Bring the war home: Combating corruption

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?