Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-dh8gc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-03T08:38:37.389Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Managing (out) corruption in NGOs: A case study from the Bangladesh delta

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 August 2020

Olav Muurlink
Affiliation:
School of Business and Law, CQUniversity, 160 Ann St, Brisbane, QLD, 4000, Australia
Stephanie A. Macht*
Affiliation:
School of Business and Law, CQUniversity, 400 Kent St, Sydney, NSW, 2000, Australia
*
*Corresponding author. Email: [email protected]

Abstract

Corruption is one of the most destructive and pervasive wicked problems, present in commercial enterprises, governmental agencies and Non-Government Organisations (NGOs). The reduction of corruption is prominent amongst the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals, but research on corruption in the context of NGOs in developing countries is scarce, particularly relating to the identification and management of corruption in this context. This paper adds new insights to this under-researched field by providing a rich description of a single, longitudinal ethnographic case study of one NGO in Bangladesh, which has successfully identified and managed (out) complex, entrenched corruption through a simple sustainable intervention: expanding and improving information channels for stakeholders.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press and Australian and New Zealand Academy of Management 2020

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Agar, M. H. (1996). The professional stranger: An informal introduction to ethnography. San Diego, CA: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Albanese, J. S. (2014). Organized crime in our times. Newark, NJ: Matthew Bender & Company, Inc.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Amin, S. (1998). Family structure and change in rural Bangladesh. Population Studies, 52(2), 201213.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Asadullah, M. N. (2016). Do pro-poor schools reach out to the poor? Location choice of BRAC and ROSC schools in Bangladesh. Australian Economic Review, 49(4), 432452.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ashforth, B. E., & Anand, V. (2003). The normalization of corruption in organizations. Research in Organizational Behavior, 25, 152.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ashforth, B. E., Gioia, D. A., Robinson, S. L., & Trevino, L. K. (2008). Re-viewing organizational corruption. Academy of Management Review, 33(3), 670684.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Azim, M. I., & Kluvers, R. (2019). Resisting corruption in Grameen Bank. Journal of Business Ethics, 156(3), 114.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Azim, M. I., Sheng, K., & Barut, M. (2017). Combating corruption in a microfinance institution. Managerial Auditing Journal, 32(4/5), 445462.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barney, J. (2000). Firm resources and sustained competitive advantage. In Baum, J. A. C. & Dobbin, F. (Eds.) Economics meets sociology in strategic management (pp. 203227). Bingley: Emerald Group Publishing Limited.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barney, J., Wright, M., & Ketchen, D. J Jr. (2001). The resource-based view of the firm: Ten years after 1991. Journal of Management, 27(6), 625641.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Beja, E. L. (2006). Revisiting the revolving door: Capital flight from Southeast Asia (DESA Working Paper No. 16). Retrieved from https://www.un.org/esa/desa/papers/2006/wp16_2006.pdf.Google Scholar
Bjørnskov, C. (2003). Corruption and social capital. Aarhus: Aarhus School of Business.Google Scholar
Blackburn, K., & Forgues-Puccio, G. F. (2011). Foreign aid: A fillip for development or a fuel for corruption? Retrieved from http://www.inesad.edu.bo/pdf/wp2011/wp09_2011.pdf.Google Scholar
Boyle, M., & Parry, K. (2007). Telling the whole story: The case for organizational autoethnography. Culture and Organization, 13(3), 185190.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Byars, N. (2009). The corruption triangle. Retrieved from http://www. ethicsandentrepreneurship.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/Byars-2009.pdf.Google Scholar
Campos, J. E., Lien, D., & Pradhan, S. (1999). The impact of corruption on investment: Predictability matters. World Development, 27(6), 10591067.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carr, I., & Outhwaite, O. (2011). The role of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in combating corruption: Theory and practice. Suffolk UL Review, 44, 615.Google Scholar
Chang, E. C., & Chu, Y.-H. (2006). Corruption and trust: Exceptionalism in Asian democracies? The Journal of Politics, 68(2), 259271.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cooksey, B. (2002). Can aid agencies really help combat corruption? Forum on Crime and Society, 2(1), 4556.Google Scholar
Cooren, F., & Sandler, S. (2014). Polyphony, ventriloquism, and constitution: In dialogue with Bakhtin. Communication Theory, 24(3), 225244.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eigen, P. (2002). Measuring and combating corruption. The Journal of Policy Reform, 5(4), 187201.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ferreira Rubio, D., & Andvig, E. (2019). Serious about sustainability? Get serious about corruption. Retrieved from https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/09/serious-about-sustainability-get-serious-about-corruption/.Google Scholar
Gauri, V., & Galef, J. (2005). NGOs in Bangladesh: Activities, resources, and governance. World Development, 33(12), 20452065.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grabova, P. (2014). Corruption impact on economic growth: An empirical analysis. Journal of Economic Development, Management, IT, Finance, and Marketing, 6(2), 57.Google Scholar
Gupta, S., Davoodi, H., & Alonso-Terme, R. (2002). Does corruption affect income inequality and poverty? Economics of Governance, 3(1), 2345.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Healy, P. M., & Serafeim, G. (2015). An analysis of firms’ self-reported anticorruption efforts. The Accounting Review, 91(2), 489511.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Husted, B. W. (1999). Wealth, culture, and corruption. Journal of International Business Studies, 30(2), 339359.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ivanov, K. S. (2007). The limits of a global campaign against corruption. In Bracking, S. (Ed.), Corruption and development (pp. 2845). Houndmills, UK: Palgrave McMillan.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jabri, M. (2017). Managing organizational change: Process, social construction and dialogue. Palgrave.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jain, A. K. (2001). Corruption: A review. Journal of Economic Surveys, 15(1), 71121.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Karim, L. (2011). Microfinance and its discontents: Women in debt in Bangladesh. Minneapolis; London: University of Minnesota Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Khair, S. (2018). UNCAC and civil society activism against corruption in Bangladesh. In Asian yearbook of international law (pp. 115162). Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill Nijhoff.Google Scholar
Le, V. (2012). Organised crime typologies: Structure, activities and conditions. International Journal of Criminology and Sociology, 1, 121131.Google Scholar
Lewis, D. (2017). Organising and representing the poor in a clientelistic democracy: The decline of radical NGOs in Bangladesh. The Journal of Development Studies, 53(10), 15451567.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Luo, Y. (2005). An organizational perspective of corruption. Management and Organization Review, 1(1), 119154.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mahmud, T., & Prowse, M. (2012). Corruption in cyclone preparedness and relief efforts in coastal Bangladesh: Lessons for climate adaptation? Global Environmental Change, 22(4), 933943.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McFarland, D. M. (2014). How to do ethnography. In M. de Chesnay (Ed.) Nursing research using ethnography: Qualitative designs and methods in nursing (pp. 95102). New York, NY: Springer Publishing Company, LLC.Google Scholar
Meny, Y. (2009). Foreword. In de Sousa, L., Larmour, P., & Hindess, B. (Eds.), Governments, NGOs and anti-corruption: The new integrity warriors (pp. xvixviii). Milton Park, Oxford: Routledge.Google Scholar
Miller, S. (2010). The moral foundations of social institutions: A philosophical study. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Misangyi, V. F., Weaver, G. R., & Elms, H. (2008). Ending corruption: The interplay among institutional logics, resources, and institutional entrepreneurs. Academy of Management Review, 33(3), 750770.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nystrand, M. J. (2014). Petty and grand corruption and the conflict dynamics in Northern Uganda. Third World Quarterly, 35(5), 821835.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rist, R. C. (1980). Blitzkrieg ethnography: On the transformation of a method into a movement. Educational Researcher, 9(2), 810.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rittel, H. W., & Webber, M. M. (1973). Dilemmas in a general theory of planning. Policy Sciences, 4(2), 155169.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rothschild, J., & Miethe, T. D. (1999). Whistle-blower disclosures and management retaliation: The battle to control information about organization corruption. Work and Occupations, 26(1), 107128.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sabet, A. (2012). Corruption, governance and collective sanctions: Can a wicked problem be tamed? Study of Changing Societies, 1(6), 67104.Google Scholar
Schultz, D., & Harutyunyan, K. (2015). Combating corruption: The development of whistleblowing laws in the United States, Europe, and Armenia. International Comparative Jurisprudence, 1(2), 8797.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Siddiquee, N. A. (2010). Combating corruption and managing integrity in Malaysia: A critical overview of recent strategies and initiatives. Public Organization Review, 10(2), 153171.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sims, R. L., Gong, B., & Ruppel, C. P. (2012). A contingency theory of corruption: The effect of human development and national culture. The Social Science Journal, 49(1), 9097.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, D. J. (2010). Corruption, NGOs, and development in Nigeria. Third World Quarterly, 31(2), 243258.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Thede, S., & Gustafson, N. Å. (2012). The multifaceted impact of corruption on international trade. The World Economy, 35(5), 651666.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Transparency International. (2018). Corruption Perception Index 2018. Retrieved from https://www.transparency.org/cpi2018.Google Scholar
Trivunovic, M., Johnsøn, J., & Mathisen, H. (2011). Developing an NGO corruption risk management system: Considerations for donors. U4 Issue, 2011(9). Retrieved from https://www.cmi.no/publications/file/4169-developing-an-ngo-corruption-risk-management.pdfhttps://www.cmi.no/publications/file/4169-developing-an-ngo-corruption-risk-management.pdfGoogle Scholar
UN General Assembly. (2015). Sustainable Development Goals. Retrieved from https://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/sustainable-development-goals.Google Scholar
Willitts-King, B., & Harvey, P. (2005). Managing the risks of corruption in humanitarian relief operations. A study for the UK Department for International Development. Overseas Development Institute: Humanitarian Policy Group. Retrieved August 11, 2007.Google Scholar
Wolfensohn, J. D. (1999). Remarks at a Global Forum on Fighting Corruption [Press release]. Retrieved from web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/NEWS/0„ contentMDK:20024339menuPK:34472pagePK:34370piPK:34424the SitePK:4607,00.html.Google Scholar
Zyglidopoulos, S., Hirsch, P., Martin de Holan, P., & Phillips, N. (2017). Expanding research on corporate corruption, management, and organizations. Journal of Management Inquiry, 26(3), 247253.CrossRefGoogle Scholar