Sector-based action against corruption - A guide for organisations and professionals. Pyman and Heywood

This book is for professional people working in organisations and institu- tions who need to acquire competence in recognising, analysing and deal- ing with corruption issues. You are likely to be in a position of some responsibility within your institution or sector, a responsibility that may be on a large scale—regional, national or international—or more narrowly focused, such as leadership of a department within a single organisation. When there are corruption issues affecting the organisation—which can be present in almost all organisations and in all economic environments— it is normal to feel uncomfortable about them or to be tempted not to deal with them. Your prime responsibility, you might argue, is to deliver results, rather than be an expert in corruption matters. Moreover, even if you turn to current guidance on tackling corruption, much of it is too elevated to be useful—pitched at the level of nation-states rather than organisations and institutions. The two authors, Mark Pyman and Paul Heywood, believe that not only is there a major gap to be filled here but that—in contrast to many existing approaches—people in your position can make a real difference and drive forward progress against corruption through working in a more targeted, focused and delimited way. Both authors have extensive anti- corruption experience: Pyman in private sector leadership roles and later through working with governments, Heywood as one of the world’s most authoritative university professors on the subject. They are also the found- ers of the well-known website CurbingCorrruption.com. Their approach—‘SFRA’—is fourfold. First, you should tackle prob- lems at the level of your specific Sector (like health, or policing, or agricul- ture). At this level you and others have deep knowledge, extensive operational experience and professional networks that can be used to solve, minimise or avoid corruption problems. With a sector-based approach, the manifestations of corruption are more manageable than at a ‘national’ level. Second, you Focus on specific corruption issues, not on generalities. You analyse the problem twice over: first into a set of specific smaller problems, then by reframing those into ones where you have a chance of making progress. The book provides many sector-specific typol- ogies of the issues and shows you how to use them and how to build understanding across your teams of which issues matter most in your cir- cumstances and why. Third, you identify the possibilities for Remediation, first using eight high-level framing approaches initially to encapsulate the more political options, then by examining the many detailed measures that you can consider, illustrated with more than 60 examples. Finally, using a range of different ‘Lenses’, you can decide on which combinations of broad framings and detailed measures represent the best Action to take in your context. This book also offers guidance on how to build an organisation that can cope robustly with corruption constraints; one where building integrity and countering corruption is built directly into the organisation’s core processes. Throughout, the approach is intensely practical and results-oriented, designed to enable you and your organisation to deliver results better, and to be able to discuss corruption issues in a structured and open manner.