Professional Practice Ethics Report: Bribery Analysis and Solutions

This report addresses the ethical dilemma of bribery, examining its adverse impacts on organizations and the broader economy. It begins with an executive summary and table of contents, then delves into the definition of bribery, its characteristics, and the consequences of such unethical practices. The report analyzes the causes of bribery, including employee morale and lack of a robust judicial system, and explores its social and economic ramifications. Several solutions are evaluated, such as updating anti-bribery policies, incorporating ABAC principles, establishing a clear tone from leadership, supporting consistent approaches, addressing foreign public officials, conducting risk assessments, and implementing monitoring and review mechanisms. The report concludes with recommendations for organizations to establish strict anti-bribery rules, enforce severe penalties for violations, and continuously monitor compliance to reduce the incidence of bribery and promote ethical conduct within the workplace.

Bribery 0
Bribery
Student’s Details-
8/29/2019

BRIBERY 1
Executive Summary
Bribery is a major issue that hinders the growth in economy. Bribery has impact on the
organization’s performance and long-term success as it directly impacts the reputation of the
organization. The report is prepared to highlight the problem of bribery and its impact and
consequences on the organization and economy as a whole. The research is made from journal
articles, academic books and website sources. Thus, the report is helpful in understanding the
major issues and undertaking the actions that can cause reduction in the unethical practices.

BRIBERY 2
Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Description of Dilemma..................................................................................................................3
Analysis and Evaluation..................................................................................................................4
Updating anti-bribery policies.....................................................................................................4
Incorporating ABAC principles in corporate culture...................................................................4
Get the tone right..........................................................................................................................4
Supporting a consistent approach................................................................................................4
Dealing with foreign public officials...........................................................................................4
Risk Assessment..........................................................................................................................5
Monitoring and Reviewing..........................................................................................................5
Conclusion and Recommendation...................................................................................................5
References........................................................................................................................................6

BRIBERY 3
Introduction
Bribery refers to the unethical practice where an individual demands a sum of money in return of
some kind of action or influence (Birhanu, Gambardella & Valentini 2016). It is concerned with
undertaking an action on the influence of another person in the exchange of money. This practice
is considered as illegal and there are serious punishments when someone found guilty (Gneezy,
Saccardo & van Veldhuizen 2018). The report describes the problem of bribe and the
consequences of the situation on the economy. Further, different options are evaluated in order to
choose a certain option or way that can be helpful in avoiding bribe in future.
Description of Dilemma
Bribe influences the actions of the individual and goes hand in hand with corruption. However,
there is no written agreement which proves the existence of this unethical practice (Zhu. &
Truszczynski 2015). Moreover, both the persons who are taking and receiving the bribe are
accountable for the legal offense. The problem is very much associated with extortion. In
extortion, people use violence or threats in order to meet compliance whereas bribery involves
the exchange of positive reward with the consent of another party.
It can be noted that there are serious consequences of bribe in the workplace which can result in
lower profit margins and can also affect the reputation of the company when the issue comes into
the light (Sampath, Gardberg & Rahman 2018). One of the major causes of bribery is employee
morale due to decreased remuneration which forces them to indulge into unethical practice
(Burton 2015). Also, due to lack of judicial system, people are compelled to give bribes in order
to get their work done and due to threat of legal offense. Further, bribery can lead to
unemployment of the people as the powerful people can use their influence to get the job. This
has led to unemployment of the people who have actual skills.
Bribery has social impact as well. It can lead to poor health of the people as the contractors
provide lower quality services to the people in order to save money. Emergence of bribe can lead
to disrespect for the rulers when people know that the rulers are indulged in unethical practice,

BRIBERY 4
they are unable to trust the ruler. Bribery is a major problem that can decrease the economic
development of the country (Teichmann 2019).
Analysis and Evaluation
Bribery has impact on the productivity of the company and also has influence on the wealth of
the nation. It should be avoided on the highest priority in order to improve efficiency into the
workplace and an improved economy as a whole. However, following are some of the
suggestions that could be helpful in avoiding the bribery within the workplace:
Updating anti-bribery policies
A company is suggested to formulate anti-bribery policies that could remind the employees
regarding the rules and expectations and making sure that all the guidelines relating to the
relevant laws are being communicated and properly trained (Travieso 2017).
Incorporating ABAC principles in corporate culture
Incorporation of Anti-Bribery and Corruption (ABAC) in the corporate culture and
communicating the same to the employees in order to ensure that the employees are complying
with the laws relating to them is helpful in preventing the bribery and maintaining compliance.
Get the tone right
An organization must convey a clear message from the top regarding the bribery rules and
regulations. It should convey that the any action containing bribery or corruption will not be
accepted and there are serious consequences of breaking the rule. Also, the organizations can
adopt zero-tolerance rule in order to ensure that employees also agree upon the perception and
which can reduce the unethical practices.
Supporting a consistent approach
There should be a consistent approach relating to the compliance programs and are often
monitored for creating an anti-bribery environment where all the employees are motivated
towards the achievement of goals.

BRIBERY 5
Dealing with foreign public officials
It should be suggested that the organizations who want to deal with foreign public officials must
take extra precautions while doing business. One should not give money to the charities or
voluntary organizations that are run by their spouses.
Risk Assessment
The organization is suggested to assess the potential risk that could arise as a result of unethical
practice like bribe and also determining the members getting affected by the risk and also
planning of the actions against the persons undertaking such illegal practices.
Monitoring and Reviewing
After making the rules and regulations, it is important to monitor those guidelines in order to
ensure whether employees are complying with the ethical practices. Organizations reinforce the
policies on a regular basis so that the employees have deep understanding of the issues of non-
compliance with the rules which can reduce the bribery as well.
Conclusion and Recommendation
Bribery is regarded as an unethical activity which can be harmful for the organization and also
for the economy as a whole. Bribery can have serious consequences for the organization as it
directly impacts the brand image of the company. However, bribery should be avoided into the
organization. The report clearly states the issue of bribery that the organization faces and what
are major causes that lead to bribery. Also, suggestions regarding the avoidance of the unethical
practices are also discussed. It is recommended that organizations must have set of anti-bribery
rules and guidelines which should be strict. There should be serious punishment for violation of
the acts prescribed against the bribery. It should also be recommended that the rules and
procedures are monitored by the governing committee in order to ensure that each and every
person have understood the policies and have a clear understanding of the consequences of
violation of the regulations.

BRIBERY 6
References
Birhanu, AG, Gambardella, A & Valentini, G 2016, 'Bribery and investment: Firm‐level
evidence from A frica and L atin A merica', Strategic management journal, vol 37, no. 9, pp.
1865-1877.
Burton, L 2015, The Effects of Bribery and Corruption in Businesses, viewed 29 August 2019,
<https://www.highspeedtraining.co.uk/hub/effects-corruption-bribery-business/>.
Gneezy, U, Saccardo, S & van Veldhuizen, R 2018, 'Bribery: Behavioral drivers of distorted
decisions', Journal of the European Economic Association, vol 17, no. 3, pp. 917-946.
Sampath, V, Gardberg, N & Rahman, N 2018, 'Corporate Reputation’s Invisible Hand: Bribery,
Rational Choice, and Market Penalties', Journal of Business Ethics, vol 151, no. 3, pp. 743-760.
Teichmann, FMJ 2019, 'Bribery – an obstacle to international development', Journal of Financial
Crime, vol 26, no. 3, pp. 746-752.
Travieso, 2017, How can companies doing business overseas reduce the risk of corrupt
practices?, viewed 29 August 2019, <http://theconversation.com/how-can-companies-doing-
business-overseas-reduce-the-risk-of-corrupt-practices-83673>.
Zhu., Y & Truszczynski, M 2015, 'Manipulation and bribery when aggregating ranked
preferences.', in International Conference on Algorithmic DecisionTheory, Springer, Cham.