Bribery

Introduction.

Bribery plagues many countries and organizations from the beginning of commerce. The vice takes many forms from selective employment of family and friends also known as nepotism. Thus, bribery can be defined as the misuse of power for private gain. Therefore, corruption and bribery go hand in hand and have been the downfall of organizations and governments (Seleim & Bontis, 2009). It goes against business ethics and organizational cultures all around the world. And it was the same case when it came to the case study done on the united states base company Hydro Generation (HG). James Green, the vice president, had growing concerns on the conduct of one of their project manager stationed in Uganda. Therefore, this reflective paper will explore bribery from a national point of view and theories about bribery.

Bribes are very common in many nations and most organizations engage in it to help expedite their operation. In the case of HG, Charles Martin the operations manager in Uganda used bribes to expedite the processes that would have otherwise taken too long. It speaks a lot on the national culture and view of bribes in Uganda (Rothbard & Hoppe, 2012). These actions are considered acceptable, but they leave companies in jeopardy and exposed to extortion. They helped to avoid and overcome bureaucratic obstacles. It is solely for this reason bribery was acceptable in the 1960s and in countries like Uganda they are a necessary evil if an organization needs to operate optimally. But it is unethical and frowned upon by many people in that nation.

Bribery can be described as tolerable in many developing nations and many companies take advantage of it, but legally it is illegal and promotes unfairness. It also negatively affects the national culture and inhibits development. Which in turn brings unfairness in the business community (Loughman & Sibery, 2012). Reason being the rich companies can receive more government tenders than the young startup. These rich companies can bribe their way to more riches and the poor companies fall. It also affects public service delivery because when employees bribe to get the jobs they may not be qualified. Also, contractors do substandard work when tenders and permits are acquired illegally through bribes. Which leads to degraded infrastructure and poor public amenities.

However, to fully understand why bribery is still there and is entertained on a national level. One needs to investigate national culture towards bribery and scholarly studies that support and elaborate on the national attitude. One of the top scholars who studies workplace values is Professor Geert Hofstede (Hofstede, n.d). He and his team carried of intensive and comprehensive studies to investigate how values are affected by the culture in the workplace. He then created models and theories used worldwide by scholars and management settings. The most notable of all is the six dimensions of national culture. These dimensions help to bring national culture into perspective. They include power distance index, which theorizes that hierarchical orders society do not struggle too much for power, but in a society of low power distance they struggle for equality and call for justification of power.

Therefore, such societies may indulge in bribery to help them gain power or powerful positions. The second dimension is Individualism versus Collectivism, which can be described by defining each term. Individualism which can be seen in many developing countries (Hofstede, n.d). Where individuals from a loosely knit society take care of themselves and their immediate family only. It is where bribery can come in as a result of self-interest only. On the other hand, collectivism is when an individual from a closely knit community knows the community will take care of them and vice versa. In this scenario the individual is unquestionably loyal to this community, but bribery cannot be a factor in this case and they see themselves as we not and i.

The other theory is masculinity versus femininity which at times can be named tough versus tender. It refers to the use of assertiveness, competition and other masculine traits in a society. It creates an environment where femininity or tenderness has no room. These tender traits are modesty cooperation and care for each other (Hofstede, n.d). In this case, the society supports each other, and competition is not their core value. Therefore, corruption and bribery cases are very rare in these feminine societies. On the other end, there is the Uncertainty Avoidance index, which can be described as, when a society has uncertain futures for individuals in a community. Thus, individuals work harder to secure their futures and bribes can be used to help propel them forward, thus, avoiding an uncertain future.

Long-term orientation versus short-term normative orientation is another dimension of national society that can determine the values of a specific group. Societies with the low culture score dwell on its past, and they approach the change cautiously (Hofstede, n.d). But with a high culture sore those communities are more open to change and improvements. Thus, making the society with a low culture score more susceptible to bribes when they need to keep the status quo. Lastly, the last dimension Professor Hofstede developed for cultural values assessment was Indulgence versus restraint. Which is the most relevant, and its evidence can be seen in many governments and organizations.

It elaborates that society and their ability to indulge in fun and gratifying the basic human drives. If a nation allows its population to be indulgent and explore more then there is room for innovation and creatives are more rewarded (Hofstede, n.d). When a nation practices restraint them the public conforms to tight restriction on the social norms and they are not allowed to try new things. When there is suppression of public needs then there is room for breaking rules for them to expedite processed and bribes take center stage.

Those are some of the aspects of culture that affect society and flow into the workplace and organizational behavior. Professor Hofstede used a large database of people and employees spread out over 70 countries to come up with those dimensions on values. Which is one of the most accepted forms of studies on National culture (Hofstede, n.d). Which is the most relevant, and its evidence can be seen in many governments and organizations. There is also a correlation with morality and a comprehension of the law. It also encompasses the understanding of the repercussions that follow unethical practices like bribery. The understanding of bribery is paramount for any nation to combat it.

A country like Uganda bribes are illegal but the national culture is relaxed on the issue and them mask in as helping family and friends. It is a risk for organizations to indulge in the vice because it may lead to extortion (Rothbard & Hoppe, 2012). In the case study on Hydro Generation in Uganda, the project manager indulged the locals when they requested a traditional ritual and they demanded a second ritual at the expense of the company.

During the group work with the classmates, there was good sharing of ideas. Although some group members did not cooperate as needed. Therefore, the major recommendation is to improve communication.

Conclusively, this paper was an in-depth investigation of bribery from a national cultural point of view. It was supported by the description of bribery and a highlight of a case study done in Uganda. The paper also explained the six dimensions of cultural values as developed and researched by professor Hofstede. It also connected these dimensions on how they may influence or lead to bribery and other corruption scenarios. The paper also touched some of the repercussions of bribery in organizations giving examples of Hydro Generation.

References.

Hofstede, G. (n.d.). National Culture. Retrieved December 13, 2018, from https://www.hofstede-insights.com/models/national-culture/

Loughman, B. P., & Sibery, R. A. (2012). Bribery and corruption: Navigating the global   risks. Hoboken, N.J: Wiley.

Rothbard, M., & Hoppe, H. (2012). Bribery. In the Ethics of Liberty (pp. 129-130). New  York; London: NYU Press. Retrieved from   http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt15zc6sg.22

Seleim, Ahmed & Bontis, Nick. (2009). The relationship between culture and corruption: A          cross-national study. Journal of Intellectual Capital. 10.     10.1108/14691930910922978.

Bribery

case scenario 10-20 words

Based on the Case study, bribery is common in Uganda. It is common for companies to give tips to speed up things in business related practices. Martin gave tips in advance to speed up things. Also, government officials are involved in corruption.

Podcast script

In the case study, James Green, the vice president of the United States-based company Hydro Generation (HG) had growing concerns on the conduct of one of their project managers stationed in Uganda involved in bribery activities. Bribery is defined as the misuse of power for private gain (Seleim & Bontis, 2009). It goes against business ethics and organizational cultures all around the world. Bribes are very common in many nations and most organizations engage in them to help expedite their operation. These actions are considered acceptable, but they leave companies in jeopardy and exposed to extortion. In countries like Uganda, they are a necessary evil if an organization needs to operate optimally.

Professor Geert Hofstede created models and theories used worldwide by scholars and management settings. The most notable of all is the six dimensions of national culture. They help to bring national culture into perspective (Hofstede, n.d.). They include the power distance index, which theorizes that hierarchical orders societies do not struggle too much for power, but in a society of low power distance, they struggle for equality and call for justification of power. Individualism versus Collectivism is another dimension by Professor Hofstede (n.d.). It can be described by defining each term. The individualism can be seen in many developing countries, for instance in Uganda (Hofstede, n.d). Also, long-term orientation versus short-term normative orientation theory can determine the values of a specific group.

References.

Hofstede, G. (n.d.). National Culture. Retrieved December 13, 2018, from https://www.hofstede-insights.com/models/national-culture/

Seleim, Ahmed & Bontis, Nick. (2009). The relationship between culture and corruption: A          cross-national study. Journal of Intellectual Capital. 10.     10.1108/14691930910922978.

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