Dealing with systemic corruption

For years now the country has been struggling to reduce if not eradicate corruption.  Laws like the Prevention of Corruption Act 2002 have been passed.   And yet numerous debates and talk shows later, we still come across alleged corrupt practices some involving hundreds of millions of rupees.  These alleged practices, while potentially enriching a few individuals, also result in a drain of public funds.  Goods and services – often of poorer quality – are purchased using tax-payers money at higher prices than those charged by competing suppliers.  The beneficiaries are often those in power and/or their cronies.  

Modernizing our Election System

Introduction

It is generally acknowledged that some of our electoral practices are archaic and that while they served us well in the past, they have now become the source of serious problems. Moreover, they belong to an era which preceded the widespread use of information technology. There is also considerable mistrust in certain quarters about the use of e-voting. And yet transactions worth millions of rupees take place daily over the internet and through Automatic Teller Machines (ATMs) across the country. We trust machines counting our bank notes and updating our bank accounts but insist on our votes being manually counted as they have always been.

Lockdown – the way forward?

 Covid-19 is very contagious and dangerous and we need to try our utmost to prevent it from spreading and claiming more lives.  Any death is one too many.  It is also a challenging time for decision-makers because they are being called upon to deal with a complex situation that they were the least prepared to handle.  In this crisis, we are extremely grateful to all those in the frontline who are bravely ensuring the continuity of essential services (health, retail, law and order, etc.) in spite of the risks involved.

The Covid-19 Pandemic and Leadership

Introduction
Leadership experts like Warren Bennis refer to major crises as “crucibles of leadership” – situations that makes it possible for great leadership to emerge. The Covid-19 pandemic is undoubtedly one such event. In fact, it would not be an exaggeration to say that it is potentially a turning point in human history – one that we have all been experiencing for the last few weeks. As such, the handling of this crisis will probably become one of the most quoted examples in discussions about leadership in the coming years. There are already articles comparing, for instance, New Zealand’s PM, Jacinda Ardern’s handling of the crisis with Donald Trump’s.

Toxic Management Practices: Impact on Health and Performance

...toxic management practices affect employees at all levels of the organisation. Those at lower levels often feel helpless while those occupying the higher echelons have been conditioned to believe that one has to be thick-skinned to thrive in the corporate sector to the extent of sometimes foregoing all self-respect and dignity.

Student Malpractices

A widespread phenomenon

Last week while walking in Port Louis I saw in a shop window one A-4 sized poster addressed to students of various universities in Mauritius having to write dissertations and assignments.  While it may appear quite innocuous, it set me thinking.  I talked to some younger people around me and they all confirmed knowing people who paid to get their assignments and / or dissertations written for them.  I am also aware that such services are also offered online. 

Should Employers Be Accountable For Employees’ Mental Health?

If someone fractures his ankle while at work, his employer is required by law (OSHA S.85) to formally report the matter to the Director, Occupational Safety and Health.  On the other hand, if someone suffers from complications resulting from excessive work-related stress and is hospitalised for a week, no such reporting is required.  And yet the second scenario is probably more frequent in today’s workplace.

The Leadership Development Challenge

In a recent article, I discussed the implications of confusing leadership with power and how this can be counterproductive in a service / knowledge economy*. In this article, I discuss some of the implications of this confusion of leadership with power and of the lack of clarity regarding what leadership is all about, on leadership development.

Demystifying Leadership

If one asks a random group of people for examples of leaders, the names that are first mentioned are those of key political / historical figures.   This is mainly due to the fact that for many people leadership is often confused with power.

The Disciplinary Committee

Legal Provisions

The Employment Rights Act 2008 states that “no employer shall terminate a worker’s agreement … for reasons related to the workers misconduct, unless (i) he cannot in good faith take any other course of action;

What if our elected representatives were really our employees?

One view which is often expressed in social media is that our elected representatives are our employees probably because they are paid indirectly by us through the various taxes that we all pay.  In this article, I would like to explore the implications of this thinking.

Demographic decline: the case of Mauritius

Introduction

While explaining systems thinking, experts often give the example of someone in a traditional bathroom with a hot-water and a cold-water tap connected to the shower.  First the water is too cold, he turns the hot water tap and increases the flow of hot water.  The water remains cold.  Unaware of the delay in-built in the system, he turns the hot water tap further and suddenly the water is too hot.  He panics and opens cold-water tap to the maximum …

Leadership and Educational Reforms

1.       Introduction

Considerable time and resources have been invested into the drafting of the Nine-Year Schooling (NYS) project.  This reform, like most others, may be far from perfect.  However, this is not the time to go into the flaws of the reform but to focus on what is required to move successfully forward.  This article argues that leadership development at all levels of the system is a pre-requisite if we are to ensure its effective implementation and thus an optimum return on our investment.

The Hidden Costs of Corruption

 Introduction

 Many of us tend to adopt a simplistic view of corruption.  We tend to see corruption as a mere transaction that involves people who illegally enrich themselves by taking bribes or kickbacks and others who pay the bribes voluntarily for some bigger benefits or because they are compelled to do so. 

 Corruption in this case is reduced to a transaction between two parties and third parties (i.e., the public at large) who are not involved in this transaction are often tempted to adopt either of two stands or a combination of both:  (a) they acknowledge the immorality or illegality of the transaction; (b) they are indifferent to it because they are not personally involved.   In any case, they do not think there is much they can do about corruption.

 This article tries to establish that corruption involves more than a simple illegal transaction –  it has a significant long-term pernicious impact on ALL of us.

Teaching is an act of leadership…

As for the best leaders, the people do not notice their existence.
The next best, the people honor and praise.
The next, the people fear; and the next, the people hate ...
When the best leader's work is done the people say,
“We did it ourselves!”
― Lao Tzu, Chinese philosopher 531 BC

Introduction

This article posits the view that teaching is leading in the real sense of the word.

Leadership and Corruption

We often think that others (e.g., politicians, etc) have to change if we are to rid society of corrupt practices or that some institution (e.g., ECO, ICAC) would need to be created to eradicate corruption. The truth is that we are the ones that need to change first.

What Do We Understand By Leadership?

Article published in  Le Mauricien | 3 July, 2012

Introduction
In the recent months there have been frequent discussions on the quality of leadership, on leadership failures, on the need for a ‘new generation of leaders’ etc … This short article, which does not pretend to be exhaustive, attempts to throw some light on this pertinent issue.

Political Party Financing and Corruption

Introduction

In a recent issue of Time Magazine, Fareed Zakaria writes

Special interests [in the US] pay politicians vast amounts of cash for their campaigns and in return they get favorable exemptions or credits in the tax code.  In other countries, this sort of bribery takes place underneath bridges and with cash in brown envelopes …  (October 31, 2011, page 19)

This echoes views held by some people in Mauritius who see political party financing as the root of all corruption.  

Swine Flu and Big Business

 [This article was first published in the local press in August / September 2009]

For the year, we forecast sales of Tamiflu to reach ¥53.0 billion, up 531.0%, due to expected resumption of government stockpiling in FY2009 and the ongoing recovery of the prescription rate for seasonal influenza.

(p3) – Chugai Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. Annual Report 2008 

The recent announcement that the shelf life of Tamiflu could be extended by another two years got me suspicious. If it could expire in 2011, why did the suppliers print 2009 on the box? Was there a sinister motive underlying this decision to print an earlier expiry date?

Mass absenteeism in Secondary Schools: Does the cause lie in the syllabus?

Every year at this time, we hear of the significant increase in absenteeism among Form V and Form VI students.  Various reasons have been put forward and chances are that the same phenomenon will recur next year.

One possible reason is that the solutions being proposed (e.g., sms messages to parents etc) do not address the systemic dimensions of the problem.