Corrupt people like a lot of bureaucracy. That is why many initiatives aimed at creating agile and lean processes will always fail.
The biggest culprits are in civil service, public institutions and multinationals. Bureaucracy gives some people a lot of powers. So much that when they go on leave, business stops. And they want it to remain that way!
Don’t be surprised that most people will complain about low pay, but will never resign. They exploit the bureaucracy present in the system.
Bribery is the act of paying people to do their job. It is a take it or leave it, and many professionals are willing to take it. Otherwise, their businesses will collapse.
Consider the following scenario:
After you provide the service, you submit an invoice. To be paid in time, you have to pay someone to move your invoice from their desk to another office for approval. Then pay to have the secretary of the manager move your approved invoice to a colleague on the same floor to post the details into the accounting system. Then you must pay another to authorize the payment. The chain will continue. If you don’t pay, the process could take over four months or even a year until you learn to cooperate.
It is painful that even organizations that have invested a lot of money in automating their systems, bureaucracy is at its maximum.
One cause of the problem is over staffing. People want to remain useful amid automation and will always find something to do.
And if that happens to be your proposal or invoice, you are in it for a long delay.
