Managerial Perspectives of Bribery and Corruption in Vietnam

Gray & Kaufman (1998) suggest that ccorruption is a symptom of fundamental economic, political and institutional causes and is more widespread in developing and transition economies, not because of a difference in people’s values or ethics, rather the motivation for monetary gain is usually accentuated by poverty, low public sector salaries, little accountability and poorly enacted laws and principles of ethics. Bribery and corruption can be defined differently depending on the perspective and the issue that is being discussed, for example; economic, political or legal. Kinsea (2008) suggests that an individual or a group is said to be guilty of corruption if they accept money for doing something that they are under a duty to do anyway, that he is under a duty not to do. Ampratwum, (2008) suggest it can include the exercising a legitimate discretion but for improper reason or the transgression of rules governing public resources by officials in response to financial inducements or political influence. Essentially it can be seen as an illegal or unauthorised transfer of money or an in-kind substitute (Rose-Ackerman, 1974). According to Transparency International (2007) Vietnam remains highly corrupt, as shown by its score in the Corruption Perception Index, of 2.6, compared to the relatively low level of corruption in Australia, ranking at 11 and the UK at 12. Both Vietnam business and country experts still perceive corruption as one of the key concerns and in 2003 more than half of foreign and local businesses complained that corruption and bureaucracy were major issues when conducting business (United Nations Development Programme, 2008). This paper will provide a review of literature relating to corruption and bribery and the major problems confronting manager