Ethics

An Australian satirist Karl Kraus who lived between years1874-1938 stated Corruption is worse than prostitution. The latter might endanger the morals of an individual the former invariably endangers the morals of the entire country. Corruption may be termed as an abusive act based on power that has been entrusted to people for private gain. Corruption takes different forms, one being bribery (Transparency International, 2009). All corrupt acts are intended to favour someone giving him a preferred treatment regarding an issue or something. It is therefore an act by members in both public and private sectors with the intention of benefiting themselves through illegal means.

Degree of corruption in some countries
The Transparency International (TI) released an annual report on the degree of corruption in different countries around the globe and in their report the TI arranged the countries in the order of their integrity. On the report released on January 2009, it showed that Somalia and Iraq topped the list of the low integrity countries while Denmark and Canada were among the high integrity countries in the world. A closer view of these countries gives the following contrast.

Comparison between the least and the most corrupt countries
In the countries where corruption is worsening, there are lots of limitations to the citizens. There is limited mobility to the citizens who have to give money or commodities in order to be allowed to move from one place to another even to search for the most basic necessities. Worse still is when one has to import some goods for trade or for basic use in the country. Illegal fees are to be paid in these countries in exchange for permission. The military police have confined themselves to the boundaries and the governments concern is not in the people but on the airports. The only people that receive some little attention in these nations are the journalists. This is not because they are more special than any other group but because they have to report as the government dictates and not as per the true situation on the ground.

In these nations, there is no access to true information even for the journalists. Bribing in order to import or do any business in these areas is the order of the day. Corruption in these states is kept silent because there is definitely no freedom of expression even to the journalists themselves. In some cases, the journalists have been threatened to be killed if at all they disclose any information on the happenings in these states.

However, the situation is totally different in the high integrity states such as Poland and Canada. While corruption trends in low integrity countries moves from bad to worse, the situation is on the contrary in the high integrity countries. The trends are seen to be improving positively. Canada for example, moved from the eighth to the fifth position in the year 2009. The governments in these states are ensuring that there is economic development and there is freedom for all. All which is intended to bring about good governance and keep the government in the spotlight of the public is not kept in secret. The energy sector and infrastructure are keenly looked at by the government in these nations to ensure that there is economic growth in all spheres. Industrialization in these countries is on the rise and hence the freedom to trade and high accountability among the officials is highly embraced. There are no scandals in these countries due to good governance. The civil society is highly dynamic in these nations and the media is not under any restrictions in bringing the truthful information to the public. This is contrary to the low integrity countries.

Statistics given by the TI indicate that, Canada has been improving since 2006. For instance, in the year 2009, Somalia was last in the list with the lowest score in the corruption perception index (CPI). The country scored a 1.1 while Canada was eighth in the list with a CPI of 8.7. In 1997, the trend indicates that Somalia scored 1.4 while being in the 179th position. Canada in the same year was in the 14th position with a CPI of 8.7 (Transparency International, 2009). This shows a negative trend on the part of the low integrity countries and a positive trend in the high integrity states.

Cultural influence in the countrys business ethics
Culture consists of orientations to action, or general dispositions to act in certain ways in sets of situations. The Somali culture is characterized by the mode of dressing, their religious beliefs, language and marriage and the social behavior (Bower, 2010). The national official language is Somali and less than 10 of the people in Somali are conversant with other foreign languages such as English. This has been due to poor education background in most of the people. Trading in Somali in international methods has not been too effective due to language barrier.

Due to lack of peace in Somalia and Iraq, the levels of competition in business are low. Due to this fact, there are increased incentives for corruption in search for survival means than in peaceful countries. High competitive and income countries have been faced with little cases of corrupt practices.

Protestantism has often been associated with low levels of corruption more than other religions and also, countries which were colonies of the British protectorate are more corrupt free as compared to others. Somalia and Iraq do not fall in either of the above categories and hence, the high levels of corruption and poor business ethics.

Islamic culture like many other cultures in the world emphasizes on success and hard work. However, for a country such as Somalia and Iraq, such emphasis to economic success but with great restrictions to the access of opportunities have often lead to higher levels of corruption even on the business sector.

In Canada on the other hand, it has been a place of all people. In terms of their language, Canada has been a bilingual state. Bilingualism in Canada has come about due to the combination of different persons speaking French, English among other languages. This multi-language speaking state has therefore attracted so many persons to do business in and out of it. This has been a great selling tool in Canada and thus, their economy has been greatly improving due to their positive business ethics.

The Canadians are a welcoming people and have enjoyed a great deal of freedom. Because they are free, doing business has been simple and thus to import or to export anything has never been hard to them. They welcome visitors as if they were part of them. Also in Canada everyone deserves the same right as a person hence a home of business.

Canadians have got their artistic works well displayed and also theater work which makes is a centre of attraction of many persons. This has encouraged great business deals even with other nations. Their no smoking in public principle has led to many people being comfortable being in Canada and thus it has promoted the interest of many in the state.

Major ethical problems of the least ethical countries
Most of the least ethical countries are faced with the same ethical problems. Among these problems are bribery, lack of accountability, greed amongst the leaders, poor public sector service delivery, poor and weak governance, lack of integrity and enforcement means in the governing officers, poor or no preventive measures to curb corruption, lack of awareness on the public on good ethics and morals in handling the state affairs. Accountability by the national and civic leaders need to be encouraged and tools to achieve this need to be put in place to ensure that there is pressure to achieve result on time.

Actions favoring most ethical countries
Most of the ethical nations have reached the far they have because of several issues favoring them. The absence of a black market in these nations has ensured that there are no commodities coming in and out of the country through some unnoticeable means. Overabundance on the market regulations has on the other hand resulted into a strict control in all that gets in and out of the countrys territories. It is therefore easy for them to carry out a monitoring and evaluation process and so put up the measures required to take the country into a higher level of trade in the international market. Finally, the absence of unnecessary restrictions in carrying out business activities has led all the citizens to having a sense of belonging and great loyalty to their nation.

Possible ways to lessen corrupt and unethical behaviors
The question is it possible to end corruption has been in the minds of many researchers. Though corruption has been having great effects on the state and the individuals thereof and has become a great stumbling block to the development of nations, it has received attention in some countries while in others it has remained a tradition. Though it may not be possible to completely face it out, it is possible to lessen it. Several measures can be employed to see that there is keen observance and monitoring of all public and private sectors for service delivery on time. Accountability should be encouraged on the part of all public and private sectors and mechanisms put up to monitor their performance as well as to put up pressure on their performance.

A keen study should be conducted to establish the cause of the corrupt deeds and once it has been realized, prevention of more cases should be sought other than enforce something which is not in existence. The performance on the public sector should be set to result-oriented working system whereby the work of each is measured and paid as necessary. All officers charged with corruption offences should be dealt with by a powerful enforcement system of judiciary so as to be a lesson to the others.

Comparison of our country America and both the most and least corrupt countries
Corruption happens in all countries both great and small. For instance, between 1990 and 2002, a great number of government officials were convicted by federal prosecutors of corrupt acts such as conflict of interest and fraud among others. Therefore, corruption is here with us is America though it is in one way an advantage to the scholars and to the researchers who are carrying out research on corruption across the states. Corruption in America has been widely seen among the politicians and the rich because the rich can get everything they want from the government.

Conclusion
In conclusion, corruption is a deadly disease affecting nations and bringing good governance down. However, with proper measures, corrupt practices can be lessened so as to ensure success and development of the nations of the earth. No country may brag that it is corrupt free but all in all, if measures to tame corrupt people are put in place, great changes would be realized and the world would be full of integrity.