Technical Staff
February 28, 2022
When corruption pervades a company, its culture and ideals are gradually altered. Corruption will destroy the organization if the leadership does not act quickly. A diligent leadership should scan its corporate environment regularly to detect corruption risks before it becomes uncontrollable.
Corruption is cancer that afflicts nations, destroying individuals and communities. To combat such corruption in the workplace, leaders should establish an effective anti-corruption policy and educate their personnel on ethical behavior and rule compliance. Organizations should “invest” in corruption prevention to avoid the perils of fraud and corruption.
Investment in Corruption Prevention
In an organizational setting, the foundation of corruption prevention is the tone the leadership sets at the top. The following is not an exhaustive list of what a company can do to prevent corruption:
1- Establish and Maintain Effective Internal Control
2- Establish Effective Corruption Prevention Policy
3- Establish and Maintain Effective Whistleblowing Policy
4- Conduct Anti-Corruption Orientation Program for New Employees
5- Conduct and Integrate Anti-Corruption Training in the Organization’s Strategy
6- Apply, where it is applicable, the Ten Principles of Fighting Corruption promulgated by The American Anti-Corruption Institute (AACI).
7- Scan the organization’s culture, values, norms, and changes that are associated with fraud and corruption.
8- Ensure that executives and those in positions of governance (e.g., board members and senior management) have a thorough understanding of internal control, governance, whistleblowing, anti-corruption, and financial statement fraud, among other topics.
Start Today Before It Gets Too Late
Wise leaders don’t wait for failure to learn from it because it could be the organization’s final failure. Begin right now. Leaders should ask the correct questions to the right individuals inside and outside the business at the right time. For instance, simple inquiries include: is there any fraud or corruption in the company? What are the potential sources of corruption in each department? Is there a risk of corruption in the company’s culture?
Corruption is a business risk. It should be the exception rather than being the norm!
