E-ISSN : 2963-4946

Vol. 2 No. February 05, 2024 https://ajosh.org/

Asian Journal of Social and Humanities, Vol. 2 No. February 05, 2024 1315

Prevention of Corrupt Behavior through Assessment of the

Work Behavior and Culture Government Organizations

Rud Nokeo

, Gayatri Indah

Ministry of Public Works and Housing, Republic of Indonesia

, Ministry of Finance of

the Republic of Indonesia

E-mail: rud.nokeo@pu.go.id

, gayatri@gmail.com

*Correspondence: rud.nokeo@pu.go.id

KEYWORDS

ABSTRACT

Corruption, behavioural

judgment, organisational

culture.

This study aims to determine the traits and behaviours that

contribute to corruptive actions and see opportunities for

how they can be directed to the construction of different

actions to show positive behaviour. To see behaviour so as

not to overlap, a more in-depth study was also carried out

regarding organisational culture to control and become the

scope of government organisations. This research uses a

qualitative descriptive method with a descriptive approach

to understand, explain, and interpret facts, phenomena, and

events. The results of this study will later be used as a

predictor in the development of behavioural assessment

instruments against corrupt acts and employee development

based on behavioural characteristics and government

organisational culture. On acts of corruption and also

support organisational cultural characteristics that can direct

these traits and characters to positive behaviour. It can be

used as a reference to manage one's character and behaviour

so as not to lead to corruptive actions.

Attribution- ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Introduction

An article entitled "Rents, Competition, and Corruption" suggests that corruption

can hurt economic development and occurs repeatedly. Therefore, the Indonesian

government seeks to implement a merit system in recruiting and promoting civil servants

(Linawati et al., 2021). This merit system ensures that civil servants recruited and

promoted are competent and have integrity. In its implementation, it is necessary to

understand the potential of employees to be directed positively and help prevent

corruption (Amalia, 2022).

Corruption is also said to be a complex phenomenon caused by various internal

and external factors. Internal factors include individual, organisational, and system

characteristics, while external factors include social, economic, and political conditions.

In this case, it is felt necessary to study the character of individuals as a phenomenon that

can be prevented based on the premise (Graycar, 2015) that corruption can be prevented

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Asian Journal of Social and Humanities, Vol. 2 No. March 06, 2024 1316

by identifying, measuring/assessing, and managing. His book (Heywood, 2018) revealed

that human resource management (HR) can be essential in preventing corruption.

(Heywood, 2018) recommends several steps to improve the effectiveness of HR

management in corruption prevention, one of which is the selection and placement of

employees. Employees must be selected and placed based on their competence and

integrity. Incompetent employees who do not innovate and do not have integrity have a

higher risk of corruption. The government can also play a role in corruption prevention

efforts through the right innovations (Romadaniati et al., 2020).

The latest development is the mental health experienced by the younger

generation, triggering a new shift in corrupt behaviour triggered by the weak mentality of

the current generation (Rantung, 2019). This study produces the variables in preparing

corruption risk measurement instruments, assessing corrupt behaviour, and assessing

employee potential development based on behavioural character and organisational

culture in government.

Corrupt Behavior

The shift in financial and project responsibility and responsibility from centralism

to autonomy has been felt to provide many opportunities/loopholes in corruption

behaviour spread evenly because it has given the power to leaders in small units and work

units in the regions. This shows that corruption follows power with a monopoly of power

by leaders who exercise a monopoly of power coupled with the amount of power

possessed by the discretion of officials. Without adequate supervision minus

accountability, it drives corrupt behaviour. Someone will commit corruption if the results

obtained from corruption are higher and more significant than the punishment obtained,

and the possibility of being caught is relatively tiny, so it can be said that corruption is a

crime of calculation and manipulation, not just a passion. Pressure, opportunity, and

rationality are some of the motivating factors for someone committing fraud or fraud.

After this is fulfilled, it turns out that one's needs will increase to the need for self-esteem,

namely, the desire for someone to feel valued and considered to have been praised,

democratic to the highest is the need for recognition of the abilities he has, for example,

the need to be recognised as a head, director or mayor who is obeyed by his subordinates.

Over time, it turns out that many needs lead to violations of ethical violations and even

manipulation/fraud. However, related to these actions, it turns out that many punishments

do not have a deterrent effect, and there is even an opportunity for someone to try to

increase needs recklessly triggered by greed. Of the four factors explained, greed and

need are individual factors related to individual fraud perpetrators, while opportunity and

exposed actors are related to organisations. This condition can certainly undermine the

success of government policies and programs. It can affect government performance

because it explicitly reflects some behaviours or actions to achieve organisational goals.

Behavioural Assessment

Efforts to prevent corruption through the formation of ethical behaviour or ethical

actions based on the results of assessments can help develop some ability to act according

to moral values. Various abilities that shape behaviour to act by moral values and

Prevention of Corrupt Behavior through Assessment of the Work Behavior and Culture

Government Organizations

Asian Journal of Social and Humanities, Vol. 2 No. March 06, 2024 1317

contribute to organisations are strongly influenced by psychological aspects and are

related to one's thinking and behaviour. Through behavioural assessments, one can more

easily determine which actions are appropriate to support organisational integrity,

especially behaviours closely related to emotional stability, moral and ethical temptations,

and social interactions (Eshet & Harpaz, 2021).

In addition, as stated, there are other opinions that character and behaviour can

provide a better understanding of corruption. He argues that corruption is a complex

phenomenon influenced by various cultural factors in organisations; psychological

factors are closely related to the role of behavioural judgment in making ethical and

unethical decisions. Decision-making by a leader who focuses on employee development

and creating a positive work environment can play an essential role in corruption

prevention (Casey, 2023). In addition, it also needs to be strengthened by the formation

of leader integrity through learning moral values in decision-making (Nie et al., 2018).

Research Methods

This research uses a qualitative descriptive method with a descriptive approach to

understand, explain, and interpret facts, phenomena, and events (Yin, 2017). I was trying

to describe a phenomenon under study that can provide a clear picture of the phenomenon

through theories and concepts.

Results and Discussions

Based on the theory of corruption discussed earlier, if it is associated with the

character of behaviour that triggers corruptive actions referring to (Urbayatun & Rahman,

2022) or (Fung et al., 2020), among others, the character of behaviour that dominated by

excessive self-importance, a sense of superiority, and lack of empathy (Kernberg, 1975)

even triggers striking actions to obtain recognition, attention or praise. Next is the

character of one's behaviour that leads to manipulation and exploitation at the highest

level in organisation and decision-making, including situations where individuals take

action without considering social rights. Corruptive behaviour is associated with many

risk factors among psychological factors, and many dimensions of socially hostile or

antisocial behaviour character are often described as a dark triad.

If examined further, the relative contribution of behavioural character traits that

trigger corruption, there are several risk factors from within oneself and family, including

life pressure and depression over failures and disputes in the family. However, in the

course, some can be assessed positively after being able to control psychological and

social factors in the family according to the depth based on the results of interviews and

assessments conducted by researchers, including First, excessive self-interested

behavioural character, a sense of superiority, can be directed to face challenges with an

optimistic attitude, move oneself without relying too much on external support (Seligman,

1991) provides a concept of optimism that can be learned and explores how to change the

way of thinking to achieve happiness and personal well-being positively. Second,

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Asian Journal of Social and Humanities, Vol. 2 No. March 06, 2024 1318

behavioural characteristics that can be manipulated can be directed through self-

determination, building habits with minor changes in behaviour to form opposite

behaviour characters that motivate themselves and others (Duhigg, 2012) to be able to

explore factors that motivate themselves through meeting their psychological needs to

become a figure who can motivate, encourage collaboration and team building. A person

who feels socially hostile can also be directed to behaviours that can support the

development of creativity (Hennessey, 2010) that may be considered eccentric by others

with thoughts and creativity processes, not afraid to try new things and innovate in

response to environmental changes (Wulandari & Indartono, 2021).

Organisational cultures with high power distance and the absolutism of authority

power tend to be more vulnerable to corruption. This is because the organisational culture

tends to emphasise power and competition, which can create an environment conducive

to corruption. In some work units and work units in areas with institutional structures with

high levels of authority can affect the risk of corruption, public officials may feel that

they have the right to use their power for personal gain. This is reinforced by the

significant level of authority and responsibility for the financial management of solid

government institutions; an official can feel more free to commit corruption if they

believe they can do it without being caught. For this reason, it needs to be directed so that

organisational culture in government can reduce the desire of its employees to be corrupt

by, among others, first emphasising transparency and accountability, which can prevent

budget abuse in an environment that is vulnerable to corrupt practices. Second, it explores

the role of whistleblowing in supporting democratic principles so that employees have a

platform to report corruption. Lastly, it provides a further understanding of protection so

that employees understand its importance and are more courageous to act ethically.

Conclusion

The description that has been presented concludes that corruption hurts economic

development and appears repeatedly. Therefore, the Indonesian government seeks to

implement a merit system in recruiting and promoting civil servants to ensure that those

recruited and promoted are people of competence and integrity. This merit system aims

to prevent corruption by understanding employees' potential so that they can be directed

positively in corruption prevention efforts. Human resource management (HRM) can be

crucial in preventing corruption. The selection and placement of employees based on their

competence and integrity is recommended to improve the effectiveness of HR

management in corruption prevention. Employees who are incompetent, innovative, and

lack integrity have a higher risk of corruption.

Corruption prevention requires a deep understanding of the internal and external

factors influencing individual behaviour and organisational culture. The Indonesian

government can play a significant role in corruption prevention efforts by implementing

a merit system in HR management and improving an organisational culture emphasising

integrity and transparency.

Prevention of Corrupt Behavior through Assessment of the Work Behavior and Culture

Government Organizations

Asian Journal of Social and Humanities, Vol. 2 No. March 06, 2024 1319

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