Loosely Coupled Systems and Unlawful Behavior (From Corporate Crime: Contemporary Debates, P 168-177, 1995, Frank Pearce and Laureen Snider, eds. - See NCJ-160666)

• NCJ Number: 160671
• Author(s): C Keane
• Date Published: 1995
• Length: 10 pages
• Sale Source: University of Toronto Press
• Publication Type: Survey
• Language: English
• Country: Canada

Annotation

This analysis of new corporate forms that involve decentralization concludes that the loose coupling involved in these forms may be a greater source of corporate crime than are traditional organizational forms.

Abstract

General Electric is an example of the traditional large- scale corporate pyramid. Loose coupling confers greater flexibility, cost-effectiveness, responsiveness to markets, and more knowledge of local environments and conditions. However, it can also increase the motivation for and decrease the mechanisms of control over illegal behavior. Companies faced with increasing uncertainty may try illegally to influence external factors through bribery of officials, violation of pollution laws, illegal use of computers, misleading advertising, and price fixing. A loosely coupled system may also lack internal control, leaving it vulnerable to illegal behavior. Contracting out can shift legal liability to other organizations. Numerous examples exist of the potentially disastrous effects of both organizational and individual decoupling on the environment, worker safety, and other factors.