A fall in Singapore's transparency rankings from number one in 2010 (least corrupted) to number 5 in 2012 has led to the growing concern that Singaporeans are demonstrating a lack of values and social capital and that the tension between wealth accumulation and ethics has caused some Singaporean leaders to make poor ethical decisions. Incidents of corruption and bribery have become more frequent in Singapore, which is puzzling because Singapore has always been governed using stringent rule-based policies. The question that this research would like to answer is if rule-based governance needs to be coupled with character development, so that Singaporean leaders will be able to draw on their personal values when faced with challenging decision-making dilemmas.