Public Sector Corruption Sample

Please evaluate the case study attached hereto. Please analyze the article inserted below. The student response should address the following parts:

1) identify four major observations; 2) evaluate these observations; 3) what questions would you pose to the authors for clarification?

Public Sector Strategies in Curbing Corruption: A Review of the Literature

In the foreword of the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC), Kofi Anan describes corruption as:

“an insidious plague that has a wide range of corrosive effects on societies. It undermines democracy and the rule of law, leads to violations of human rights, distorts markets, erodes the quality of life and allows organized crime, terrorism and other threats to human security to flourish.”

https://www.unodc.org/documents/treaties/UNCAC/Publications/Convention/08- 50026_E.pdf

Transparency International defines corruption “broadly as the abuse of entrusted power for private gain.” There are two classifications; grand or petty, which are determined by the amounts of money lost and the sector it occurs in.

Grand is “acts committed at a high level of government that distort policies or the central functioning of the state, enabling leaders to benefit at the expense of the public good.”

And petty is “everyday abuse of entrusted power by low- and mid-level public officials in their interactions with ordinary citizens.”

The public sector is defined as

“The government and its decentralised units – including the police, military, public roads and transit authorities, primary schools and healthcare system – that use public funds and provide services based on the motivation to improve citizens’ lives rather than to make a profit.”

https://www.transparency.org/en/blog/what-is-public-sector-corruption

In combining these definitions, it can be understood that public sector corruption occurs when a government, either body or representative, abuses their position of power for the purpose of gain in some manner.

In this literature review, Ceschel and Homberg (2022), carried out a literature review of 118 articles published between 2001 and 2020. Four of the main observations, arising from this review, that will be discussed are:

1. The concept of corruption in public service as a global issue,

2. The role of Human Resource Management (HRM) in preventing corruption,

3. The importance of clear legislation and clear processes/regulations in preventing

   corruption,

4. Culture as both the cause and prevention of corruption, inclusive of the treatment of

   whistle-blowers, the individual’s moral courage, and the role of ethical leadership.

The first observation is the concept of public sector corruption as a global issue, this is further weighted by the global inception of UNCAC, along with other organizations such as the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) Working Group on Bribery in International Business, and the Group of States against Corruption (GRECO).

Also relevant is the Open Government Partnership (OGP), which includes 75 countries, that was established in 2011 to create a unique partnership, that promotes transparent, participatory, inclusive, and accountable governance.

Schnell (2015) highlights the struggle that arises from mimicking anti-corruption methods from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, as what works in one may not work in another. However, horizon scanning is essential to establish best international practices and learn from the mistakes made by others. Two key steps in combating corruption are investigations and reflections. Reflecting on what has worked and what has not worked. What aspects of the organization were vulnerable to exploitation and examining how this can be mitigated against going forward.

Public Sector corruption can also be considered a global issue due to its potential contagion factor, per Schrama, Di Zheng, Zhuravlevac (2021), and Dimant, & Tosato, G. (2018). This includes contagion form individual to individual, organization to organization, and country to country. People in their very nature are subject to the influence of the environment around them, from an individual (micro) to organizational (meso/macro) level. Another aspect of this is the reputational damage incurred by public sector corruption and the negative consequences in terms of investment, Mauro (1995), and foreign direct investment (FDI), Wei and Wu (2001). Wei and Wu (2001) determined that corruption negatively impacts a country in terms of FDI but may not negatively impact the country’s ability to secure foreign bank loans. They also determined that corruption may contribute to a country’s financial crisis by negatively impacting the quality of the internal banking systems.

Secondly, clear legislation and clear processes/regulations are important within bureaus and organizations. Employees, at all levels, need to understand what is expected of them and what is acceptable and what is not. If the internal processes are not clear there is the potential for individual interpretation or manipulation of policies and procedures for gain. As pointed out in the article, by Ceschel, Hinna, A., & Homberg, F. (2022). The policies and procedures in place must not be so stringent that they become ineffective and possibly work against the efficacy of the public sector in which they are employed, Ayhan and Üstüner (2015). It is also important to note that policies, such as procurement policies, can be exploited by the passive bargaining power, for example a company submitting a tender proposal for construction working with another company to fix prices or establish base pricing. This company is underpriced by a neighbour.

Thirdly, is the role of Human Resources Management (HRM) in combatting corruption. When understating some of the motivations or behavioral indicators for corruption such as salary, career prospects, and corporate buy-in, the role HRM plays in tackling corruption is clear.

From the initial recruitment processes to internal training and continuous professional development and remuneration, HRM is at the forefront of many organizations and quite possibly best placed within those organizations to tackle the issue of corruption both via prevention and detection, Berman (2015).

Per the article, the traditional thought is that high salaries can negate against corruption, however, Navot et al (2016) found that this is true only when base salaries are low.

The concept of clientelism, or corporate buy-in is also an aspect that falls under HRM and additionally, it also falls under the final observation; culture.

Finally, is the importance of culture as both cause and prevention of corruption and also whistle-blowing, the individual employee’s moral compass, and ethical leadership in organizations. The culture of an organization will lend itself to promoting or preventing corruption.

Luk (2012) suggests ethical leadership as part of a trio along with ethical training and ethics legislation. The commitment to operating without malfeasance, nonfeasance, and misfeasance must start with the top leadership, and be modeled by those who set the tone for the organizations. The culture of an organization plays a huge role in the likely occurrence of corruption. This corruption can occur from senior leadership levels down to the entry-level worker, and ethical leadership can still suffer the occurrence of corruption within their organization. Mimicry or monkey see monkey do, is inherent in human nature. Exposure to a culture of corruption is likely to entice employees to replicate this behavior. It becomes acceptable within the working environment.

Clientelism or organizational loyalty in the sense of this paper plays a bigger role in corruption when it is absent, Campbell (2020). This is important also in terms of whistleblowing. The culture of an organization plays an important role in facilitating or disabling whistleblowing. Per Chang et al. (2017) belonging is important, and the support of colleagues and the organization is important as a forerunner of the willingness of employees to become whistle-blowers.

There are several other observations for consideration, the subject of the literature review and the parameters of focusing on the upper-middle-income and high-income countries given the fact that they are considered less vulnerable does skew the review somewhat, in addition to the lack of risk-based approach studies.

The questions that ought to be posed to the authors in response to the paper are the following;

• How did you choose the works that formed part of the review?

• What other approaches or articles were considered, if any?

• Why was this time frame selected?

• Why and how should researchers consider a greater focus on a risk-based approach to

  public sector corruption?

• What is the relationship between causes and related anti-corruption measures and why

  is it so rarely discussed?

  Corruption in the public sector is a complex issue with many internal and external variables. It is not possible to completely eradicate corruption for where the is an opportunity there shall appear an opportunist. However, that does not mean that countries, companies, and individuals should give up and not endeavor to mitigate against it. Understanding the how and the why are important is taking the necessary steps to curb public section corruption.

References

UN General Assembly, United Nations Convention Against Corruption, 31 October 2003, A/58/422
Retrieved 31st October, from https://www.unodc.org/documents/treaties/UNCAC/Publications/Convention/08- 50026_E.pdf

Ceschel, Hinna, A., & Homberg, F. (2022). Public Sector Strategies in Curbing Corruption: A Review of the Literature. Public Organization Review, 22(3), 571–591.
Retrieved 31st October, from https://doi.org/10.1007/s11115-022-00639-4

Open Government Partnership website
Retrieved 31st October, from https://www.opengovpartnership.org/about/

Schnell, S. (2015). Mimicry, persuasion, or learning? The case of two transparency and anti- corruption policies in Romania. Public Administration and Development, 35(4), 277–287. Retrieved 1st November, from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/pad.1721

Schram A, Di Zheng J, Zhuravleva T, (2021) Corruption: A cross-country comparison of contagion and conformism
Retrieved 1st November, from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S016726812100490X

Dimant, & Tosato, G. (2018). CAUSES AND EFFECTS OF CORRUPTION: WHAT HAS PAST DECADE’S EMPIRICAL RESEARCH TAUGHT US? A SURVEY. Journal of Economic Surveys, 32(2), 335–356.
Retrieved 31st October, from https://doi.org/10.1111/joes.12198

Mauro, P. (1995). Corruption and Growth. Quarterly Journal of Economics., 110(3), 681–712. Retrieved 1st November, from https://doi.org/10.2307/2946696

Wei, S.-J., & Wu, Y. (2001). Negative Alchemy? Corruption, Composition of Capital Flows, and Currency Crises. Working Paper no. 8187, National Bureau for Economic Research. Retrieved 1st November, from http://www.nber.org/papers/w8187

Goel, R, and Saunoris, J, (2022) Corrupt thy neighbor? New evidence of corruption contagion from bordering nations, Journal of Policy Modeling, Volume 44, Issue 3, Pages 635-652,
Retrieved 1st November, from https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpolmod.2022.05.004.

Ayhan, B., & Üstüner, Y. (2015). Governance in public procurement: The reform of Turkey’s public procurement system. International Review of Administrative Sciences, 81(3), 640– 662.
Retrieved 1st November, from https://doi.org/10.1177/0020852314548153

Berman. (2015). HRM in Development: Lessons and Frontiers. Public Administration and Development, 35(2), 113–127.
Retrieved 1st November, from https://doi.org/10.1002/pad.1706

Navot, D., Reingewertz, Y., & Cohen, N. (2016). Speed or greed? High wages and corruption among public servants. Administration & Society, 48(5), 580–601.
Retrieved 31st October, from https://doi.org/10.1177/0095399715623313

Luk, S. C. Y. (2012). Questions of ethics in public sector management: The case study of Hong Kong. Public Personnel Management, 41(2), 361–378.
Retrieved 1st November, from https://doi.org/10.1177/009102601204100207

Campbell. (2020). Buying the honor of thieves? Performance pay, political patronage, and corruption. International Journal of Law, Crime and Justice, 63, 100439–.
Retrieved 1st November, from https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijlcj.2020.100439

Chang, Y., Wilding, M., & Shin, M. C. (2017). Determinants of Whistleblowing Intention: Evidence from the South Korean Government. Public Performance and Management Review, 40(4), 676–700.
Retrieved 1st November, from https://doi.org/10.1080/15309576.2017.1318761