Investigating organizational culture factors based on Hofstede's model in the prevention of administrative corruption in government organizations "A case study of the West Azarbaijan Province Agricultural Jihad Organization"

Dissertation for Master's degree (M.A)

Treatment: Human Resource Management

Abstract

Organizational culture plays an important role in the internal control of employee behaviors and prevention of administrative corruption due to the nature of the strong effect it can have on the behavior and performance of organization members. The present study was conducted in order to investigate organizational culture factors based on Hofstede's model in government organizations, in Jihad Agriculture Organization of West Azarbaijan province. This research is applied and developmental in terms of purpose, and in terms of its nature, it is descriptive and survey. The findings of the research are the result of collecting information from 448 people of the statistical population and a sample of 208 employees by simple random method. Descriptive and inferential statistics methods were used for data analysis through SPSS software and regression analysis. The results of the research show that there is a significant relationship between power distance and administrative corruption in government organizations, and the size of this relationship is 0.020; Also, there is a significant relationship between ambiguity avoidance and administrative corruption in government organizations, and the size of this relationship is zero; While there is no significant relationship between individualism and administrative corruption in government organizations, the size of this relationship is 0.702.

Key words: organizational culture, administrative corruption, power distance, individualism, ambiguity aversion, Hofstede's model.

Chapter One

General

1-1 Introduction

Experiences gained from different countries It shows that corruption is complex, hidden and diverse. Therefore, the fight against it should be continuous, long and complex. In fact, corruption (in the administrative dimensions and other dimensions of society) is like an infection that if it gets into the organs and body of society, it infects and disables its members one by one, and the spread of this infection may corrupt the entire body of society. An organization should take steps to resolve the fact that the common denominator of most of the definitions presented about corruption in government institutions can be seen as bribery and abuse of job positions for personal gain. The consequences of administrative corruption also appear in the form of problems and anomalies such as abuse of job positions, bribery and embezzlement, fraud, partying, injustice, blackmail, creating dissatisfaction for clients (beneficiaries), theft of the organization's property and assets, selling the organization's confidential information to others, and the like individually, in groups and organized. There are various factors and contexts that can cause the emergence, expansion and promotion of administrative corruption in a potential and actual form. Based on these factors and fields, it is possible to identify ways that have a greater effect in reducing and eliminating the phenomenon of administrative corruption in the organization. If we consider the organization as a system, this system consists of various sub-systems, one of the most important of which is the human resources sub-system. Accordingly, in the fight against the phenomenon of administrative corruption, focusing on the factors that are directly related to the human resources dimension of the organization can have a greater effect on reducing or eliminating administrative corruption in the organization, although other organizational factors such as the transparency of administrative rules and They are effective in this field.

Organizational culture as a phenomenon that is influenced by the policies and approaches of high-level organizational managers is among the factors that play an important role in preventing corruption in offices and organizations. Experts consider the ratio of organizational culture to the organization as the ratio of personality to the individual, which plays an important role in the formation of (individual and organizational) behavior.

Since administrative corruption (and other types of corruption such as economic, political, etc.) can have a great impact on the development of society, and considering that today, in the field of fighting administrative corruption, more emphasis is placed on approaches that focus on the prevention of such a phenomenon, and due to the importance of Organizational culture is one of the most important factors preventing the occurrence of administrative corruption. By highlighting the role of favorable organizational culture, this thesis tries to create a suitable field for increasing the knowledge of managers of organizations and companies in order to prevent the occurrence of an undesirable phenomenon called administrative corruption.. Finally, with regard to the mutual influence of organizational culture and corruption, based on the presented model, it is noted that a strong organizational culture with Hofstede's desired dimensions, including low power distance, individualism and ambiguity avoidance, and the effects of these dimensions on the occurrence of justice, prevention of discrimination and the rule of transparency, can curb corruption and hinder its spread and ultimately lead to the prosperity and growth of the society, and the need for coercive measures and punishment - considering its adverse effects - to a large extent

Through this, although many programs have been designed and implemented in Iran to fight corruption, little success has been achieved in this regard, the main reason of which can be stated that the programs carried out by the governments have often focused on punishing and punishing the offenders instead of emphasizing the prevention of corruption. In this research, it has been tried to discuss the influence of organizational culture as one of the preventive factors in the occurrence of administrative corruption. This issue has been investigated through the comparative study of the cultural dimensions of Hofstede's research and the Transparency Organization report (2012). In this regard, Edgar Schein[1], one of the most prominent thinkers of organizational behavior, believes that: organizational culture consists of manners, customs and ethics. Organizational culture includes publicly stated values. Organizational culture is an accumulation of shared learnings during shared history, and it refers to the structural strength and pattern and evolution of the organization (Shain, 2013). Regarding organizational culture, Carter McNamara [2] believes that it includes assumptions, norms and concrete signs (human artefacts) of organizational members and their behaviors. Culture is one of the terms that is very difficult to express clearly, but anyone who feels it knows it well. The culture of an organization by observing the arrangement of equipment, what the members talk about and the way they are wearing. It is recognizable. Dale and Kennedy define a strong organizational culture as a culture under which people know the organizational goals well and work towards them. According to these two people, a strong culture is a strong lever for behavior (employees) and helps employees to do their jobs in a better way, especially in two specific ways (Dale and Kennedy[3], 1988).

Corruption among government officials may be widespread or rare. Pervasive corruption causes social losses by weakening incentives, or weakening existing inputs, causing political losses, or unfair distribution of resources, causing economic losses.

Organizational culture, due to its powerful and effective nature on the behavior and actions of organizational employees, plays a vital role in the internal control of employee behaviors and prevention of administrative corruption. The close connection of organizational culture with the general culture of society is considered as an important factor in the formation of organizational behavior. So, are the organizational culture factors of Hofstede's model effective in preventing administrative corruption in government organizations?

In the present research, an attempt is made to investigate the factors of organizational culture using Hofstede's model in preventing the occurrence of administrative corruption.

1-2-1 Definition of corruption

Do not seek corruption and destruction on earth, for God does not like criminals (Surah Al-Qasas, verse 77).

The root of corruption[4] comes from the Latin verb "romper" which means "to break". So in corruption something is broken or violated. Corruption is defined in the culture and context as "an illegitimate reward to induce a person to commit a breach of duty". Gunnar Myrdal[5] studies corruption in a broader sense. In his opinion, corruption can be applied to all different forms of deviation or exercise of personal power and illegitimate use of position and job position (Abbaszadegan, 2013). Corruption is a complex issue and it manifests itself when institutions are weak and the market economic system is distorted. The World Bank has defined corruption as the abuse of government (public) authority for personal or group interests.

Kiltgaard[6], 1996 presented the following model for the discussion of corruption: (UNESCO Message, Vol. 27)