The grand challenge: Effective anti-corruption measures in projects

Highlights

• We study anti-corruption measures and their effectiveness in projects

• We use design-oriented research synthesis to analyse existing empirical evidence

• We identified 5 types of measures effective in dealing with corruption

• Enhancing transparency and incentivising stakeholders are key mechanisms for successful anti-corruption

• The combination of different anti-corruption measures targeted at both project and ecology levels is essential

Abstract

A grand challenge in projects involves employing anti-corruption measures effectively for dealing with corruption. Existing research is scattered across a wide range of disciplines and thus understanding of the effectiveness of anti-corruption measures in projects remains obscure. Focusing on construction projects, which are the most studied and affected by corruption, we aim to establish what kinds of anti-corruption measures are effective, and how. We use design-oriented research synthesis to systematically study existing empirical evidence related to anti-corruption measures in construction projects, found in management journals across various disciplines. Our study shows that there is scarce empirical evidence documenting the effectiveness of anti-corruption measures in projects. Nevertheless, our findings show that compliance, managerial, probing, reactive, and regulatory measures can be effective. The two main mechanisms explaining how the different anti-corruption measures are effective are enhanced transparency of project operations and incentivised stakeholders. We conclude with a research agenda focused on project governance.

Introduction

Corruption, i.e., the abuse of entrusted power for private gain (Trasparency International, 2021), is one of the major barriers to successfully planning and delivering projects (Locatelli et al., 2017; Loosemore & Lim, 2015; Tabish & Jha, 2011; Treisman, 2007). Corruption increases costs, creates delays, decreases benefits, and limits projects’ positive social and economic impacts (Damoah et al., 2018; Loosemore & Lim, 2015; Sonuga et al., 2002). Locatelli et al. (2017) submit that corruption includes, among others, bribery, extortion, fraud, abuse of power, embezzlement, conflict of interest, and nepotism.

To prevent corruption from taking place or mitigate the aforementioned negative consequences, practitioners and academics are paying increasing attention to anti-corruption, i.e., measures to substantially reduce corruption in all its forms (Owusu et al., 2019). Building on (Tabish & Jha, 2012), when we use the word “measures”, we include “leadership, rules and regulations, training and fear of punishment” (p. 23) but also policies, managerial approaches, arrangements, measures, practices, etc., derived by individual groups of organisations to reduce corruption.

Despite the relevance of anti-corruption measures, there is a paucity of research on anti-corruption measures, and particularly on their effectiveness in projects. To establish an initial understanding of anti-corruption measures for our research, we searched and analysed articles in project management journals from Scopus on January 31, 2020 (search and analysis updated on March 11, 2022). The project management journals included the International Journal of Project Management, International Journal of Project Organization and Management, International Journal of Managing Projects in Business, and Project Management Journal. The research question that guided this research was: What kinds of anti-corruption measures are effective in projects, and how?

We found only ten articles with the words “corruption” OR “anti-corruption” in either the article title, abstract, or keywords (see Appendix A1 for a summary of the analysis). Five of these articles (Bowen et al., 2015; Damoah et al., 2018; Locatelli et al., 2017; Osei-Tutu et al., 2010) deal with construction projects and focus on corruption rather than anti-corruption. These articles examine the root causes of corruption, how corruption occurs, how corruption impacts projects, and how different project actors perceive corruption. Five other articles (Damoah & Kumi, 2018; Ling et al., 2014; Sonuga et al., 2002; Walker & Lloyd-Walker, 2014; Wang et al., 2019) focus on other phenomena such as ethical dilemmas of project management and project failure factors, again, not on anti-corruption measures. The remaining article (Owusu et al., 2019) focuses on anti-corruption in projects and is the first and only paper in project management journals focused explicitly on anti-corruption measures.

While the existing research on anti-corruption measures and their effectiveness is limited in project management journals (as indicated above), it is obvious that there may be relevant research outside project management journals. However, to our best knowledge, the research on anti-corruption measures in these journals have not been accompanied by integration efforts, which might have resulted in a few small and largely isolated pockets of research across several journals and scientific communities that extend beyond project management discipline. Given the relevance of anti-corruption in projects, a systematic analysis of this growing body of knowledge is missing and needed. Therefore, this study aims to develop a systematic understanding of anti-corruption measures and their effectiveness in projects. We achieved this aim by mapping the existing empirical evidence extending beyond project management journals, using design-oriented research synthesis as our research approach.

Corruption is widespread across businesses, and projects are no exception, particularly construction projects. Therefore, in this research, we focus on projects within the construction sector for five reasons: (i) the construction sector is one of the industries most prone to corruption (Investopedia, 2020; Locatelli et al., 2017; Tabish & Jha, 2011; Transparency International, 2012; Treisman, 2007); (ii) construction is a project-based sector and one of the most studied in project management; (iii) pragmatically, there are likely enough data to perform the analysis; (iv) focusing on one sector only is ideal for obtaining consistent results; (v) developing a more systematic understanding of anti-corruption measures and their effectiveness in construction projects can, in addition to theoretical implications, have widespread beneficial managerial implications.

The rest of the paper is organised as follows. Section 2 introduces our design-oriented research synthesis approach, including the article search and review process and analysis protocol. Section 3 presents the findings regarding anti-corruption measures, and Section 4 discusses the findings. Section 5 outlines this paper's managerial implications and theoretical contribution and concludes with research limitations and future research ideas.