How Much is the Organizational Power Structure to Blame for Corrupt Behavior?

Is it easier for someone to be corrupt at different levels within an organization? Does corruption depend on the resources available? Authors István Jávor and David Jancsics discuss this topic in their article from Administration and Society  entitled “The Role of Power in Organizational Corruption: An Empirical Study,” winner of the 2014 Best Article Award from the Public and Nonprofit Division of Academy of Management!

The abstract:

This article concerns the extent to which corrupt behavior is dependent on the organizational power structure and the resources available for illegal exchange. This qualitative study is based on 42 in-depth interviews with organizational actors in different organizations in Hungary. Four core themes emerged from the analysis of the interviews: (a) isolated corruption at the bottom, (b) the middle level’s own corruption, (c) “technicization” when middle-level professionals and expert groups are used to legalize the corruption of the dominant coalition, and (d) “turning-off controls” when organizational elites intentionally deactivate internal and external controls to avoid detection.

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