Holistic Cheating in Business

With the advancement in knowledge in every sphere of human activity and growth of civilization we also find many cases of fraud and cheating in business as if it were a profession of its own. Measures to curb this trend by governments and trade bodies have not produced desirable results and impact. This is brought about by individuals who enter business in the garb of entrepreneurs eclipsing ethics and forgetting social objectives. Let us consider some aspects of these unethical trends in business.

Some entrepreneurs are adepts in introducing this approach right from the start. Greed dominates their objectives. The project is copied from somewhere and costs are inflated. They submit a project proposal with rosy picture of cash flow and profits and influence the financial institutions to sanction funds. They meticulously knock off concessions and incentives offered by the government. This situation prevails in some countries.

They cleverly manage and ensure that their stake in the business is negligible compared to the total project cost. For example, a fake entrepreneur comes with a request to prepare a detailed report to knock off 50% subsidy towards project proposal preparation. He makes an interesting offer to the consultant to hook him. He wants a report with a receipt for the full amount of the project consultancy fee. With the receipt he goes to the financial institution and manages to get 50% of cost. He is gracious enough to offer 50% of the amount thus received, to the consultant. The latter also becomes a party to such fraud. Thus a chain of frauds is planned and often successfully executed.