Governance and Development: Global Crime I: When does organised crime become k...

Governance and Development: Global Crime I: When does organised crime become king: By Markus Schultze-Kraft Under what conditions do organised criminal networks acquire the power to install and take down elected pres...

Perpetuating Poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa: How African Political Elites Undermine Entrepreneurship and Economic Development - GSDRC

Perpetuating Poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa: How African Political Elites Undermine Entrepreneurship and Economic Development - GSDRC

Creating a Culture of Leadership Accountability

Creating a Culture of Leadership Accountability

Promise of My Generation...: Breaking The Stalemate of Corruption

Promise of My Generation...: Breaking The Stalemate of Corruption:

Breaking The Stalemate Of Corruption  - Olu Ojedokun and Jamila Suleiman

Today because of the corruption that has engulfed our governance the largest people living in poverty are children. A significant number now live in the most backbreaking, gut-wrenching poverty any could imagine. However, if we accept fidelity to our 16-year-old freedom from military rule and democracy is the code of our civic religion then surely our code to our humanity should be faithful service to that unwritten commandment that says ‘We shall give our children better that we ourselves receive.’  However, the rampancy of corruption according to Joda, found everywhere, denies us access to that unwritten rule.

’Segun Osoba, the academic argued that whilst corruption is a global phenomenon only intelligible within its social context, as an anti-social behaviour it confers improper benefits contrary to legal and moral norms and undermines the authorities’ capacity to secure the welfare of citizens. His concern for Nigeria is that corruption has become the principal means of private accumulation and has come to shape political activity within the polity.

These corrupt tendencies in Nigeria are corroborated and are renowned in the international community. Within this context Nigeria had enacted several pieces of legislation seeking to criminalise accumulation that cannot be satisfactorily accounted for and not directly attributable to income. Thus, the independent and Corrupt practices (and other related matters) Commission Act 2000 (As Amended), (ICPC) the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission Act 2011 (As Amended) (EFCC) as well as the Penal and Criminal codes all seek to ensure that Nigerians keep within the Code of Conduct provisions encapsulated within the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999, (As Amended).

In proffering explanations for enactment of the laws and in setting up of their respective commissions to prosecute suspects of corrupt practices, Hannatu Raji wrote that the impetus to create the ICPC rested on “…The resolve to fight and win the war against corruption in Nigeria…”

However, after the exit of the pioneer chairman (Ribadu) from the EFCC, the zeal to fight corruption appears to have gone from 100 to zero amid the negatives. The evidence rests in the fact showing many corruption trials have not gone beyond the plea stage, some for as long as six years after first arraignment in court. Many ex-government office holders, who had been accused of corruption, are still free and not been subject to any sanctions. Some of them were elected into the National Assembly and are making laws for the country. The archives of the EFCC is littered with details of the cases abandoned or which remains in abeyance by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), in the period stretching from 2008 till date.

Any criminal lawyer worth his/her salt knows that the ability and success of curbing corruption in Nigeria depends on the combination of a number of factors, namely, the exhaustiveness of legal provisions of statutes to meet the innovative tendencies developed for private accumulation at the expense of the public, the efficacy of the police and anti-corruption commissions to properly investigate and arraign suspects, the efficacy of judicial officers to properly prosecute as well as the willingness and ability of the executive to insist on the implementation of laws whilst desisting from tacit approval of corrupt practices.

From the scenario presented in the previous paragraphs, it is obvious that the attainment of the combination of these factors in Nigeria has failed. Investigation, prosecution and conviction have been rendered costly, problematic and almost always unachievable. It therefore appears that neither the penal system as it presently operates, nor the political will that subsist are sufficient to cope with and address the scale of crimes of corruption in Nigeria.

Another clue as to why the stalemate seems to have arisen, may be situated within the argument that Nigeria’s legal system places much emphasis on retributive rather than restorative justice and posits this has given rise to lack of remorse on the part of offenders who now demand proof of their culpability during trial rather than show remorse. We question why the sentencing and custodial option should be adopted and thereafter public funds are spent again to decongest the prisons. In reality Nigerian legal system proffers stiff penalties, which are in reality unenforceable, making a mockery of the whole system. We therefore advocate that the use of Restorative Justice options such as plea-bargaining, bail process and victim-offender mediation be considered. This revolves around the cognisance of the underlying issues involved in an offence, which ranges from sociological, psychological and economical.

It is in line with the scenario presented above that the adaptation and implementation of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission process with its legacy of downplaying the punitive aspects of the traditional criminal justice system and focusing on an alternative penal justice system is suggested. Adaptation and implementation of the model will encourage more admissions of involvement in private accumulation from public funds rather than face the option of long jail terms put at “not less than 15 years and not more than 25 years” by, for instance, the EFCC Act.

The value in adapting a TRC model emerges from the apparent success achieved as a tool in mediating conflicts around the world and particularly in South Africa. In Nigeria, these are conflicts where significant parts of the governing elite are implicated or where stalemates have ensued. Nigeria is in a combat situation as far as corruption is concerned and many of the penalties in place are in reality unenforceable.  That is why we in our academic contribution to knowledge, a few months ago authored a seminal paper ‘The Problematic Of Competing Or Reconcilable Paradigms in The Adaptation Of The Truth and Reconciliation Commission Model In Addressing Crimes Of Corruption In Nigeria’ in the Journal of Law and Criminal Justice, USA, arguing for the recognition of some sort of parallel of this war against corruption in Nigeria to those of other conflicted societies. 

Dr. Olu Ojedokun of Lead City University writes from Ibadan, whilst Ms. Jamila Suleiman of Modibbo Adama University of Technology, writes from Yola.

Promise of My Generation...: Breaking The Stalemate of Corruption

Promise of My Generation...: Breaking The Stalemate of Corruption: Breaking The Stalemate Of Corruption   - Olu Ojedokun and Jamila Suleiman Today because of the corruption that ...

Strategic Leadership for Sustainable Development

Strategic Leadership for Sustainable Development
Ref: http://www.uongozi.or.tz/lemanagement_courses.php#Strategic_Leadership_for_Sustainable_Development

Ethical Leadership for Sustainable Development in Africa

Ethical Leadership for Sustainable

Development in Africa

Presented by Professor

Keith Walker, Johnson-Shoyama Graduate

School of Public Policy and Department of Educational Administration,

College of Education, University of Saskatchewan

Ref: http://www.schoolofpublicpolicy.sk.ca/_documents/_public_lectures/12.01.24_Keith%20Walker_Ethical%20Leadership%20for%20Sustainable%20Development%20Powerpoint.pdf

Organizational Transformation - Total Systemwide Cultural Transformation of Your Organization

Organizational Transformation

Total Systemwide Cultural Transformation of Your Organization

Ref: http://www.1000ventures.com/business_guide/crosscuttings/change_leading.html



MegaChange – a New Capability-based Approach

MegaChange³ is a total systemwide cultural transformation of your organization. It means designing and transforming organizations based on assumptions of human capability rather than limitations using the tools of the modern resource-based management model.

Why Organizational Change Fails: 8 Common Errors

Entrepreneurial Leadership of Transformational Change

One of the most striking attributes of leaders of successful transformational change efforts is their entrepreneurial spirit and behavior. These individuals think and act like heads of their own businesses and are able to inspire and direct others to act in the same manner.  Entrepreneurial leaders are part visionary, part role model for the new values and behaviors and part crusader. They frequently emerge from lower levels of the organization, from the business, or from other organizations.

Entrepreneurial Leader: 4 Attributes

Systems Thinking

Understanding Interactions between Parts

You should master systems thinking if you wish to  succeed in your extremely challenging organizational transformation effort. Systems thinking "focuses on the whole, not the parts, of a complex system. It concentrates on the interfaces and boundaries of components, on their connections and arrangement, on the potential for holistic systems to achieve results that are greater than the sum of the parts. Mastering systems thinking means overcoming the major obstacles to building the process-managed enterprise – for every business process is a whole system."²... More

Ask Searching Questions

Don't ask one or two questions and then rush straight towards a solution. With an incomplete understanding of the problem it is very easy to jump to wrong conclusions.

Ask open-ended questions that elicit a wide rage of answers:

• 'Why' questions  to discover the roots of the problem
• 'How' questions to discover different routes to significant improvement (see an example)

 Case in Point  GE¹

Today, GE succeeds in dozens of diverse businesses, and is continuously at the vanguard of change. Some years ago however, in locations throughout GE, local managers were operating in an insulated environment with walls separating them, both horizontally and vertically, from other departments and their workforce. Employee questions, initiatives, and feedback were discouraged.

Determined to harness the collective power of GE employees, create a free flow of ideas, and redefine relationships between boss and subordinates, Jack Welch, CEO, General Electric, created a new corporate culture. It's key elements are:

• Redesigning the role of the leader in the new economy: creating followers through communicating a vision, and establishing open, caring relations with every employee
• C

reating an open, collaborative workplace where everyone's opinion is welcome

Empowering senior executives to run far-flung businesses in entrepreneurial fashion

Liberating the workforce; making everybody a participant through improving vertical communication and employee empowerment... More

Defining Leadership: 8 Ways to Be a Great Leader

By David Mielach, BusinessNewsDaily Staff Writer

 

Ask any number of entrepreneurs, business owners or other leaders in the business community to define leadership and you're likely to get a different answer from each person.  Therein lies part of the problem when it comes to leadership — or more specifically, defining leadership. To help, BusinessNewsDaily compiled a list of definitions from different leaders in the business community asking how they define leadership.
As Dr. John Maxwell, the most published author on Leadership says… 'Leadership is Influence!'– Ken Courtright, founder of Today's Growth Consultant
Leadership is expecting as much of your workers as they are capable of, but never of more than you are yourself. It is never asking someone to do something you haven't done yourself, or aren't perfectly willing to do again. Lastly, leadership is understanding that your workers have different ideas and being able to flex to incorporate their ideas in the plan. — Jonathan Hines, director of sales and marketing at PILLO1
We are all leaders — by choice or by default — so the question is not so much "are you a leader?" as "how well do you lead?" Effective leaders are, first and foremost, self-aware and conscious of how they impact the people within their sphere of influence. A leader must be vulnerable enough to have an authentic connection to others, charismatic enough to engage others and humble enough to realize that true leadership involves being of service to others.— Jeannea Spence, leadership coach at indiSPENCEable Coaching
Leadership is a way for talented individuals to share their perspectives and knowledge by influencing others. Using their own charisma and influence, leaders should have the ability to inspire others to learn more, do more and become more. — Jeet Banerjee, a serial entrepreneur
Leadership is an attitude. Management is a position. In the same way that service is an attitude and customer service  is a department. It is a state of being — a way to approach life.— Kevin Burns, president and CEO of BGi Consultants
Leadership is about values and priorities. A leader's values are measured by how they act, not by what they say. And a true leader will communicate priorities that match the values he or she espouses. — Greg Marcus, author of "Busting Your Corporate Idol: How To Reconnect With Values & Regain Control Of Your Life"
A leader knows how to keep perspective of the big picture, understand priorities, and perceive context. They are fearless, cynical and cannot be afraid to act on instinct. They are clear in his goals and an excellent communicator. — RJ Díaz, CEO and creative director at Industry Portage Co
Leadership is getting people to do what everyone else knows is the right thing to do, but who do not have the self-confidence to act on their own! — Kevin Gazzara, senior partner Magna Leadership Solutions

Ref: http://www.businessnewsdaily.com/4069-business-leaders-define-leadership.html

Follow David Mielach on Twitter @D_M89 or BusinessNewsDaily @bndarticles. We're also on Facebook & Google+.  

Leadership: Why Alpha Is Over and Beta Is Better

By Elizabeth Palermo, BusinessNewsDaily Contributor

What do Amazon, Zappos and Timberland have in common besides about a billion pairs of shoes? They're all "beta" businesses— that is, businesses that follow their own unique paths and organize themselves along nontraditional lines.
These aren't the hierarchically structured, cutthroat corporations of centuries past, not by a long shot. Beta businesses— a term coined by entrepreneur and "Corporate Anthropologist" Dana Ardi in her new book, "The Fall of the Alphas: The New Beta Way to Connect, Collaborate, Influence— and Lead" (St. Martin's Press, October 2013) — thrive on shared leadership, open communication and employee collaboration.
Take, for example, Zappos' "core value" of building relationships through open and honest communication. That's not just a nice sentiment, it's company policy. Or consider Timberland's "Path of Service," a corporate policy that encourages employees to perform community service by paying them for it.
In an email interview with BusinessNewsDaily, Ardi explains how such policies and corporate structures represent the beta way of doing business and why this departure from the norm will usher in a more efficient corporate age.
BusinessNewsDaily: First of all, can you explain what a “Corporate Anthropologist” is.  Is that an official title or just a way you describe yourself?
Dana Ardi: I coined the phrase Corporate Anthropology to describe the deep study of organizations— company culture, mores, values, communications, diversity, physical spaces, roles of individuals, and how they organize to accomplish strategic initiatives.
As a Corporate Anthropologist, I study the cultures of organizations— how they evolve and intersect with what’s happening right now, and how the people in them influence and shape their communities. In my work as a consultant, I believe it is critical to take a larger, 360-degree look at what is happening socially, culturally, globally, digitally, and across generations to best advise organizations.
BND: What is the catalyst for the fall of the alphas? What has changed to make this happen?
D.A.: For centuries, the hierarchical style and structures that I call the Alpha paradigm was the only way leaders led, and the only way organizations organized. As I explain in "The Fall of the Alphas," leaders asserted themselves aggressively, competed rather than collaborated, and conquered rather than compromised.  This trickled down to younger generations as the single template of how to be, act, behave, and aspire.
Organizations were constructed like pyramids with predetermined and narrowly defined steps or rungs leading to the top. The slightest suggestion of a more community-oriented or compassionate approach was seen as “soft,” certainly not sufficient to lead a “tough” organization through “tough” times.
But everything changed with the dawn of the Informational Age. It was my realization that work in the Information Age is heuristic— it stimulates inquiry, trial and error and is fluid. Creativity, technology, social change and globalization have created the opportunity to rethink how we organize and come together. The new Beta way is all about the way we need to connect, collaborate, and influence to meet the challenges of this information age.
BND: Is this inherently a good thing or are there drawbacks?
D.A.: The Beta Model of flatter, more collaborative organizational structures has many advantages. The model fosters teamwork. It allows for more open and transparent communication. It brings new voices to the table for there is more involvement and participation in creating opportunities and problem solving. It leverages the knowledge and intellect of the team.
Beta companies have disadvantages if poorly implemented. Many leaders feel loss of control. Many employees, if not properly considered and self-motivated, feel role confusion. Coordination and organizational learning must occur or there will be confusion. Beta organizational principles are not suitable for all activities but collaboration and open communication is still a Beta cultural imperative. Beta organizations must evolve. Their success relies on self-awareness and personal responsibility.
BND: Will the new world of work be more efficient, without Alphas to lead the way?
D.A.: The new world of work will most definitely be more efficient. Technological advances will enable collaboration and data models will enhance decision-making. Beta organizations will still have strong leaders who are emotionally intelligent, self-aware and capable of bringing out the best in their colleagues.  Beta organizations will recruit and deploy teams of diverse skill sets. Companies can no longer live in a single private bubble. No single Alpha, no single leader can possibly guide a complex, constantly evolving networked organization. In "The Fall of the Alphas," I show that the Beta model becomes more efficient for it enables the leader to bring out the best from team members and guide their talents rather than command and control.
BND: What will work look like in 10 years? How will it be different?
D.A.: The nature of work is evolving. In the next decade the baby boomers will retire and the millennials will take over. For this generation traditional roles are “in play." These Information Age workers grew up texting, pinging and yelping. Their common language teems with e-pinions, tweets, pins, shares and viral forwards.  They work and think in groups. In contrast to the Alpha era where work was algorithmic and incremental, where experience mattered more than anything else, work for the millennials will be fluid and heuristic. Heuristic work stimulates inquiry typically by trial and error and discovery.
That is why understanding “The Fall of the Alphas” is essential for forward-looking businesses. Enterprises will be global and technology will continue to provide tools for collaboration and connectivity. Robotics will take over manual tasks. Knowledge workers and the craftsman economy will thrive. Companies will have small cores of high impact teams that take on strategic initiatives. These teams will represent diversity of thought and knowledge.
Companies will be a connected ecosystem of other organizations that will partner with them and collaborate on many fronts. The new Beta leaders will be leading and following depending on the role they play. Strategic alliance and strategic investments will replace acquisitions. Companies will be defined by their cultures. Innovation will be a key driver. Organizations will be more reflective and self- aware and organizational structure and definitions of leadership will continue to evolve.
Originally published on BusinessNewsDaily.

Ref: http://www.businessnewsdaily.com/5103-share-leadership-theory.html

Elizabeth Palermo: Elizabeth writes about innovative technologies and business trends. She has traveled throughout the Americas in her roles as student, English teacher, Spanish language interpreter and freelance writer. She graduated with a B.A. in International Affairs from the George Washington University. You can follow her on Twitter @techEpalermo or Google+.

7 Steps to Ethical Leadership

By Chad Brooks, Business News Daily Senior Writer

The key to having an ethically run company is employing morally upstanding leaders, a new book suggests.
In her new book "7 Lenses: Learning the Principles and Practices of Ethical Leadership (Leading in Context, 2013)," author Linda Fisher Thornton says getting employees to act ethically in the workplace starts at the top.
"It begins with ethical leadership," Thornton said. "Ethical leaders have a tremendous impact on how people in their organizations behave and what they achieve."
Thornton believes that those who succeed in leading ethically not only improve their business and culture, but also help make a difference in the world.
"Effective leaders focus on what’s right and exemplify to their people that they are there to help, and not to exploit the vulnerabilities of others," she said. "Their organizations typically respond to their example and their desire to serve others and make a positive difference."
In her book, Thornton offers practical advice on the most important actions leaders can take to integrate ethical conduct into their organizations, including:

• Face the complexity involved in making ethical choices: Openly discuss the ethical gray areas and acknowledge the complexity of work life. Involve others in more of the ethical decisions. Be a leader who talks about the difficult ethical choices, and help others learn to take responsibility for making ethical decisions carefully.
• Don't separate ethics from day-to-day business: Leaders must make it clear to their employees that ethics is "the way we operate" and not a training program or reference manual. Every activity, whether it is a training program, a client meeting or an important top management strategy session, should include conversations about ethics.
• Don't allow negative interpersonal behaviors to erode trust: Make respect a load-bearing beam in your culture. Be an ethical leader who expects it and practices it. Cultivate a respectful environment in which people can speak up about ethics and share the responsibility for living it. Build trust, demand open communication and share the ownership of organizational values.
• Don't think about ethics as just following laws and regulations: Leaders need to take action and show consumers and other stakeholders that they are actively engaged with ethical issues that matter. Recognize how ethics influences consumers' reasons to buy from you, and demonstrate a commitment to go beyond mere compliance with laws and regulations. They must prove that they are committed to ethical issues, including human rights, social justice and sustainability.
• Don't exempt anyone from meeting ethical expectations: Allow no excuses. Make sure that no one is exempted from meeting the ethical standards that are adopted. Maintain the status of ethics as a total, absolute, "must do" in the organization. Hold everyone, particularly senior leaders and high profile managers, accountable. No exceptions.
• Celebrate positive ethical moments: Be a proactive ethical leader, championing high ethical conduct and emphasizing prevention. Managers should talk about what positive ethics looks like in practice as often as they talk about what to avoid. Take time to celebrate positive ethical choices.
• Talk about ethics as an ongoing learning journey, not a once-a-year training program: Integrate ethics into every action of the organization — everything people do, touch or influence. Talk about ethics as an ongoing learning journey, not something you have or don't have. Recognize that the world changes constantly, and that ethical conduct requires that everyone remain vigilant.

Ref: http://www.businessnewsdaily.com/5537-how-to-be-ethical-leader.html

A former bank senior vice resident and chief learning officer, Thornton runs her own leadership consulting practice and teaches as an adjunct assistant professor for the University of Richmond School of Professional and Continuing Studies.
Originally published on BusinessNewsDaily.

Chad Brooks: Chad Brooks is a Chicago-based freelance writer who has nearly 15 years experience in the media business. A graduate of Indiana University, he spent nearly a decade as a staff reporter for the Daily Herald in suburban Chicago, covering a wide array of topics including, local and state government, crime, the legal system and education. Following his years at the newspaper Chad worked in public relations, helping promote small businesses throughout the U.S. Follow him on Twitter.