How Corruption is Tolerated in the Greek Public Sector: Toward a Second-Order Theory of Normalization

Abstract

Secrecy and “social cocooning” are critical mechanisms allowing the normalization of corruption within organizations. Less studied are processes of normalization that occur when corruption is an “open secret.” Drawing on an empirical study of Greek public-sector organizations, we suggest that a second-order normalization process ensues among non-corrupt onlookers both inside and beyond the organization. What is normalized at this level is not corruption, but its tolerance, which we disaggregate into agent-focused tolerance and structure-focused tolerance. Emphasizing the importance of non-corrupt bystanders, we claim that second-order normalization helps corruption persist in situations where its presence is openly acknowledged. This adds an important new dimension to normalization theory and we unpack its implications for both future research and practice in this area.

Institutionalization of protection for intangible assets: Insights from the counterfeit and pirated goods trade in sub-Saharan Africa

“…In using a broader level of analysis and axial coding of the data, several concepts and relationships emerged from the data (Strauss & Corbin, 1990), and these are depicted in Figure 2. The concepts captured in the first-order dimension were refined and synthesized to generate second-order dimensions, which then culminated in the deduction of aggregate dimensions (Fleming, Zyglidopoulos, Boura, & Lioukas, 2021). These steps entailed data reduction, data display, and data verification analyses (Gioia, 2021;Miles & Huberman, 1994).…”

Ethical Climate in Organization and Employees Acceptance of Corruptive Rationalizations

“…Hence, in many organizations, corruption is considered to be "normal", which occurs when corruption is accepted and practiced daily (Ashforth & Anand, 2003). The concept of normalization of corruption provides a framework for explaining the persistence of corruptive behaviors, even when individuals were not stereotypical criminals (ibid, 2003;Fleming et al, 2022). Individuals learn these neutralization techniques through interaction with peers (Hauser, 2019), and the magnitude of corruption affects how they provide rationalization (Nahartyo & Haryono, 2018).…”

Corrupt behavior in public organizations: ethics, rationalization, and socialization for an integrated reading

“…Corruption has been universally and largely conceived, especially in the Western context, as the "misuse of authority for personal, sub-unit or organizational gain" [1] recognizing mostly its negative and corrosive effect on organizations and their stakeholders [2]. Indeed, corruption represents a huge phenomenon with a negative impact in terms of damage for public sensibilities [3], disruption of trust in societal institutions [4], growth of extra economic costs [5], damage of reputation [6], and reduction of trust in esteemed industries [7].…”

“…Indeed, Ashforth and Anand [1] explain this fact and argue that this happens "when corruption is taken-for-granted, accepted, and practiced daily." In this direction, corruption has been considered "normal" because "it is institutionalized in routines and structures, rationalized by individuals to absolve themselves of responsibility/guilt or when newcomers are socialized to accept corruption as acceptable and/or necessary" [2]. In this case, scholars identify and consider specific normalization processes which can be facilitated by several features, such as concealment and isolation, where participants are "socially cocooned" [8] from non-corrupt others, creating a "moral microcosm that likely could not survive outside the organization" [9].…”