Corruption and Bribery

Speaking about corruption in the international realm was a taboo before the end of the cold war. But the end of the cold war has led to the consolidation of democracy, political stability, and respect for the rule of law, as well as effective development and expansion of open and competitive markets. In the recent years, especially from late 1980’s, the phenomenon of corruption has received a great deal of attention from the international community.

OECD published Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions and Related Documents to prevent bribery and corruption. The aim of this convention was making the bribery of a foreign public official a crime under their laws (International Monetary Fund, OECD Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions, 2001). This document recommends to member countries that:

In my opinion every country is corrupt and has pliantly of bribery in their governments, businesses, and even households. Bribery in its most basic form is the practice of giving gifts of monetary value to a client or potential customer to persuade their decision. According to Black Law’s Dictionary, bribery is “The offering, giving, receiving, or soliciting of any item of value to influence the actions of an official or other person in charge of a public or legal duty.” This practice constitutes a crime in most developed countries and is highly controversial. As with any controversy, bribery has its advantages as well as problems. Common advantages of bribery include gaining business without needing to have superior quality or services, building

(Wells, 2011, p. 241). Bribery can come in many different forms but generally is defined as an act in which something of value is offered, given, received or solicited with the intent of influencing an official act. Illegal gratuities can be similar to bribes except these are usually given as a reward. Economic extortion is basically the demanding of money. “A conflict of interest occurs when an employee, manager, or executive has an undisclosed economic or personal interest in a transaction that adversely affects the organization.” (Wells, 2011, p. 242). These are not all corruption schemes that exist but have been determined to be more common than others and ones that should definitely be watched for when completing an audit or a full financial status review.

an agent of the company offered a bribe and it is shown that the company failed to create and maintain a corporate culture that required compliance with the laws against bribing foreign public officials.

It would be convenient to start this research paper by stating that corruption is a challenge mainly for businesses in developing countries and that it is unrelated to the current affliction of the economy in the United States. It would also be convenient to claim corruption has declined in America as a result of awareness raising campaigns and the numerous anti-corruption laws. But none of those aforementioned statements would be true. Corruption is not the exception, but rather the rule in today’s business practices. In 2004, Daniel Kaufmann, a senior fellow at Brookings Institution and former director at the World Bank, calculated an index of "legally corrupt" manifestations which is defined as the extent of undue influence

This does not set a good example for the employees and can be harmful to the future of the company. Ensuring that bribery stops can solve many of the problems discussed above. Some feasible solutions are being recommended to help the company in both short term and long term. First of all, all employees including managers should be given training and education about bribery, corruption and what’s deemed illegal according to the law. Explicit measures should be suggested on how they can avoid supporting corruption and also where they can report to in case a situation where dishonesty is involved arises.

First, it is important to define what corruption is. The term, “corruption” covers a broad range of human actions,

 In regard to corruption and bribery by U.S. companies and their agents conducting business overseas, the State Department claims that the U.S. “has been a leader in the multinational effort to end bribery and corruption in international practices, a campaign... supported by the United Nations, the Organization of American States, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and other multilateral organizations and institutions” (U.S. Dept. of State). This statement clearly demonstrates that the need to address and deter corruption and bribery in the international business environment is recognized as an important initiative, worth pursuing and requiring the cooperation of many nations. Even though it took the U.S. nearly ten years to bring thirty-three countries on board to take part in a multinational anti-bribery initiative, they did so by signing the OECD Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions (US Dept. of Justice, Lay-Person’s Guide).

In the world today, corruption and integrity are widespread issues that plaque many countries around the world. Many countries have to face the possibility of government officials misusing their governmental powers for other purposes. “What constitutes illegal corruption may differ depending on the country or jurisdiction. Certain political practices may be legal in one place and illegal in another. In some countries, government officials have wide or not well defined powers. The line between legal and illegal can be very difficult to draw.” (Political corruption-Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

This case portrays the widely propagated and accepted phenomena of bribes and corruption in developing countries. Specifically how it affects every sector of the Ukrainian society, therefore making it difficult for the American investors to establish companies there and to prosper solely on doing good business. The case describes the types of obstacles and ethical dilemmas being created for the investors as a result of bribery and extortion.

The unlawful use of a person’s position while in power leads to multiple problems with today’s government. The corrupt methods politicians use are ideas that are strictly in place for personal gain. Present throughout history and still prevalent within today’s world, government corruption has consisted of a number of negative issues including bribery, economic and social impacts, and the misuse of power. Government’s role within daily life has been shown to have negative effects as seen in many aspects of life as well as in literature.

Political corruption has existed throughout the ages. It believed to be most prominent in positions of power, because of the role money plays in getting people power. However, over the centuries, corruption has changed so much so as to not match a particular definition of corruption, perpetually growing deceptively harder to find (Ebbe).

Corruption can be distinguished regarding to where it happens: at the political or management levels of the public sector, or in the private sector between customer and supplier. It can be identified regarding