Business Ethics and Sustainability: The Link Between Ethics, Bribery and Corruption

Running head: BUSINESS ETHICS AND SUSTAINANILITY 1
Business ethics and Sustainability
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BUSINESS ETHICS AND SUSTAINABILITY 2
Business ethics and Sustainability
The link between ethics, bribery and corruption
The phrase “God made man, man made money and money made man mad” will help in
understanding bribery and corruption. The world has become tuned to the rhythms of money
resulting in many problems. Money has made it difficult for humans to trace their humanity
leading to the birth of bribery and corruption (Gorsira, Steg, Denkers & Huisman, 2018). People
are using their resources to get favors and climb the social ladder at the expense of other people
who are incapable of such resources. This means that, getting services is no longer based on
merits but the people you know.
Corruption and bribery are ethical problems that the society has to deal with at all times.
This is attributed to the fact that the participants in both bribery and corruption always want to
keep their actions secret. The people in charge of giving services are always responsible for
obeying and implanting the law, serving the concerns of the society and avoiding making
damage. Corruption and bribery are unethical and have numerous negative not only in the
society but also the business environment.
As an illustration, bribery and corruption can be seen in various field in our societies.
These include government institutions and private organizations. Getting first hand services will
depend on the amount of money one is willing to give. The birth of bribery and corruption in our
societies have led to increase greed and power struggle. Bribery can be defined as an unethical
practice where money or gift is offered in change for certain services or create influence. There
are two types of bribery; passive and active bribery. An example of active bribery can be given
by a person obtaining an inspection report without legal procedures or avoiding safety controls

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after paying an amount of money to the officials in charge of the operation (Xie, Qi, & Zhu,
2018). An example of a passive bribery can be given a security officer taking bribe from criminal
to rob the place. Corruption is the abuse of power for private gain.
Bribery, corruption and its link to ethics.
Ethics can be defined as a system of moral principles affecting the manner in which
people make decisions. Ethics considers the following; living a good life, understanding one’s
rights and responsibilities, knowing the language of right or wrong. Lastly, making a moral
decision when faced with a situation. The concepts of ethics have been derived from societal
values, religious beliefs, cultures and philosophies. Relationship existing between corruption,
bribery and ethics is that, corruptors are manipulating the moral codes set by the society for
personal gain.
Bribery and corruption are illegal and dishonest behaviors which are considered illegal
(Sikka & Lehman, 2015). Asking about the reasons why people practice corruption and bribery
may be considered naïve. The fact is, the main reason is due to personal gains and motivation.
Corruption and bribery may result in an organization due to the following factors; lack of
transparency, weak enforcement and policy implantations, insufficient opportunities and poverty.
In an organization where employees are not treated equally and avoided, they are likely to
engage in fraudulent activities to cover for the hard work that never get noticed by the
management.
Reasons why people take bribes or practice corruption
There are a number of reasons why people engage in corruption or accept bribes. First,
people get bribed or practice corruption due to need for speed where they want to be serviced

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faster than the rest. This may make organizations to deliberately slow down certain services.
Secondly, people engage in corruption and bribery due to convenience (Rose-Ackerman &
Palifka, 2016). This may result due to the fact that some people find it hard to go the offices and
follow protocols like other people. Fear is also a contributing factor. This arises from the fact that
people fear that without paying bribes they won’t be helped.
Ignorance and unwillingness to learn may make people practice bribery and corruption.
In most cases organizations and people engage in corruption and bribery to avoid business
losses. This may include bypassing certain protocols established as laws and regulation (Pardo,
2017). Take for instance, a business may pay bribes to avoid taxes with an objective of making
profits. Additionally, organizations may pay bribes when trying to bypass certain regulations
such as quality assurance for the product to reach the consumers.
Bribery and corruption using ethical relativism
Ethical relativism identifies that the absolute truth in ethics varies from society to society
and from person to person. According to David Hume, he believed that moral beliefs can be
determined by sentiment/emotions rather than reason. Herodotus, a Greek Historian argued that
every society has its own set of values which are considered best more than any other society.
When it comes to ethical relativism, there are no moral absolutes (Asongu, 2017). This means
that moral values of a society change over time. Corruption and bribery can’t be considered as
part of a nation’s culture. This is because both corruption and bribery will only favor the rich and
organizations with adequate resources. When corruption and bribery become part of a nation’s
culture, there are consequences that the people will be experiencing. The major impacts of
corruption and bribery in a country are; reduced quality in the services being offered to the
society (Remer, 2017).