Defining Organizational Corruption and Power

Organizational Corruption and Power
Student’s Name
Institution
Organizational Corruption and Power
Around the world, the media is always reporting on corruption cases, especially those involving public officials. Cases of organizational corruption scandals are also not uncommon. Organizational corruption can be defined as the abuse of power or using power to gain an advantage illegally. Aßlander and Hudson (2017) refer to organizational corruption as an exchange that is characterized by abuse of trust or power. It is associated with loss of public trust and can damage an organization’s public image. Since power is involved in organizational corruption, it is important to establish how power impacts it. In this paper, I will examine the Siemens corruption scandal and discuss the type(s) of power that possibly contributed to the issue.
More than a decade ago, the public became aware of organizational corruption at Siemens, a German multinational company in the electrical industry. It was reported that Siemens commonly bribed government officials to enhance its competitiveness (Sikhakhane, 2018). Millions of dollars were paid, and in exchange, Siemens would get government contracts. Eventually, the German and United States governments caught up with Siemens, and some current and former employees were arrested. At the center of the scandal was Siemens’ former accountant, who was a mid-level executive during his time at the company. The accountant was responsible for the bribery budget and made sure that bribes were secretly channeled to the bank accounts of government officials (The New York Times, 2008). He would account for the money as payments to consultants. The corruption scandal was not limited to one geographical area; it was in many countries that had hosted Siemens’ subsidiaries.
In my opinion, expertise power facilitated organizational corruption at Siemens. A...