Abstract
Corruption continues to represent a tenacious challenge to internationally active companies. According to prevailing international anti-corruption standards, a company can be held criminally liable if it does not put all necessary and reasonable organizational measures in place to prevent corruption. The regular training of employees is considered one of the most effective ways to prevent corruption. Employee training is considered helpful in efforts to minimize the risk of employees becoming involved in corrupt behavior. With this idea in mind and building on the fraud triangle model and neutralization theory, this paper examines whether business professionals who have undergone anti-corruption training are more likely to reject prevailing justifications of corrupt practices than are those who have not undergone such training. The empirical analysis in this paper is based on regression models using data obtained from a unique dataset that includes 200 business professionals. The findings provide evidence that training is positively linked to the likelihood of rejecting justifications of corruption. However, the research also suggests that methods of training must become more specific in order to tackle challenging questions regarding the gray areas of ethics and compliance.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Adam, A. M., & Rachman-Moore, D. (2004). The methods used to implement an ethical code of conduct and employee attitudes. Journal of Business Ethics, 54(3), 223–242. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-004-1774-4.
Albrecht, W. S., Albrecht, C., & Albrecht, C. C. (2008). Current trends in fraud and its detection. Information Security Journal: A Global Perspective, 17(1), 2–12. https://doi.org/10.1080/19393550801934331.
Alvarez, K., Salas, Eduardo, & Garofano, Christina M. (2004). An integrated model of training evaluation and effectiveness. Human Resource Development Review, 3(4), 385–416. https://doi.org/10.1177/1534484304270820.
Anand, V., Ashforth, B. E., & Joshi, M. (2005). Business as usual: The acceptance and perpetuation of corruption in organizations. Academy of Management Executives, 19(4), 9–23. https://doi.org/10.5465/AME.2004.13837437.
Argandoña, A. (1997). The 1996 ICC report on extortion and bribery in international business transactions. Business Ethics: A European Review, 6(3), 134–146.
Argandoña, A. (2005). Corruption and companies: The use of facilitating payments. Journal of Business Ethics, 60(3), 251–264. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-005-0133-4.
Ashforth, B. E., & Anand, V. (2003). The normalization of corruption in organisations. Research in Organizational Behavior, 25, 1–52. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0191-3085(03)25001-2.
Ashforth, B. E., Gioia, D. A., Robinson, S. L., & Trevino, L. K. (2008). Re-viewing organizational corruption. Academy of Management Review, 33(3), 670–684. https://doi.org/10.5465/AMR.2008.32465714.
Azar, O. H. (2003). The implications of tipping for economics and management. International Journal of Social Economics, 30(10), 1084–1094. https://doi.org/10.1108/03068290310492878.
Bannenberg, B. (2002). Korruption in Deutschland und ihre strafrechtliche Kontrolle: Eine kriminologisch-strafrechtliche Analyse (Polizei + Forschung, Vol. 18). Neuwied: Luchterhand.
Becker, K., Hauser, C., & Kronthaler, F. (2013). Fostering management education to deter corruption: What do students know about corruption and its legal consequences? Crime, Law and Social Change, 60(2), 227–240. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10611-013-9448-8.
Bierstaker, J. L., Albrecht, C., Turnbull, C., Zhang, Y., & Skousen, C. J. (2010). The relationship between South Korean chaebols and fraud. Management Research Review, 33(3), 257–268. https://doi.org/10.1108/01409171011030408.
Bloodgood, J. M., Turnley, W. H., & Mudrack, P. E. (2010). Ethics instruction and the perceived acceptability of cheating. Journal of Business Ethics, 95(1), 23–37. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-009-0345-0.
Bryane, M. (2005). Anti-corruption training programmes in central and eastern Europe. Strassbourg: Council of Europe Publ.
Coleman, J. W. (2006). The criminal elite: Understanding white-collar crime (6th ed.). New York: Worth Publishers.
Conlin, M., Lynn, M., & O’Donoghue, T. (2003). The norm of restaurant tipping. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 52(3), 297–321. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0167-2681(03)00030-1.
Copes, H. (2014). Techniques of neutralization. In J. M. Miller (Ed.), The encyclopedia of theoretical criminology (pp. 867–871, Wiley series of encyclopedias in criminology and criminal justice). Chichester: Wiley.
Copes, H., & Cardwell, S. M. (2014). Accounts theory. In J. M. Miller (Ed.), The encyclopedia of theoretical criminilogy (pp. 1–4, Wiley series of encyclopedias in criminology and criminal justice). Chichester: Wiley.
Cressey, D. R. (1950). The criminal violation of financial trust. American Sociological Review, 15(6), 738–743.
Cressey, D. R. (1953). Other people’s money: A study in the social psychology of embezzlement. Glencoe, Ill: Free Press.
Cromwell, P., & Thurman, Q. (2003). The devil made me do it: Use of neutralizations by shoplifters. Deviant Behavior, 24(6), 535–550. https://doi.org/10.1080/713840271.
den Nieuwenboer, N. A., & Kaptein, M. (2008). Spiraling down into corruption: A dynamic analysis of the social identity processes that cause corruption in organizations to grow. Journal of Business Ethics, 83(2), 133–146. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-007-9617-8.
Dorminey, J., Fleming, A. S., Kranacher, M.-J., & Riley, R. A. (2012). The Evolution of fraud theory. Issues in Accounting Education, 27(2), 555–579. https://doi.org/10.2308/iace-50131.
Fointiat, V. (1998). Rationalization in act and problematic behaviour justification. European Journal of Social Psychology, 28(3), 471–474. https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1099-0992(199805/06)28:3<471::AID-EJSP876>3.0.CO;2-C.
Fritsche, I. (2005). Predicting deviant behavior by neutralization: Myths and findings. Deviant Behavior, 26(5), 483–510. https://doi.org/10.1080/016396290968489.
Fuchs, C., & Diamantopoulos, A. (2009). Using single-item measures for construct measurement in management research: Conceptual issues and application guidelines. Die Betriebswirtschaft, 69(2), 195–210.
Gentile, M. C. (2017). Giving Voice To Values: A global partnership with UNGC PRME to transform management education. The International Journal of Management Education., 15(2B), 121–125. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijme.2017.02.004.
Gilman, S. C., & Stout, Jeffrey. (2008). Assessment strategies and practices for integrity and anti-corruption measures: A comparative overview. In B. Head, A. J. Brown, & C. Connors (Eds.), Promoting integrity: Evaluating and improving public institutions (Law, ethics and governance). Farnham: Ashgate.
Gordon, K., & Miyake, M. (2001). Business approaches to combating bribery: A study of codes of conduct. Journal of Business Ethics, 34(3/4), 161–173. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1012517622479.
Hauser, C., & Hogenacker, J. (2014). Do firms proactively take measures to prevent corruption in their international operations? European Management Review, 11(3–4), 223–237. https://doi.org/10.1111/emre.12035.
Hauser, C., & Kronthaler, F. (2013). Neue Märkte, neue Risiken: Empirische Evidenz zum Korruptionsrisiko für den international aktiven Mittelstand. Zeitschrift für Betriebswirtschaft, 83(SI 4), 37–60. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-04092-5_3.
Hauser, C., & Nieffer, R. (2018). Korruptionsprävention mittels eines computerbasierten Planspiels. In P. Graf & S. Wolf (Eds.), Korruption und Korruptionsbekämpfung : Die Vermittlung in Lehre , Unterricht und Weiterbildung. Wiesbaden: Springer VS.
Hofstede, G. H. (2001). Culture’s consequences: Comparing values, behaviors, institutions and organizations across nations (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.
Hogan, C. E., Rezaee, Z., Riley, R. A., & Velury, K. (2008). Financial statement fraud: Insights from the academic literature. Auditing: A Journal of Practice & Theory, 27(2), 231–252. https://doi.org/10.2308/aud.2008.27.2.231.
Hooker, J. (2009). Corruption from a cross-cultural perspective. Cross Cultural Management: An International Journal, 16(3), 251–267. https://doi.org/10.1108/13527600910977346.
Huang, S. Y., Lin, C.-C., Chiu, A.-A., & Yen, D. C. (2016). Fraud detection using fraud triangle risk factors. Information Systems Frontiers. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10796-016-9647-9.
IBA, OECD, & UNODC. (2010). Risks and threats of corruption and the legal profession: Survey 2010. http://www.oecd.org/corruption/anti-bribery/46137847.pdf.
Jonson, E. P., McGuire, L., & Cooper, B. (2016). Does teaching ethics do any good? Education + Training, 58(4), 439–454. https://doi.org/10.1108/ET-11-2015-0110.
Kaptein, M. (2009). Ethics programs and ethical culture: A next step in unraveling their multi-faceted relationship. Journal of Business Ethics, 89(2), 261–281. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-008-9998-3.
Kaptein, M. (2015). The effectiveness of ethics programs: The role of scope, composition, and sequence. Journal of Business Ethics, 132(2), 415–431. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-014-2296-3.
Kassem, R., & Higson, A. (2012). The new fraud triangle model. Journal of Emerging Trends in Economics and Management Sciences, 3(3), 191–195.
Köbis, N. C., van Prooijen, J.-W., Righetti, F., Lange, Van, & Paul, A. M. (2015). “Who doesn’t?” The impact of descriptive norms on corruption. PLoS ONE, 10(6), e0131830. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0131830.
Lange, D. (2008). A multidimensional conceptualization of organizational corruption control. Academy of Management Review, 33(3), 710–729. https://doi.org/10.5465/AMR.2008.32465742.
Lau, C. L. L. (2010). A step forward: Ethics Education matters! Journal of Business Ethics, 92(4), 565–584. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-009-0173-2.
Lin, I. Y., & Namasivayam, K. (2011). Understanding restaurant tipping systems: a human resources perspective. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 23(7), 923–940. https://doi.org/10.1108/09596111111167533.
Maesschalck, J., & de Schrijver, A. (2016). Researching and improving the effectiveness of ethics training. In A. Lawton (Ed.), Ethics in public policy and management: A global research companion (pp. 198–212). London: Routledge.
Maruna, S., & Copes, H. (2005). What have we learned from five decades of neutralization research? Crime and Justice, 32(1), 221–320. https://doi.org/10.1086/655355.
May, D. R., Luth, M. T., & Schwoerer, C. E. (2014). The influence of business ethics education on moral efficacy, moral meaningfulness, and moral courage: A quasi-experimental study. Journal of Business Ethics, 124(1), 67–80. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-013-1860-6.
Mayhew, B. W., & Murphy, P. R. (2009). The impact of ethics education on reporting behavior. Journal of Business Ethics, 86(3), 397–416. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-008-9854-5.
Mayhew, B. W., & Murphy, P. R. (2014). The impact of authority on reporting behavior. Rationalization and Affect. Contemporary Accounting Research, 31(2), 420–443. https://doi.org/10.1111/1911-3846.12037.
McKercher, B., Weber, K., & Du Cros, H. (2008). Rationalising inappropriate behaviour at contested sites. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 16(4), 369. https://doi.org/10.2167/jost778.0.
McKinney, J. A., & Moore, C. W. (2008). International bribery: Does a written code of ethics make a difference in perceptions of business professionals. Journal of Business Ethics, 79(1–2), 103–111. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-007-9395-3.
Miller, W. L., Grødeland, Å. B., & Koshechkina, T. Y. (2001). A culture of corruption? Coping with government in post-communist Europe. New York: Central European University Press.
Murphy, P. R. (2012). Attitude, machiavellianism and the rationalization of misreporting. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 37(4), 242–259. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aos.2012.04.002.
Murphy, P. R., & Dacin, M. T. (2011). Psychological pathways to fraud: Understanding and preventing fraud in organizations. Journal of Business Ethics, 101(4), 601–618. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-011-0741-0.
Nuijten, M., & Anders, G. (2007). Corruption and the secret of law: A legal anthropological perspective. Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing.
Pacini, C., Swingen, J. A., & Rogers, H. (2002). The role of the OECD and EU Conventions in combating bribery of foreign public officials. Journal of Business Ethics, 37(4), 385–405. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1015235806969.
Palmer, D. E., & Zakhem, A. (2001). Bridging the gap between theory and practice: Using the 1991 federal sentencing guidelines as a paradigm for ethics training. Journal of Business Ethics, 29(1/2), 77–84. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1006471731947.
Pelletier, K. L., & Bligh, M. C. (2006). Rebounding from corruption: Perceptions of ethics program effectiveness in a public sector organization. Journal of Business Ethics, 67(4), 359–374. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-006-9027-3.
Pfister, J. (2009). The individual level. In J. Pfister (Ed.), Managing organizational culture for effective internal control (pp. 145–158, Contributions to Management Science). Heidelberg: Physica-Verlag HD.
Rabl, T. (2012). Do contextual factors matter? Zeitschrift für Betriebswirtschaft, 82(S6), 5–32. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11573-012-0629-1.
Rabl, T., & Kühlmann, T. M. (2008). Understanding corruption in organizations: Development and empirical assessment of an action model. Journal of Business Ethics, 82(2), 477–495. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-008-9898-6.
Rabl, T., & Kühlmann, T. M. (2009). Why or why not? Rationalizing corruption in organizations. Cross Cultural Management: An International Journal, 16(3), 268–286. https://doi.org/10.1108/13527600910977355.
Rae, K., & Subramaniam, N. (2008). Quality of internal control procedures. Managerial Auditing Journal, 23(2), 104–124. https://doi.org/10.1108/02686900810839820.
Reinmann-Rothmeier, G., & Mandl, H. (2001). Virtuelle Seminare in Hochschule und Weiterbildung: Drei Beispiele aus der Praxis. Bern: Huber.
Ritter, B. A. (2006). Can business ethics be trained? A study of the ethical decision-making process in business students. Journal of Business Ethics, 68(2), 153–164. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-006-9062-0.
Röhrich, R. (2008). Fraud-Management als Prävention von Haftungsrisiken. In R. Röhrich (Ed.), Methoden der Korruptionsbekämpfung: Risiken erkennen—Schäden vermeiden. Berlin: Schmidt.
Rose-Ackerman, S. (2004). Governance and corruption. In B. Lomborg & J. J. Myers (Eds.), Global crises, global solutions (pp. 301–343). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Routley, L. (2013). Negotiating corruption: NGOs, governance and hybridity in West Africa (Interventions). London: Taylor and Francis.
Ruiz, P., Martinez, R., Rodrigo, J., & Diaz, C. (2015). Level of coherence among ethics program components and its impact on ethical intent. Journal of Business Ethics, 128(4), 725–742. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-014-2064-4.
Salvador, R., & Folger, R. G. (2009). Business ethics and the brain. Business Ethics Quarterly, 19(1), 1–31.
Schuchter, A., & Levi, M. (2013). The fraud triangle revisited. Security Journal, 29(2), 107–121. https://doi.org/10.1057/sj.2013.1.
Scott, M. B., & Lyman, S. M. (1968). Accounts. American Sociological Review, 33(1), 46–62.
Shaw, W. H. (2016). Business ethics: A textbook with cases (9th ed.). Boston: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.
Smallridge, J. L., & Roberts, J. R. (2013). Crime specific neutralizations: An empirical examination of four types of digital piracy. International Journal of Cyber Criminology, 7(2), 125–140.
Steidlmeier, P. (1999). Gift giving, bribery and corruption: Ethical management of business relationships in China. Journal of Business Ethics, 20(2), 121–132. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1005960026519.
Svensson, J. (2003). Who must pay bribes and how much? Evidence from a cross-section of Firms. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 118(1), 207–234.
Sykes, G. M., & Matza, D. (1957). Techniques of neutralization: A theory of delinquency. American Sociological Review, 22(6), 664–670.
Thorne LeClair, D., & Ferrell, L. (2000). Innovation in experiential innovation in experiential business ethics training. Journal of Business Ethics, 23(3), 313–322. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1006266526120.
Transparency International. (2015). Exporting Corruption Report. Progress Report 2015: Assessing Enforcement of the OECD Convention on Combating Foreign Bribery. Berlin.
Transparency International. (2016). Corruption Perceptions Index 2015. Berlin.
Trevino, L. K., den Nieuwenboer, N. A., & Kish-Gephart, J. J. (2014). (Un)ethical behavior in organizations. Annual Review of Psychology, 65, 635–660. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-113011-143745.
Valentine, S., & Fleischman, G. (2004). Ethics training and businesspersons' perceptions of organizational ethics. Journal of Business Ethics, 52(4), 391–400. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-004-5591-6.
van Montfort, A., Beck, L., & Twijnstra, A. (2013). Can integrity be taught in public organizations? Public Integrity, 15(2), 117–132. https://doi.org/10.2753/PIN1099-9922150201.
Velasquez, M. (2004). Is corruption always corrupt? In G. G. Brenkert (Ed.), Corporate integrity & accountability. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.
Verma, P., Mohapatra, S., & Löwstedt, J. (2016). Ethics training in the Indian IT sector: Formal, informal or both? Journal of Business Ethics, 133(1), 73–93. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-014-2331-4.
Waples, E. P., Antes, A. L., Murphy, S. T., Connelly, S., & Mumford, M. D. (2009). A meta-analytic investigation of business ethics instruction. Journal of Business Ethics, 87(1), 133–151. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-008-9875-0.
Warren, D. E., Gaspar, J. P., & Laufer, W. S. (2014). Is formal ethics training merely cosmetic? A study of ethics training and ethical organizational culture. Business Ethics Quarterly, 24(1), 85–117. https://doi.org/10.5840/beq2014233.
Watson, D. M. (2003). Cultural dynamics of corporate fraud. Cross Cultural Management: An International Journal, 10(1), 40–54. https://doi.org/10.1108/13527600310797522.
Weber, J. (1990). Measuring the impact of teaching ethics to future managers: A review, assessment, and recommendations. Journal of Business Ethics, 9(3), 183–190. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00382643.
Wells, J. T. (2017). Corporate fraud handbook: Prevention and detection (5th ed.). New York: Wiley.
West, J. P., & Berman, E. M. (2004). Ethics training in U.S. cities: Content, pedagogy, and impact. Public Integrity, 6(3), 189–206.
Whaley, J. E., Douglas, A. C., & O’Neill, M. A. (2014). What’s in a tip? The creation and refinement of a restaurant-tipping motivations scale: A consumer perspective. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 37, 121–130. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhm.2013.11.005.
Zyglidopoulos, S. C. (2016). Toward a theory of second-order corruption. Journal of Management Inquiry, 25(1), 3–10. https://doi.org/10.1177/1056492615579914.
Zyglidopoulos, S. C., Fleming, P. J., & Rothenberg, S. (2009). Rationalization, overcompensation and the escalation of corruption in organizations. Journal of Business Ethics, 84(Suppl 1), 65–73. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-008-9685-4.
Acknowledgements
Much of this paper was written while I was a visiting scholar at Boston College’s Carroll School of Management and Bentley University’s Hoffman Center for Business Ethics. I would like to thank both schools for their generous hospitality, as well as Marta Geletkanycz, W. Michael Hoffman, Sandra Waddock, and two anonymous referees for helpful suggestions and comments on earlier versions of the paper. I am grateful to Jens Hogenacker and Martin Messingschlager for their econometric assistance as well as to colleagues at HTW Chur and University of Siegen for their contribution and input into the development of the underlying research project. Funding from the Swiss Commission for Technology and Innovation (CTI) is gratefully acknowledged. The usual disclaimer applies.
Funding
This study was co-funded by Swiss Commission for Technology and Innovation (CTI).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
Christian Hauser declares that he has no conflict of interest.
Ethical Approval
This article does not contain any studies with animals performed by any of the authors.
Informed Consent
Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.
Additional information
Christian Hauser is Professor of Business Economics and International Management at the University of Applied Sciences HTW Chur, Switzerland. He is a member of the topical platform Ethics of the Swiss Academy of Engineering Sciences (SATW), member of the United Nations Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME) Working Group on Anti-Corruption and head of the first PRME Business Integrity Action Center in Europe. His research interests include international entrepreneurship, SME and private sector development, corporate responsibility and business integrity.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Hauser, C. Fighting Against Corruption: Does Anti-corruption Training Make Any Difference?. J Bus Ethics 159, 281–299 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-018-3808-3
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-018-3808-3