SNC Reaction Paper
SNC-Lavalin, a Montreal based engineering corporation, made huge profits on billion dollar projects in Libya. 2012 was probably the worst year in the history of the firm. Pierre Duhaime, the C.E.O, resigned in March following revelations of $56 million worth of questionable payments being made. These payments were made to undisclosed agents and Duhaime was the official who signed them off. In April, Riadh Ben Aissa was arrested on charges of corruption, fraud and money laundering. In November, Duhaime was arrested as well. So where did all this money go? What was it spent on? Who were the recipients?
Investigations suggested that the money was used to pay bribes to unknown North African agents in order to sanction multi-million dollar future projects. This was possibly done to maximise company revenue, but the deed is still questionable with Duhaime’s grey past.
The archbishop of Milan, St. Ambrose once said, “When in Rome, do as the Romans.” Does this translate to SNC’s actions in North Africa? Doing business in different parts of the world can be a difficult game because of varied cultural and professional differences. What may seem wrong in North America may be an everyday occurrence in another part of the world. Bribery is one such act. A bribe, according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary is “money or favour given or promised in order to influence the judgment or conduct of a person in a position of trust”. From personal experience, in some countries, not paying a bribe or not “giving a gift” may prolong or delay work, and in some cases even create a roadblock and completely stop the project. In some countries, offering a bribe is legal while in others it is considered a felony. The question however is, is bribery ethical? Ethics, in my opinion, are culture specific and, as the professor mentioned in class, time specific. Slavery, for example was an integral part of a perfectly normal society in ancient times but now is considered a heinous crime.
Pierre
Investigations suggested that the money was used to pay bribes to unknown North African agents in order to sanction multi-million dollar future projects. This was possibly done to maximise company revenue, but the deed is still questionable with Duhaime’s grey past.
The archbishop of Milan, St. Ambrose once said, “When in Rome, do as the Romans.” Does this translate to SNC’s actions in North Africa? Doing business in different parts of the world can be a difficult game because of varied cultural and professional differences. What may seem wrong in North America may be an everyday occurrence in another part of the world. Bribery is one such act. A bribe, according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary is “money or favour given or promised in order to influence the judgment or conduct of a person in a position of trust”. From personal experience, in some countries, not paying a bribe or not “giving a gift” may prolong or delay work, and in some cases even create a roadblock and completely stop the project. In some countries, offering a bribe is legal while in others it is considered a felony. The question however is, is bribery ethical? Ethics, in my opinion, are culture specific and, as the professor mentioned in class, time specific. Slavery, for example was an integral part of a perfectly normal society in ancient times but now is considered a heinous crime.
Pierre