Everybody has already heard about bribing system in business. This form of corruption appeared in Ancient Greece when it was time to vote. But far more than just bribes, corruption is one of the biggest problems in business nowadays. Indeed, this scourge can affect politics, administrations, institutions and the business world. But, this concept can be discussed: How, in practice can we say what it is substantially corrupt, and how can we measure this corruption? In fact, this concept is not very precise and can be a very subjective notion.
How does the world perceive the corruption?
That's why in the following report, we will discuss the concept of corruption and establish its definition according to the legal institutions. Moreover, we will see the different forms of corruption and the way of limiting it in the global business.
We can assume that if corruption still occurs that some favorable conditions for corruption must exist. What we can do is analyze concrete cases of corruption in business, in order to understand the issues of corruption and its impact on the economic environment. That's why we will try to explain how to "measure" the corruption, and the measures that have been taken in the world to control corruption and to limit it.
[...] But, more than a legal problem, corruption is also a sociological problem that involves human behaviors and habits. That is what makes it so difficult to fight against this problem; every factor influencing the corruption is so different that is difficult to combine them in order to find a solution to this problem. III. Lobbying If we read the definition of corruption or bribery (to dishonestly persuade (someone) to act in one's favor by a payment or other inducement) we can say that there are legal ways of “corruption”. [...]
[...] by abusing their position of authority, by not doing, doing, helping with his power in exchange of a gift, money, promise Corruption in business is something else. In most cases it borne from a need to win a contract. For example big contracts for weapons, nuclear power station, etc. For some very important contracts, the companies sometimes need to give bribes to the state in which they want to win the contract. To hide the illegal transactions in the bookkeeping, companies cheat: They claim that they buy services legally from a consulting company for example. Corruption is also something that can happen between countries. [...]
[...] Most of the time corruption is only profitable for the corrupter and the corrupt. I.2. Famous cases of corruption in business In this part we will speak about two big companies who used bribes and were judged: the French company Alstom and the German company Siemens. The case of Alstom is very interesting because it's a company that is close to our school, and the one of Siemens is also relevant as they hire a lot of business engineers. I Alstom In November 2011 Alstom was found guilty by a Swiss court of corruption. [...]
[...] As you know, years ago tobacco wasn't considered as something bad for the health. First advertisements from Camel were “More Doctors smoke Camel than any other cigarettes”. Now everybody knows that smoking kills. But during the transition from “Doctors smoke Camel” to “Smoking kills” lobbyists worked hard to delay pictures and inscription on our cigarettes packs. A good movie to explain this “hard” work is “Thank you for smoking”. But, in fact, there are different ways of seeking the influence of legislators, from legal to illegal ways. [...]
[...] So, in the first part we will define what corruption is concretely, and then we will introduce different ways of measuring it and how policies try to limit corruption. In the last part we will extend the debate to lobbying which can be, in certain cases, considered as corruption because of some illegal ethics. I. What is the corruption? I.1. Definition Bribery or corruption is the act of giving money or gift in exchange of a “service”. The definition in the dictionary for corrupt is: “willing to act dishonestly in return for money or personal gain”. [...]
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