The Role of Leadership and Culture in Preventing Corruption

Anona Armstrong ()
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Anona Armstrong: Institute for Sustainable Industries and Liveable Cities, Victoria University

A chapter in Corporate Governance, Organizational Ethics, and Prevention Strategies Against Financial Crime, 2025, pp 303-322 from Springer

Abstract: Abstract Poor leadership and poor culture have been blamed in repeated investigations for driving misbehaviour and corruption. In their Discussion Paper in 2022, PwC stated that leadership comprises the responsibility of cultivating an environment of trust with various stakeholders through the leadership values and competencies of integrity, capability, positive intent, mutual respect, and transparency. Yet the most recent example of corruption in Australia is the investigation of the consulting arm of PwC. PwC was designing tax measures for the Australian Government Tax Department and at the same time disclosing to clients how to avoid the taxes. The impact has been the sacking of the leadership from the consultancy, sale of the consulting arm of the firm for $1, and a loss of trust in PwC and the whole of the consulting sector. An IBAC Review also resulted in the resignation of the Head of the Government Department involved. The challenge addressed in this chapter is to identify the role of leadership in building an ethical culture in an organisation. It describes the relationships between a leader’s values, ethics, and morals, how these are reflected in the governance and culture of an organisation, and what measures may prevent corruption. The paper draws on previous research that touches on leadership and culture and identifies some areas for further research.

Keywords: Governance; Leadership; Values; Ethics; Culture; Corruption (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:csrchp:978-3-031-74523-2_14

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DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-74523-2_14

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