Challenges in the Era of Globalization - iaabd

Challenges in the Era of Globalization
Edited by Emmanuel Obuah
o Compatibility: This is the degree to which corruption fits with the potential adopter's existing
values, previous experiences and current needs. Since compatibility is positively related to
adoption, the higher the compatibility of paying bribes is to the individual, the more likely that
individual will adopt it.
Subjective Norm and corruption
This refers to the influence of people in the consumer’s social environment. This influence either
promotes or discourages behavioural intention to adopt corrupt practices. So, it can be expected that if
these individuals perceive corruption in a good light, due to normative compliance, the consumer will
likely adopt corrupt behaviour.
Diverse views on paying for improving promptitude
Although there are significant differences between bribes and tips, the objectives of both practices appear
to be the same – improving promptitude, as described by Lynn, Zinkhan, & Harris (1993:479) that the
word T.I.P. is actually an acronym for “to improve promptitude.”. Lynn & Withiam (2008:331) explain
this concept in the following excerpt:
Tipping exists because it is the most efficient way to provide service workers with an incentive to
deliver good service. They argue that the intangible and customized nature of services makes it
difficult and costly for managers to monitor and reward service workers’ efforts, so this task is
given to the customer via tipping whenever the consumer is able to evaluate the service worker’s
performance. From this perspective, we do not tip physicians, car mechanics, and some other
service workers because consumers cannot tell in the short term if those workers have done a
good job or not. In the case of most personal services, however, consumers can evaluate service
workers’ performances and can do so more efficiently than can firms. In those cases, tipping is
supposed to improve service levels by providing workers with a stronger incentive to deliver
good service than would otherwise be possible.
Similarly Kolyesnokova et al. (2007) explain that gratuity purchasing finds its roots in reciprocity, a
social psychology concept explaining the “mutuality of gratification.” In other words, people feel
obligated to repay or reciprocate positive behaviour. For that reason, consumers are likely to rationalise
the practice of paying for services (tips and bribery) as both a social activity – satisfying the norm of
reciprocity and as an economic activity.
Conclusions
While most diffusion studies are concerned with devising strategies for promoting adoption (Ajzen, 1991;
Robertson, 1967; Rogers, 1995; Taylor & Todd, 1995), this study anticipates on doing the reverse –
studying diffusion with a view of retarding the adoption of corruption. By gaining a sufficient
understanding of the diffusion and adoption patterns of corruption in South Africa, it is anticipated that
corruption-combating strategies might be discovered. Because of its wide adaptability, the decomposed
theory of planned behaviour (DTPB) is deemed more suitable and utilised as a theoretical basis for this
study (Taylor & Todd, 1995).
More importantly, the paper sought to demonstrate the applicability of diffusion theory, particularly the
DTPB in explaining private corruption as both an innovation and a relevant consumer behaviour. The
notion of corruption was discussed from both the global and South African contexts. It was demonstrated
that private corruption, as performed by private individuals, at least in South Africa, can be considered to
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