Bribery In Bangladesh

Answer to the question 1 The case study examines the role of bribery in a particular corporate organization through an example involving access to tender based respective jobs followed by corruption by the top-management of that particular organization. This case study introduces a concept of core unethical corruption, defined as violations of distributed ethical obligations as well violation of public interest for private gain. Only having a power of being a president, he approved the contract and few other corrupt members are also involved into this. So now if I want to incorporate this case with the theories that I have learned in class, then several factors comes into consideration. Firstly here in this case we can see that the organization which is state owned is using unethical means of appointing vendors for a particular contract. Here they were supposed to choose the most competitive bidder whereas the bidder who had connections with the president was chosen. Bribes were taken and shared among the corrupt members of the committee who were involved in selecting the bidder. This we can relate to the ethical egoism as the act which took place promoted the long term self interest of the corrupted members of the committee. Then if we relate it with Utilitarianism then if we go with the concept then it says that no matter in what condition the right action or policy is which give more benefits or less cost or in other words which gives the greatest amount of happiness for the greatest number of persons. Now in this case we have seen that the bribery is not only being accepted only by the president but also by the corrupt members of that organization. No in this case though if its not in the junior members favor but he/she has to accept it as because bribery has been accepted by majority of the people of the organization and if he/she try to protest against this malpractice then he/she has to suffer a lot which will hamper his/her career as well. As that member is not holding any top position in the organization so he/she has to abide by the instructions that his/her top management has assigned to him/her and this has been the ongoing process. The president and other corrupt members who take sides to the bribery may know that bribery is not a good habit but they also realize that if they can get something in a normal way, why do they go for the shortcuts as they have the maximum authority of assigning the job to the firm with whom they have good connections with. From this view remaining silent is beneficial to the employee , to the corrupt members of the procurement committee, and to the company, which

bribed the committee. However, in the broader sense more harm is being done than good another company may have utilized the job more efficiently, and so that company and its employees are being deprived of such an opportunity. More importantly, the action is silently promoting corruption in the entire industry. Exposures of this bribery will not only ensure that the deserving company receives the job, but also check corruption in other companies (at least temporarily). This would offset any personal benefits that the employee would receive. We can also relate the situation with the deontology where there is a moral saying not to deceive. But here in this situation we can clearly see that the corrupted members of the committee of the organization have clearly deceived with the competitive bidders by not even considering their submitted tenders. Even though the company may benefit from the deal, it would be unfair for competing firms. Therefore in this case, the employee definitely should have protested, since his company was cheating and he has a responsibility towards himself and towards the society in doing the right thing. This tells us about the role conflict that the employee has in his/her organization. It also tells us about the lack of knowledge of the employee about whistle blowing which is a process of reporting wrongdoings within an organization to the internal and external parties. So far this case is being analyzed using three different ethical theories for example the ethical egoism, utilitarianism and the deontology. Each of these theories resulted in a different judgment of the same action, because they focused on different features of the case.

Answer to the question 2 It is very much important to have a code of ethics for this type of particular scenario as because In order to ensure that bribery is rejected without even a need to think, the organization must have an established and consistent code of ethics all regardless of geographic boundaries. Hence in the bribery case we discussed, if there is an established code of ethics, the president will definitely reject the bribe instead of hesitating whether to accept it. Hence, if a company depends on bribe to gain business, it will crumple once it is exposed. Ethical theories only served as a guide to help us make the difficult decision. We cannot depend entirely on them. For example, using Utilitarianism solely will come to a decision that it is ethical to accept the bribery as it produce the most amount of happiness if the bribe does not get exposed. Regardless, they only serve as a guide and we shouldnt base our decision on the theory alone. The ethical theory could be misuse to comfort oneself about doing the things that people know is

unethical. For example, the way that particular president & other corrupt members uses the theory to support the choice to go with the bribery & ignoring deontology. We know that it is wrong but we want to accept the bribe hence we use the flaws in the ethical theory to make it seem as though it is ethical. So it is very much important to have code of ethics as an organization has multiple kinds of people who have different views and who have different ethical standings developed through the social group they have emerged from as well as the experiences and teachings they have received in their life time. Code of ethics would ensure that that the right decisions are taken without bias that means in the long run the corporation would be economic efficiency by performing well. It would ensure that the management as well as other staff/employees would be aware of what is right and so would not be able to act according to self-interest. As a whole it would demonstrate organizations concern internally and externally. The factors to be considered in this situation are: Type of content: The general codes have to be set so that there is no malpractice of taking gifts like bribery, hospitality etc. throughout the organization. Specific codes should also be implemented that does not allow the procurement committee to be involved with any bidder financially until the bidding results have been published and there will be no place for personal interference like any other special recommendations/request for any organizational welfare as it will depend on the total stakeholders of any particular organizations. Provisions regarding exposing wrong doing: The organization should be very open to whistle blowing and also encourages other employees to take necessary steps if they see any other misdeeds and malpractices that has been taken care by any other employees whether or not they differ from his/her designation, but each and every employee must have to have the right to express their feelings regarding the situations going on in the organizations and they have to have the independence to report wrong doing to management, CEO or any other equivalent department head.

Procurement Policy: The procurement committee should be accountable to the BOD and should justify whomever they choose with proper documents. Every bidders information should be available to scrutinize at a later date. Relationship with the stakeholders: Each and every major decisions have to be taken care of on behalf of the stakeholders as they are the

prime to the organization and every news have to be clear to the stake holders also.

Punishment: The organization should be strict about taking strict measures for anyone violating any part of the code of ethics. No superior position should have a free pass to wrongdoings.

An Experience In A Cement Industry

Alexs is facing with an ethical dilemma as the selling of the cement below the companys quality but yet above the industry average. Here, he is going through managerial role conflict that is, his individual moral is facing the doubt of being unethical. Since his job is to monitor the standard, so compromising with it means depriving the customers. On disclosing the fact to the CEO of the company, the CEO suggested to sell the cement in the normal price concealing about its quality to the customers. If I were in his position, I would have done the same thing as he did. I have my reasoning for not protesting and complying with the decision of the CEO. According to Milton and Carr, business has it own ethics and it should be left with its own principle and the principle is to make profit. Throwing the cements would cost the company, and would not benefit the firm or employees in any way. Following the stakeholders model, a decision is best when the maximum numbers of stakeholders are being benefited by it. The stakeholders are the company, shareholders, employees, customers, suppliers and society. Even though the cement is below the companys standard, but yet it is above the industrys average standard, so selling it would not mean to harm the customers or deprive the customers as well. Other than that, by throwing it all the stakeholders will have to incur loss. The most important reason behind the decision would be that, the managers foremost and vital role is to work for the company, since he is getting paid by the company so his utmost obligation and responsibility lie in taking the decisions that is most suitable for the company. His individual morals and principles should be set aside and practice the things that are being done in the industry. As it can be considered that if the cement quality were below the standard quality then he can charge back and protect against the CEO. But as its above the standard baseline, then it would be good if Alex keeps his mouth shut and do what his CEO told him to do. I would have done the same thing if I were in Alexs position.