Gsba 533 - Fifa Organizational Behavior

GSBA 533
Individual Assignment
12/3/2015        

In the summer of 2015 Swiss authorities raided the site of the annual meeting of FIFA, soccer's governing organization. Six FIFA executives were arrested and charges brought against fourteen senior FIFA employees for a range of corrupt behavior including bribery and the inappropriate sale of television rights dating back to 1991. Using readings and discussions from class, this memo seeks to explain how corruption ended up being widespread and systemic within FIFA and what FIFA president Sepp Blatter could have done differently in order to combat corruption before it manifested itself into scandals.         

        FIFA's widespread corruption is a surprise given how contrary corrupt behavior is to the organization's stated values. Under previous investigations for corruption, FIFA had been able to retain the perception of commitment to its values by placing blame on specific bad actors within the organization, avoiding the perception that the entire organization was corrupt. With the latest round of charges however public perception has shifted and FIFA is perceived to be systemically corrupt, with much of the blame for the corruption placed on FIFA head, Sepp Blatter. Swiss Newspaper Neue Zürcher Zeitung remarks, "he carries the responsibility for FIFA's corrupt culture, which he at the very least tolerated during his overly long time in office." Such remarks about FIFA's culture are highly contrary to the organizations espoused values. Examining FIFA's culture based on our class discussion on layers of organizational culture, FIFA seemingly has positive cultural artifacts such as an objective and random selection ritual for team match-ups during tournaments and repeated images of the soccer ball elevated on a pedestal. FIFA also espouses values of equality, saying no to racism, a focus on promoting soccer for all, organizing inspiring tournaments, and improving the lives of young people. These values are based on the assumption that soccer is a great unifying sport that can break down barriers between communities and help build cultural awareness. However, unlike our class example of Mary Kay where Mary Kay instituted a rigorous selection process for her senior leadership to ensure new leaders were aligned with the firm's values, little was actually done by Blatter to reinforce FIFA's values with his leadership team. Although when Blatter joined FIFA as president there had been previous ethics scandals, rather than work to align FIFA back to its core values, Blatter largely ignored the issue. When ethics scandals did arise, FIFA practiced a "ritual of atonement" each time, scapegoating one senior leader and ignoring behavior of others (Spicer, Andre). Because Blatter allowed scapegoating and ignored the behavior of other senior leaders, the view that tens of millions of dollars in bribes for world-cup placement or advertising was actually a normal part of one's regular compensation package, and not an illegal kickback, became widespread within FIFA. In the article, "How a FIFA-like Scandal Affects Your Talent Pipeline," Harvard Business Review discusses how once these bribes became a cultural norm within FIFA, unethical practices were reinforced. The organization attracted new talent also seeking the same types of payments who had no qualms about the ethical implications of taking bribes. At the same time the article remarks how those who did have ethical objections would likely avoid opportunities at FIFA altogether, making Blatter's job of finding talent to undertake a cultural transformation at FIFA even more difficult. As a result, this led to a concentration of unscrupulous individuals in senior leadership positions at FIFA as only those who agreed with the current corrupt regime would rise through the ranks.