¶ … bribing" unethical and illegal or just a cost of doing business?
Bribery is unethical and illegal in some societies and a regular part of business in others. Whether or not an activity is unethical is largely dependent on the culture, customs, norms, values, and laws of the country where the activity takes place. It's a matter of perspective. When you consider that the act of bribery is intended to supplement the income of underpaid officials or increase the power of a nation's governments, the outcome of the bribe is a negative one. Most economists and ethicists agree that bribery's effects are largely detrimental (Weber and Getz, 2004). If the effect of the act is detrimental, then it can be argued that it is unethical to engage in bribery even if it is only a cost of doing business.
There are different types of corruption: bureaucratic corruption where officials take bribes; political corruption where politicians take bribes using their positions of power; and grand corruption meaning misuse of public power by heads of states, ministers and top officials for private, pecuniary profit (Gerasimova, 2008). Bribery has opportunity costs because the money paid as bribes is not put to productive use and may lead officials to contract with inefficient firms for inappropriate goods or services (Weber and Getz, 2004). Bribery creates disincentives to foreign investment by increasing risk and uncertainty for firms, such that economic development is hindered (Weber and Getz, 2004).
The negative consequences of bribery on the local population should be considered by every company that engages in operations in that country. If the act of bribery causes the government to engage in unproductive projects that deteriment its citizens then it is unethical for companies to engage in bribery.
II. What other options do companies have to win business contracts without bribing?
Corruption is a symptom of other, deeper-seated factors, such as poorly designed economic policies, low levels of education, underdeveloped civil society, and the weak accountability of public institutions (Gerasimova, 2008). This makes it difficult for...
Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby F. Scott Fitzgerald's book, The Great Gatsby, is iconic for a period and a place where the world was caught by the mad drive to recover from the trauma of a world war. The meeting with the specter of death on a mass scale in a time when everybody thought wars were a thing of the past had left the young generation desperate to experience everything
business scandals in the early 2000s brought the issue of business ethics to the fore -- Enron, WorldCom and Tyco. The three share some similarities but they are different in other ways. Enron was simply a case of criminal activity. The company's management did not publish financial statements and when they did the statements completely misrepresented the company's financial position. This occurred on the direction of the senior management
Siemens AG Scandal Siemens AG had over one hundred fifty years of experience making business deals internationally by the time it became embroiled in several bribery scandals in 2006. Beginning in the mid-1800s, the company set up products such as telegraph networks and maintenance and initiated business practices such as fixed-hour workdays and employee career training that helped it get ahead. With a long and solid history as a leading company
Managers may engage in fraudulent activities by selling company information or details of customers. The manager improperly accesses the company's it system to alter values for citation issued. Fraud is an illegal activity, and the manager that is choosing the bribing vendor over the other vendors is just very wrong. "Most commonly used types of bribes are cash, travel and entertainment rewards," as noted by Dillon (2008, p. 37). Once
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In a democratic system, whose underlying foundation is a philosophy of independence and equal representation, giving somebody the power to buy political power or interest is unethical. For this reason, must governing boards have codes of ethics that specifically prohibit bribery. The mayor's proposed plan to lure tourism to Bigtown is akin to the illegal bribery committed by the SLOC. In other words, what the mayor proposes is to give
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