Corruption, a Question of Morality
Corruption is found in realms outside of the business world or the political realm. It is found on a small level in the way in which companies treat their individual employees, and it is found on the larger level in the way leaders of country disregard their citizens for the reasons of greed and power. It is also found in the medical field. When a trainer gives their athlete performance enhancing drugs, this is corruption, it is the success of one person at the disadvantage of the others.
When doctors either lie, or refuse to testify in negligence cases that may have resulted in the loss of a patients life, this is corruption. It is more than the publicized cases of money laundering and the funding of terrorist organizations or bribery, it is any time, any one just simply does not act in an ethical and a moral manner. One of the problems in the definition of and the investigation of corruption is that there is a tremendous amount of disagreement surrounding the acts that actually constitute the offense.
Many people in other countries, and in the United States are guilty of nepotism. Is this corruption. If the owner of a restaurant hires his inexperienced daughter to wait tables over a highly qualified applicant, is this corruption? If a company hires a secretary based on the fact that she brought homemade cookies to the interview, is this corruption? It is certainly seen as such when one country accepts a business partnership with another, because the president of the company sent the official of the country a brand new Mercedes Benz. So where does one draw the line? There are boundaries that must be set for a globally agreed upon strategy for defining just what it means.
That is the paradigm, for many acts are not illegal nor unlawful. They are simply unjust and unfair. Before 1977 it was not against the for the companies of the United State to bribe foreign official into securing business contracts. And in other parts of the world it did not become illegal until much, much later. So it must be stated that just because someone is not breaking the law, if they are being corrupt it is a question of morality.
Related posts:
- The Laws Regarding Foreign Business Transactions
- The Danger in Becoming Lax with FCPA Policy Enforcement
- The Practice and Importance of Knowing Your Customer
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