Corruption in an organization
(Junaid Ali Malik, Lahore)
Corruption
1. High level of corruption and the role of the
manager
There are a number of things that derive a business to opt for a way that is
illegal and not in accordance to the law. For instance if a business wants to go
global, there incur some factor that do not allow it to get expended and the
management of the organization has to use the other sources especially the
financial ones to get the job done. These factors might be the lack of interest
from the side of the government or the non-governmental factors that demand
their share in whole of this process. This is what happened in most of the cases
where the businesses have to expand its operations especially in the developing
countries. This is the external factor that causes to promote the illegal ways
in the country where the business is expending or focusing towards.
The internal factor that became the reason and was used to this act of
greasing the palms of the official was that the taking and giving bribe culture
was common in Germany, as the laws were in favor of it. The management of the
Siemens should have understood later on when the related laws changed that now
this practice cannot be carried out for any longer time. The managers of the
organization engaged in these activities of corruption as they know they will be
unable to win the contract in the legal ways and would have to take care of the
interest of the business. They were not even taught to get shut of it before and
after the rules and regulations were changed.
2. What had happened to managers?
If they take the stand they might have to bear the loss as they would not have
otherwise. The single manager might have been compelled to stand down from the
job; it requires a collective action from the side of the management as it
requires the change of the culture prevailing only inside of the organization.
The managers should know that whatever they are doing is deteriorating the
culture of the countries where the organization is planning to expand its
business. The corrupt practices should be gotten rid of as soon as possible to
avoid the loss of the goodwill.
3. Distorting the competition
The business has some ethics which should be applied in all the processes in
which its employees will be engaged. Same is the case with the process of
competition where the opportunities for the other businesses should not be
grabbed without following some rules and regulations. When the other
organizations are choosing legal and justified ways to take the contracts in
various countries of the world, Siemens should not be setting aside these ways
to do so. It clearly reveals that the organization is not following the rules
and regulations and greasing the palms of the officials to gain financial
benefits.
The whole of the environment of the competition is disturbed due to this sort of
practice and there is no comparison of a legal and illegal business in any way
or in any case. Siemens actually took the contracts in the other countries in an
environment that was illegal and make it an illegal business that should be
fined with a heavy sum of money. The profits earned through it should be held by
the officials of the government of Germany where it is originated. The
competitors lost their markets and the share of profit which they could have
gained if Siemens Corporation could not have corrupted means.
4. Effects on countries
The values of a country are based over beliefs and when the later becomes
affected, the prior ultimately diminishes. Siemens Corporation makes the whole
of the system filthy by corrupting the people who claimed to be the
representatives or officials of the other countries. It brings about a system
where anybody could not anything without any harm, and the only thing to do is
to grease the palms of the relevant authorities.
The whole of the value system destroyed and the people of the certain countries
also lose their faith on their representatives as well. When the confidence of
the people shakes, the sensations of the loathsome for a particular government
are raised. Both - the officials of the government and the organization - should
be dealt with strict hands so that a lesson could be learnt for not doing
corruption. The filthy and corrupted culture of taking bribes was brought forth
by the company in the countries where it expanded it business.
5. What would be done?
Being a manager means there are a lot of responsibilities that are to be done
for the survival of the company. In that situation, when that was obvious that
the company was involved in some illegal acts that could not be borne in any
case, the rational decision at that time could be to discuss the matter with the
colleagues working in the same company. They should be told about the situation
as consultation with them was compulsory. Furthermore, if those colleagues were
not ready to take the matter, the top most senior persons of the company should
be told about this practice.
The pros and cons of this corrupted scheme should have been brought in front of
them so that they could understand my concern, and if they also gave no
response. The only left option is to leave the company, especially at the time
when the government itself had said that there would be zero tolerance for any
such activity. The resignation will be the only left option at that time which
could make me strong morally and ethically.