Remedy 1. Moral and trustworthy leaders (and their close relations)
Able and virtuous people have to be attracted to public service and retained without great personal sacrifice.
They have to be carefully selected, screened, and monitored to see that their hands (and those of their close relatives) remain clean. There has to be instant removal from office of anyone with dirty hands and immediate disciplinary action against anyone who condones corruption.
i. Appropriate social regulation
A root cause of corruption is social controls for which there is virtually no support. Outward conformity is only achieved at the cost of sullen resentment and common cause to make such controls.
Governance intervenes where it is unwelcome, which merely results in evasion and lack of enforcement.
ii. Regular law revision
Repeal is needed of vague, anachronistic, and internally contradictory laws and regulations that prevent the law-abiding from conducting their business in a lawful manner. In every jurisdiction there are probably orders that have outlived their usefulness but remain on the books because no regular review and revision is instituted.
iii. Reduction of monopolies
Inevitably and almost unconsciously, monopolies exploit their position. Where competition cannot be introduced, they have to be carefully monitored and subject to transparency and full accountability to ensure their actions are legal, moral, productive, sensitive, and effective.
iv. Open democratic governance
Clearly, autocracies have a higher propensity to corruption. Every effort has to be made to ensure government in the sunshine. This is very difficult to obtain in private organizations and in public organizations that have been exempted for good reason from democratic norms, procedures, and controls. At the very least, redress and compensation should be provided where wrongdoing occurs especially in multinational operating in the third world.
v. Professionalism
Amateurism has its place in democratic governance but democratic administration requires professionals who adhere to professional ethics and standards, avoid harm, keep abreast of the state of the art, and are jealous of their reputations that they ensure competent performance, discipline, and reliable self-policing.
vi. Competence
Wherever there is incompetence, corruption creeps in. System, order and regularity merchants are essential for the detection of abuses. Competent administration in itself is a major deterrent to corruption as irregularities are likely to be sported quickly, long before they can be routinized.
vii. Personal Integrity
When all is said and done, there is no substitute for individual integrity and the unwillingness f people to compromise with corruption. People who know right from wrong rarely depart from norms and prefer exit to participation in wrongdoing. Ethics education is imperative and cannot be taken for granted.
viii. The bottom line
As has been emphasized elsewhere (Caiden 2001, pg 451), corruption is a particularly viral from of bureau pathology. Once it enters life stream of any system, it quickly spreads. If it is left untreated, it will eventually destroy the effectiveness of the infected areas. Even if it is caught quickly and treated in time, there is no guarantee that it will have eliminated altogether. Current strategies aim only at containment and minimization, not eradication. The ingenious are always one step ahead, and they will remain so as long as personal integrity is lacking in individuals.
B. Remedy No 2- Instilling Ethics into business
A framework for understanding Ethical Decision Making in the workplace/in a corporation or International Trade
Ethics in the organizational framework is defined as the study and philosophy of human conduct with an emphasis on the determination of what is right and wrong. For managers and workers, ethics refers to rules (standards, principles, codes) governing the conduct of organizations members.
C. Remedy No 3: Ethical Codes; Instilling Ethics in Business Organization
Good governance is next most effective way of enhancing the ethics of an organization, micro, medium or macro one. It is most important to set up the right system in an organization because “good people can be tempted to go astray”. This is where the codes of Ethics come in practically in al professionals areas business included.
i) Codes of Ethics
A code is a written statement of principles, listing those principles that organization considers essential for the conduct of persons/professionals within its mandate. Concern for ethics in business can be traced as far as the dawn of human civilization. Throughout history principles of business ethics have developed as a reaction to unfair practices. Systems of law have evolved to regulate commerce and enforce contracts.
Importance of codes
Codes are important fro administering justice. They serve as basis of applying sanctions whenever their legitimate use is deemed right. Nicely worded, codes are not enough to influence a firm’s culture. Top level executive ought to be seen to take the codes seriously, first by living according to it and then enforcing it. In the issue of money gifts, for example, a code ought to be prescribes that any gift exceeding a certain amount should never be accepted, thus providing a reliable guide.
Codes and the Common Good
Codes are meant to safeguard something valuable from being damaged either by vandalism or by misuse, are not ends in themselves, but means to an end. They make sense only if related to the acquisition of certain values and ultimately to virtue. But they become mere cosmetics if unclearly drafted, so that values are not seen to be true virtues. Observing them is a means towards preserving the firm’s reputation. Codes are important but, managers and workers must not just aim at fulfilling the codes for fee of deterrent measures or sanctions. They should obey them out of conviction; these codes are safeguarding vital human and ethical values and virtues for all the corporation’s success and well being of their lives.
D. Remedy No 4: Training Leaders, Managers and Employees
Training is important for both leaders and workers in order to make ethics a reality in all business transaction.
This is the top stage of ethical training. It requires followers committed to the values they see in senior managers and top cream leaders. Effective ethical training assists employers and employees in two ways;
Raising their level of awareness about ethical issues. It helps them to make the right choice when confronted with conflicting values and waver about decisions. Training should be captured by the firm through workshops and seminars if possible study leaves on Business ethics
Titany answered the question on August 12, 2021 at 10:24