Bring the war home: Combating corruption

Donna K. Woodward, Management Consultant, Medan, North Sumatra

We refer, of course, to President Megawati Soekarnoputri's renewed war against corruption. Since the reformasi movement was heralded in May 1998, eradicating corruption has been the battle cry of three administrations. Yet corruption continues to bedevil the government and eat away at the country's recovery and morale. Despite new laws, new commissions, and new faces, there has been little progress in eliminating corruption, collusion and nepotism -- KKN. What is missing? Can anything be done to progress more quickly on our Sisyphusian journey toward honest, accountable government?

Corruption has heretofore been treated as a legal issue that requires new laws or a moral issue calling for new personal commitment. Indeed corruption encompasses these things. But the new laws and the exhortations to ethical conduct, necessary though they are, haven't had the desired effect. Laws alone cannot effectuate reform. Corruption occurs within a certain context, that of handling and dispensing government funds, licenses, contracts, and other resources. It occurs in the context of managing. In its most concrete, existential aspect, corruption is a management issue. It is time to approach corruption this way.

The premise is simple: Corruption and good management are incompatible. We can test this premise. Visit your nearest government office at 9 a.m.; see who's present and working. Inquire what it will take to get a particular permit issued, how long it will take, and how much it will cost. Ask other members of the public how long they've waited for their request to be processed, and (this is the interesting part) what it cost.

Ask each employee you can find who their immediate supervisor is, the one they report to if they need to leave work early. Ask what the office policy is on corruption, on accepting gifts, on lateness, on disappearing during the day to take care of private business. Visit the office 30 minutes before official closing time to see who is still working. The management voids are glaring. Where management is careless, doors open to opportunities for abuse of authority and misuse/misappropriation of resources.

Eradicating corruption is not a matter of turning people into saints or adopting magical methods created in places like Singapore. Most corruption is preventable through "best practices" management methods and sound administrative procedures. When an organization manages its people, money, and equipment well, corruption cannot flourish; it may occur but it will be adventitious, not systemic. The eradication of corruption may seem a more attainable objective if we think of it in terms of management tasks, not as a wholesale national conversion to new cultural values.

True, there are economic issues to consider. Insofar as corruption is related to inadequate wages, employers need to address compensation issues forthrightly; creative solutions to Indonesia's wage problems are needed. But when discussing corruption we seem to become stalemated by the chicken-and-egg debate. If we don't increase wages first, how can we eliminate corruption? (We might remember that the most serious corruption is found not at the lowest income levels, but at higher levels of officialdom!) If we don't achieve reform and economic recovery, will there be funds to raise salaries?

Corruption must be addressed now, even though the government may not have the resources to raise wages immediately. What an anti-corruption program requires in the first instance is not an immediate wage hike, but fairness. Indonesia's civil servants must have confidence that those at lower levels who engage in the most visible petty corruption will not be the only ones to bear the consequences of an anti-corruption drive. There well may be enough money circulating unofficially between business and government to give civil servants a living wage, if collections and disbursements were transparent.

There are simple administrative steps the government could take on its uphill journey out of the cesspool of corruption. In each office, prepare a pamphlet telling the public just what services it offers; what permits it issues; the requirements for these; the fee for each; the waiting time; and factors that could cause processing delays. Institute a system of official numbered receipts and crosscheck issued receipts against revenue. Tell the public the work hours and make sure employees are present when they should be. Develop a credible complaint system where corruption or poor service can be reported. Discipline transgressors. This isn't rocket science, but in nearly four years these simple steps haven't been taken.

Security and economic problems might seem more momentous, but every single national problem is linked to corruption. Poverty, the environment, crime, idle and dispirited youth: How long can Indonesia afford these scourges? How long will officials avoid tangible management reforms in their own bureaucratic backyards? Will even one minister have the guts to get serious?