Best practice approaches to leadership in averting fraud and corruption in selected organizations, Zambia and Lesotho: a good work culture.

This paper investigated the best practice approaches to leadership in averting fraud and corruption in selected organizations of Zambia and Lesotho: A good work culture. The purpose was to describe the best ways through which leaders can influence all members to want to prevent fraud and corruption in an organization. This was a descriptive survey in which 60 managers, currently employed in organizations in Zambia and Lesotho, were interviewed or administered with a survey form to collect the data. The content qualitative analysis methods and Microsoft excel pivot analysis tool was used for data analysis and presentation.
The study found that the levels of awareness on how leaders can encourage or lose control of preventing fraud and corruption that yields a bad work culture among managers was high. It described, using vivid illustrative examples, the best practice of leaders in averting fraud and corruption in line with the Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership Model. It drew out lessons learned from the past experiences of managers, amidst obstacles and challenges, on how to restore a good work culture. Eight crucial steps that leaders new to an organization should take to recreate a good work culture free from fraud were presented.
It was recommended that managers should: - Encourage and support training of all employees in fraud and corruption risk management to get all on the same page; identify the indicators that show signs of a good work culture and that fraud/ corruption is taking place, monitor and control it; exercise the five practices of exemplary leadership in getting people to commit to preventing internal fraud; and develop psychological hardness in curbing widespread fraud and corruption. Further research is to investigate types of best practices that apply at each level of management and the extent to which it yields impact at organizational level.