Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Abuse of Ministerial Authority, Systemic Perjury, and Obstruction of Justice: Corruption in the Shadows of Organizational Practice

  • Published:
Journal of Business Ethics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Organizational corruption has recently attracted considerable scholarly attention, especially since its devastating effects following recent major corporate scandals, the worldwide economic crisis of 2009, and the current European Union monetary crisis. This paper is based on the analysis of three distinct, yet contextually related, case studies in a European Union member state: (a) an incident of corruption by a minister in an adjudicative role, (b) widespread financial misreporting and perjury within an organization, and (c) abuse of due process and obstruction of justice by civil servants within a ministry. These cases serve to illustrate, for the first time, Aguilera and Vadera’s (in J Bus Ethics 77:431–449, 2008) framework of organizational corruption, which relates distinct types of a corrupter’s opportunity, motivation, and justification with the type of corruption present in the organization. Furthermore, the data suggest how the framework may be extended and reveal conceptual issues that require reconciliation. This study attempts such reconciliations and offers some suggestions on how the findings may be utilized by policy reformers or corruption controllers.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Abbreviations

A&V:

Aguilera and Vadera (2008)

AV-framework:

The framework developed in Aguilera and Vadera (2008)

BoD:

Board of Directors

EU:

European Union

OMJ:

The opportunity–motivation–justification model of crime (Albrecht et al., 1984, 1995; Coleman, 1985, 1987; Cressey, 1972)

References

  • Aguilera, R. V. and A. K. Vadera: 2008, ‘The Dark Side of Authority: Antecedents, Mechanisms, and Outcomes of Organizational Corruption’, Journal of Business Ethics 77, 431-449.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Albrecht, W. S., K. R. Howe and M. B. Romey: 1984, Deterring Fraud: The Internal Auditor’s Perspective (The Institute of Internal Auditors Research Foundation, Altamonte Springs, Florida).

    Google Scholar 

  • Albrecht, W.S., G. W. Wernz and T. L. Williams: 1995, Fraud: Bringing Light to the Dark Side of Business (McGraw-Hill, New York).

    Google Scholar 

  • Andvig, J. C., O. Fjeldstad, I. Amundsen, T. Sissener and T. Søreide: 2000, ‘Research on Corruption: A Policy Oriented Survey’, http://www.icgg.org/downloads/contribution07_andvig.pdf. 6 Aug 2009.

  • Argandoña, A.: 1998, ‘The Stakeholder Theory and the Common Good’, Journal of Business Ethics 17, 1093–1102.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Argandoña, A.: 2003, ‘Private-to-Private Corruption’, Journal of Business Ethics 47, 253-267.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Aronson, E.: 1995, The Social Animal, 7th edition (W.H. Freeman, NY).

    Google Scholar 

  • Ashforth, B. E. and V. Anand: 2003, ‘The Normalization of Corruption in Organizations’, Research in Organizational Behavior 25, 1-52.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ashforth, B.E., D. A. Gioia, S. L. Robinson and L. A. Treviño: 2008, ‘Re-Viewing Organizational Corruption’, Academy of Management Review 33, 670-684.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ashforth B. E. and F. Mael: 1989, ‘Social Identity Theory and the Organization’, Academy of Management Review 14, 20-39.

    Google Scholar 

  • Baker, M.: 2001, ‘Selecting a Research Methodology’, The Marketing Review 1, 373-397.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Banerjee, M., M. Capozzoli, L. McSweeney and D. Sinha.: 1999, ‘Beyond Kappa: A Review of Inter-rater agreement measures’, Canadian Journal of Statistics, 27(1), 3–23.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bhaskar, R.: 2008, A Realist Theory of Science, (Routledge, Abindon, Oxon, UK).

    Google Scholar 

  • Bolman L. G. and T. E. Deal: 1997, Reframing Organizations, (Jossey-Bass, San Francisco).

    Google Scholar 

  • Bonoma, T.: 1985, ‘Case Research in Marketing: Opportunities, Problems, and a Process’, Journal of Marketing Research 22, 199-208.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chia, R. and B. MacKay: 2007, ‘Post-processual Challenges for the Emerging Strategy-as-practice Perspective: Discovering Strategy in the Logic of Practice’, Human Relations 60, 217-242.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cialdini, R. B. and N. J. Goldstein: 2004, ‘Social Influence: Compliance and Conformity’, Annual Review of Psychology 55, 591-621.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, J.: 1960, ‘A Coefficient of Agreement for Nominal Scales’, Education and Psychological Measurement 20(1), 37–46.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Coleman, J. W.: 1985, The Criminal Elite: The Sociology of White-Collar Crime 3rd edition (St Martin’s, New York).

    Google Scholar 

  • Coleman, J. W.: 1987, ‘Toward an Integrated Theory of White-Collar Crime’, The American Journal of Sociology 93, 406-439.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cressey, D.R.: 1972, Other People’s Money: A Study in the Social Psychology of Embezzlement (Wadsworth, Belmont, CA).

    Google Scholar 

  • Dierksmeier, C. and M. Pirson: 2009, ‘Oikonomia Versus Chrematistike: Learning from Aristotle About the Future Orientation of Business Management’, Journal of Business Ethics 88, 417–430.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eisenhardt, K.: 1989, ‘Building Theories from Case Study Research’, Academy of Management Review 14, 532-550.

    Google Scholar 

  • Elfenbein, H. A.: 2007, ‘Emotions in Organizations: A Review and Theoretical Integration’, Academy of Management Annals 1, 315-386.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gaviria, A.: 2002, ‘Assessing the Effects of Corruption and Crime on Firm Performance: Evidence from Latin America’, Emerging Markets Review 3, 245-268.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Godfrey, P.C. and C. W. L. Hill: 1995, ‘The Problem of Unobservables in Strategic Management Research’, Strategic Management Journal 16, 519-533.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gollwitzer P. M., J. D. Delius and G. Oettingen (2000) ‘Motivation’, in K. Pawlik and M. R. Rosenzweig (eds.), International Handbook of Psychology, (Sage, London).

    Google Scholar 

  • Gopinath, C.: 2008, ‘Recognizing and Justifying Private Corruption’, Journal of Business Ethics 85, 747-754.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gwet, K. L. 2008, ‘Computing Inter-rater Reliability and its Variance in the Presence of High Agreement’, British Journal of Mathematical and Statistical Psychology 61, 29–48.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Habib, M. and L. Zurawicki: 2002, ‘Corruption and Foreign Direct Investment’, Journal of International Business Studies 33, 291-307.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hodgson M. G. and S. Jiang: 2007, ‘The Economics of Corruption and the Corruption of Economics: An Institutionalist Perspective’, Journal of Economic Issues XLI(4):1043–1061.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jamal K, R. Johnson and R. G. Berryman: 1995, ‘Detecting Framing Effects in Financial Statements’, Contemporary Accounting Research 12, 85-105.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Keane A.: 2008, The Modern Law of Evidence, 7th edition (Oxford University Press, Oxford).

    Google Scholar 

  • Kulik B. W., M. J. O’Fallon and M. S. Salimath: 2008, ‘Do Competitive Environments Lead to the Rise and Spread of Unethical Behavior? Parallels from Enron’, Journal of Business Ethics 83, 703-723.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Langley, A.: 1999, ‘Strategies for Theorizing from Process Data’, Academy of Management Review 24, 691-710.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lerner, J. S. and P. E. Tetlock: 1999, ‘Accounting for the Effects of Accountability’, Psychological Bulletin 125, 255-275.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lincoln Y. S. and E. G. Guba: 1985, Naturalistic Inquiry, (Sage, Newbury Park, CA).

    Google Scholar 

  • Loebbecke, J. K., M. M. Eining and J. J. Willingham: 1989, ‘Auditors’ Experiences with Material Irregularities: Frequency, Nature, and Detectability’, Auditing: A Journal of Practice and Theory 9, 1-28.

    Google Scholar 

  • Luo, Y.: 2004, ‘An Organizational Perspective of Corruption’, Management and Organization Review 1, 119-154.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Martin K. D., J. B. Cullen, J. J. Johnson and K. P. Parboteeah: 2007, ‘Deciding to Bribe: A Cross-Level Analysis of Firm and Home Country Influences on Bribery Activity’, Academy of Management Journal 50, 1401-1422.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McKendall, M. A. and J. A. I. Wagner: 1997, ‘Motive, Opportunity, Choice, and Corporate Illegality’, Organization Science 8, 624-647.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Miles, M. B. and A. M. Huberman: 1994, Qualitative Data Analysis: An Expanded Sourcebook, 2nd edition (Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA).

    Google Scholar 

  • Ormerod D.: 2008. Smith and Hogan Criminal Law, 12th edition (Oxfored University Press, Oxford).

    Google Scholar 

  • Philp, M.: 2006, ‘Corruption Definition and Measurement’, in C. Sampford, A. Shacklock, C. Connors and F. Galtung (eds.), Measuring Corruption (Ashgate, Surrey, UK).

    Google Scholar 

  • Pinto J., C. R. Leana and F. K. Pil: 2008, ‘Corrupt Organizations or Organizations of Corrupt Individuals? Two Types of Organization-Level Corruption’, Academy of Management Review 33, 685-709.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pruitt D. G. and S. H. Kim: 2004, Social Conflict: Escalation, Stalemate, and Settlement, 3rd edition (McGraw-Hill, New York).

    Google Scholar 

  • Rest, J. R.: 1986, Moral Development: Advances in Research and Theory (Praeger, New York).

    Google Scholar 

  • Robertson, C. J. and Watson A.: 2004, ‘Corruption and Change: The Impact of Foreign Direct Investment’, Strategic Management Journal 25, 385-396.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rodriguez, P., K. Uhlenbruk and L. Eden: 2005, ‘Government Corruption and the Entry Strategy of Multinationals’, Academy of Management Review 30, 383-396.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scholz, R. W. and O. Tietje: 2002, Embedded Case Study Methods: Integrating Quantitative and Qualitative Knowledge (Sage, Thousand Oaks).

    Google Scholar 

  • Sedikides C. and M. B. Brewer: 2001, Individual Self, Relational Self, Collective Self (Psychology, Philadelphia).

    Google Scholar 

  • Segev R.: 2006, ‘Justification, Rationality and Mistake: Mistake of Law Is No Excuse? It Might Be a Justification’, Law and Philosophy 25, 31-79.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sherman, L. W.: 1980, ‘Three Models of Organizational Corruption in Agencies of Social Control’, Social Problems 27, 478-491.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Siggelkow N.: 2007, ‘Persuasion with Case Studies’, Academy of Management Journal 50, 20-24.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Singer R. G. and J. Q. La Fond: 2007, Criminal Law, 4th edition (Aspen Publishers, NY).

    Google Scholar 

  • Sykes, G. M. and D. Matza: 1957, ‘Techniques of Neutralization: A Theory of Delinquency’, American Sociological Review 22, 664-670.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tajfel, H. and J. C. Turner: 1985, ‘The Social Identity Theory of Intergroup Relations’, in S. Warchel and W. G. Austin (eds), Psychology of Intergroup Conflict, 2nd edition (Nelson-Hall, Chicago), pp. 7-24.

    Google Scholar 

  • Teather, D.: 2009, ‘Bernard Madoff Receives Maximum 150 Year Sentence’, The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/jun/29/bernard-madoff-sentence, 30 June 2009.

  • Tenbrunsel A. E. and K. Smith-Crowe: 2008, ‘Ethical Decision Making: Where We’ve Been and Where We’re Going’, Academy of Management Annals 2(1): 545–607.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Theobald, R.: 1990, Corruption, Development and Underdevelopment, (Duke University Press, Durham).

    Google Scholar 

  • Tsoukas, H.: 1989, ‘The Validity of Idiographic Research Explanations’, Academy of Management Review 14, 551-561.

    Google Scholar 

  • Van Maanen, J.: 1979. ‘The Fact and Fiction in Organizational Ethnography’, Administrative Science Quarterly 24, 539-550.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vinten, G.: 1994, ‘Participant Observation: A Model for Organizational Investigation?’, Journal of Managerial Psychology 9(2), 30-38.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Waite, D. and D. Allen: 2003, ‘Corruption and Abuse of Power in Educational Administration’, The Urban Review 35, 281-296.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Watkins, S.S.: 2003, ‘Ethical Conflicts at Enron: Moral Responsibility in Corporate Capitalism’, California Management Review 45, 6-19.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weber, M.: [1992] 1978, Economy and Society (University of California Press, Berkeley and Los Angeles, CA).

  • Wegner, D. M.: 2002, The Illusion of Conscious Will (MIT Press, Cambridge, MA).

    Google Scholar 

  • Weick, K. E., K. M. Sutcliffe and D. Obstfeld: 2005, ‘Organizing and the process of sensemaking’, Organization Science 16(4), 409–421.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wilks, T. J. and M. F. Zimbelman: 2004, ‘Using Game Theory and Strategic Reasoning Concepts to Prevent and Detect Fraud’, Accounting Horizons 18, 173-184.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yin, R. K.: 2003, Case Study Research: Design and Methods 3rd edition (Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA).

    Google Scholar 

  • Zyglidopoulos S. C., P. J. Fleming and S. Rothenberg: 2008, ‘Rationalization, Overcompensation and the Escalation of Corruption in Organizations’, Journal of Business Ethics 84, 65-73.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. ALBA Graduate Business School, Athens, Greece

    Seraphim Voliotis

Authors
  1. Seraphim Voliotis
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Seraphim Voliotis.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Voliotis, S. Abuse of Ministerial Authority, Systemic Perjury, and Obstruction of Justice: Corruption in the Shadows of Organizational Practice. J Bus Ethics 102, 537–562 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-011-0826-9

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-011-0826-9

Key words

Search

Navigation