Recently, Keppel Offshore and Marine paid a big penalty to settle a suit involved alleged bribery of officials in Brazail.
I asked this question in The Wisdom of the Crowd - Should a company gives bribes when tendering for big jobs in a country where bribery is prevalent?
46% of the people who voted said that the company should not be involved in giving bribes even if they will not get the contract.
31% said that the company should adopt the business practice of the country awarding the contract.
13% said that the matter should be left to the country awarding the contract and America should not be involved.
11% said that it is all right to give a consulting fee to an intermediary to faciltitate getting the contract.
A total of 54% disagree with the penalty that had to be paid.
You can view the breakdown of the votes in
http://www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg/chart.aspx?ID=431
I asked this question in The Wisdom of the Crowd - Should a company gives bribes when tendering for big jobs in a country where bribery is prevalent?
46% of the people who voted said that the company should not be involved in giving bribes even if they will not get the contract.
31% said that the company should adopt the business practice of the country awarding the contract.
13% said that the matter should be left to the country awarding the contract and America should not be involved.
11% said that it is all right to give a consulting fee to an intermediary to faciltitate getting the contract.
A total of 54% disagree with the penalty that had to be paid.
You can view the breakdown of the votes in
http://www.wisdomofthecrowd.sg/chart.aspx?ID=431
Let's not kid ourselves. Anyone who thinks our GLCs investing abroad are that clean to stay out of the corruption game is self denial.
ReplyDeleteMoney makes the world go round in corrupted Central America, Africa, China and India, no kopi wang, no contracts, no profit growth, no GDP contribution, no good dividends to like Keppel shareholders, esp to biggest shareholder Temasek Holdings.
Our GLCs operate like a small SME entity, extreme stinginess is Corporate Culture.
It's in their DNA. A reason why GLCs can't compete overseas, only on local monopolistic ground, thus a survival mode to join the bribery game, do what the Romans do abroad, else get killed like NOL.
Top Keppel management knew about the US$55m necessary dough to intermediary to secure contracts. What Keppel did wrong?
This GLC was too stingy, did not bribe enough people in Brazil to keep likely whistle blowers at bay. Did not spend time to wipe their dirty butts clean, did not send an old hand Singaporean executive over to carefully supervise the payment to keep lid on. Scholars and ex SAF General CEOs are just not trained to grease hands, bribery is a craft.
Now you know why PAP Govt is so mum mum. Keppel is just the tip of a big iceberg. Many skeletons in closed cupboard to jump out.