“Analysis: Insiders see patterns in ethical mess”
The Wall Street Journal: March 12, 2011
By: Associated Press
Availability: Analysis: Insiders see patterns in ethical mess
What causes politicians to become corrupt? What is the driving force that motivates these individuals to turn from a career of public service to a life of greed and unethical decision making? As referenced in the above article, politicians in the state of New York, particularly in Albany, have experienced a ravishing of unethical and even illegal decision making.
“In the last two years, a dozen elected and appointed state officials have been convicted or accused in crimes” says the Associated Press (AP). The article quickly attributes these incidents to theories related to motivation and power needs, and these accusations are, I believe, correct!
Chapter 13 of Organizational Behavior by Taylor Bauer and Berrin Erdogan addresses power and politics. Power is “the ability to influence the behavior of others to get what you want,” as defined in Organizational Behavior, and can attribute severe negative consequences when allocated to unethical individuals.
Power is a double-edged sword; individuals granted legitimate power can use their abilities to change unfair or inefficient processes within an organization, but on the other hand, those same individuals can be blinded by their capability and use their power for evil.
The inherent evils of power can be seen throughout history, but for this blog post, I will focus on those situations presented in the above article.
Headlines of politicians taking bribes, being seduced by power and the “good life,” and thinking themselves above the law have become a mainstay of the 21st century, although corruption has been around since the ancient days. Aspects presented by the life of a politician that may corrupt his or her presence are the connections with CEOs, subordinates taking orders, giving persuasive speeches and gaining the support of the people, and the eventual feeling of living above the law.
The corruption that occurs with individuals with power comes after a period of time when they begin constantly experiencing the glamour of the rich and famous and think themselves as entitled to that style of living, regardless of the rules broken along the way.
Referring to Chapter 5 of Organizational Behavior, the theory of motivation most applicable to political corruption is the Acquired-Needs Theory: need for power. This theory can explain why individuals who seek leadership roles are generally so motivated by the legitimate power and influential position they achieve. The obsession with instant gratification in our modern day society creates the subsequent need of material objects, money, and power which often result from corruption.
This situation is not to say that all politicians experience the urge for corruption, but the leaders who do make unethical and illegal decisions can be attributed to their need for power.
- Jon Worthey
I agree with Jon that corruption is a big factor for leaders who have the need for more power. I think that if leaders think they can get away with it then they feel as if they can do anything. I think more disciplinary measures need to be taken to stop corruption because people are still able to do it. If more harsher penalties were imposed then maybe people would be less likely to do it. If we were able to prevent them at all it would stop affecting all of the stockholders and other people within the company because of a bad decision that one person made. Hopefully more steps are taken so that corruption can be less of a problem.
ReplyDelete-Brian Cullum team 7