Snc Lavalin Group Inc

GROUP 4:                                                                         22 OCTOBER 2018

CASE STUDY: SNC LAVALIN GROUP INC

 Bribery of foreign public officials, conspiracy to commit fraud and forgery, money laundering, possessing property obtained by crime, and attempts to secretly smuggle the son of former dictator into safer countries were among the charges which were laid against former executives at SNC-Lavalin, one of Canada’s largest engineering and construction firms.

1. Use the MARS model to discuss the main direct predictors of wrongdoing at SNC-Lavalin.

MARS Model of individual behavior is a model which elaborates individual behaviors’ which is a result from external and internal factors combined together. These are the 4 major factors which determine the individual behavior and result. MARS model represents these 4 factors which have mixed effect on an individual’s performance. If any of the factors weaken, performances will decrease.

MOTIVATIONAL

This can be identified as the internal factors which impact the direction of a person’s voluntary choice of behavior.  In the case of SNC-Lavalin, the importance was set to be focused on generating great fortune from their business despite infringement of law. The senior executives of SNCL were so desperate to win the contract, so, bribes were seen as an easy and short way to gain the contract. The employees are also under pressure to comply with this unauthorized activity as they need to defend their position in this company and satisfy their expectations.

ABILTY

This is the natural tendency and leaned capabilities needed to complete a task successfully. The ability and capability of their executives and staff to manipulate or to bribe the decision makers of certain organizations and some influential people such as being able to persuade Saadi Gaddafi is a reason for the continuous wrong doings. Further examination has proven that the senior executives of SNC-Lavalin and their staff are very good in manipulating evidences of bribe and contract fixing whereby the bribes were accounted as project commercial cost and project consultancy cost in their expenses account. These ‘extra’ expenses were never found out until the corruption case was filed.

ROLE PERCEPTION

This is a behavior which is necessary to achieve the desired results and at the same time, everyone is clear regarding the duties performed. In terms of role perceptions, it was observed that the employees of SNCL have been blindly following instructions from the management even when it was illegal and breaching the law. Even though the employees were aware that their actions were wrong, they seem to perceive these actions as a part of their role due to the culture of wrongdoings in the organization.