To Bribe or Not To Bribe Part 1
Your project in a post-conflict region has been put on hold by military and government officials suspicious of foreign interest in a politically sensitive zone. A local partner NGO encourages you to bribe a government official to expedite your work: a bribe is expected and without it you may be delayed by several crucial months. However, your donors and funding agencies expect you to act according to your home country’s laws and ethics. How do you approach the local government and military to find out what is required to proceed?
1. Ethical Pluralism
Ethical pluralism suggests there there may be several values and ideas that are equally valid and fundamental and yet, conflict with each other. Your might have your own idea of whether the bribe is “right or wrong” which are not compatibe with those shared by the local NGO. There is no sense in objectively ordering them in terms of importance as the local NGO may not share a common standard of measurement. In the context of ethical pluralism, here are some questions to consider:
- If the local authorities expects a bribe, why is it expected? How universally accepted is this bribe?
- How are the meanings of ‘expected,’ ‘acceptable,’ ‘understood’/’understandable,’ and ‘desirable’ different?
- If you have an ethical problem with paying a bribe, how can you defend this if you choose to explain this to the government official?
2. Non-Maleficence/Beneficence
Non-maleficence/beneficence emphasizes that it may be better to do nothing than to do something that risks causing more harm than good. Non-malificence/beneficence would support paying a bribe to the government as long as it does not harm the community. However, there may be potential harm that is not immediately apparent. In the context of ethical non-maleficence/beneficence, here are some questions to consider:
- What precedent are you setting by giving a bribe for the rest of the team? What if this situation takes place again?
- How can paying the bribe create a divide between your team and community/NGO? How would they feel knowing that this money came from funds allocated for project that supported their community/organization?
- What are the potential positive and negative impacts to the community if the power of the military is strengthened?
3. Justice
When justice is held as the most important consideration, resources are allocated in an equal manner to those who are similarly situated. Here is where it might get a little confusing. There are different variations in the approach to Justice. Utilitarianism, a form of consequentialism, is the ability to achieve future social benefit and the moral worth of an action is determined by its outcome. In this case, utilitarianism would favor bribing the military if doing so would allow you to ultimately benefit the community. On the other hand, retributive justice suggest that the morality of an action is based on the action’s adherence to rules. Therefore no unethical acts are permissible no matter how good the outcomes could be. In the context of justice, here are some questions to consider:
- How is the community residents you are hoping to help and the government/military officials similarly or differently situated?
- How does the power imbalances between the military and the community make it more difficult to allocate the money?
- What are the long-term implications on the distribution of services once you have left?
To Bribe or Not To Bribe Part 2
Your budget report requires you to detail every expenditure: you will have to lie about a bribe, or face exposing it to your organization supervisors and stakeholders (funding organizations and investors). How will you justify/reconcile your actions with their expectations?
1. Ethical Pluralism
There may be differences in the moral judgment of whether using unethical actions such as lying or bribing is morally acceptable if the consequences of those actions are good. In the context of ethical pluralism, here are some questions to consider:
- How would the local NGO who you consulted before giving the bribe feel about this expenditure justify this with your project stakeholders?
- What are the barriers in communicating between different ethical values?
- How does your own view of the actions of bribing change as you go through consulting with your original personal values, the local NGOs and now your supervisors?
2. Non-Maleficence/Beneficence
Your first priority is an obligation to the community to promote the well being of the community while abstaining from harm. Even though this circumstance appears simply to be about your own welfare and consequences of punishment, this set of ethical principle also challenges you to consider how your actions can positively and negatively influence the people who you are trying to help. In the context of non-maleficence/beneficence, here are some questions to consider:
- What precedent does if certain details are omitted from the budget proposal? How may this lead to other misconduct in the future?
- By lying about the bribing, any blame on the military or government who asked for the bribe is alleviated. How can this be harmful for the community and other organizations that intend to help this post-conflict areas?
- What are the potential consequences if you decided to tell the truth and your investors chose to withdraw their financial contributions due to mis-management of the funds?
3. Justice
When justice is held as the most important consideration, resources are distributed equally to all individuals who are similarly situated. Based on theory of utilitarianism, by giving a bribe you were ultimately able to maximize the distribution of welfare to the community, therefore it would be considered acceptable. Lying about the bribe may be necessary to make sure that funding is secured for the continuity of the project and distribution among those in-need int he post-conflict area. Retributive justice, in contrast, states that punishment is an appropriate response to crime that the morality of an action is based on the action’s adherence to rules. Retributive justice would favor truth-telling and transparently exposing the bribe. In the context of justice, here are some questions to consider:
- Is it ever possible to reconcile a bribe to your supervisors? If lying and bribery are not options, what other strategies might be used?
- Is it justifiable to pay the bribe out of your own pocket? What if this is an event that continues to occur?
Academic Resources (7)
Crutchfield George, B., K.A. Lacey, J. Birmele. (1999). “On the Threshold of the Adoption of Global Antibribery Legislation: A Critical Analysis of Current Domestic and International Efforts Toward the Reduction of Business Corruption.” Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law. 32
Cuervo-Cazurra, A. (2006). “Who Cares About Corruption?” Journal of International Business Studies. 37: 807-822.
Kim, J. and J. B. Kim (1997). “Cultural Differences in the Crusade Against International Bribery: Rice-Cake Expenses in Korea and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.” Pacific Rim Law and Policy Journal 6(3): 549-580.
Rose-Ackerman, Susan. (2002). “”Grand” Corruption and the Ethics of Global Business.” Journal of Banking and Finance. 26(9): 1889-1918.
Sanyal, R. (2005). “Determinants of Bribery in International Business: The Cultural and Economic Factors.” Journal of Business Ethics. 59(1-2): 139-145.
Smith, D. J. (2006). A Culture of Corruption: Everyday Deception and Popular Discontent in Nigeria. Princeton, Princeton University Press.
Steidlmeier, P. (1999). “Gift Giving, Bribery and Corruption: Ethical Management of Business Relationships in China.” Journal of Business Ethics. 20(2): 121-132.
Non-Academic Resources (3)
Allen, M. (2000). “Here Comes The Bribe: Honesty isn’t always the best policy abroad.” Entrepreneur Magazine, from http://www.entrepreneur.com/magazine/entrepreneur/2000/october/32636.html.
Finney, P. B. (May 17, 2005). “Itineraries; Shaking Hands, Greasing Palms.” New York Times, from http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A02E2DA1F30F934A25756C0A9639C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=2.
Logue, N. C. (2005). “Cultural Relativism or Ethical Imperialism? Dealing with Bribery Across Cultures.” from http://www.cbfa.org/Logue.pdfhttp://www.cbfa.org/Logue.pdf.
Total (10)
