Jim Teague in Tanzania Essay - 2762 Words

Introduction Jim Teague, an MBA associate with a diploma in engineering, is hired for a summer internship in rural Africa to be an officer of a U.S- based social investment firm that is looking for an important agribusiness project in Africa. A small successful company in Tanzania â€Å"KiraFlour† is in the run for being financed by AgriFund. Upon his arrival in Tanzania, he is faced upon two issues: KiraFlour faces some major health-safety issues with the risks of spreading E-coli among the population. Another problem Jim Teague is facing is the fact that he does not know exactly whether the company that identified the potential contamination of E-coli found a real problem or is just looking for a payoff as Baba is stipulating. The quandary†¦show more content†¦In addition, when they went to the farm, he decided not to talk about his impressions and findings to Baba knowing the risk the farmers where taking by using cow manure. The fact that Jim Teague is inexperienced also play ed some responsibility for this difficulty he encountered. He was not prepared enough for the problems facing the society in Tanzania. What encouraged Jim to pay off the police? Do Gesteland’s â€Å"five rules† suggest methods Jim could have used to avoid paying bribes? Jim a couple of days after coming to Tanzania found himself in a complicated situation with a police officer who arrested him illegally. He decided to pay off the police officer with the CD’s of Jim Reeves belonging to Baba. Jim was encourages to pay off the police officer because he did not want to go to jail. It was either paying off the officer or go into the pain of being locked up for something he did not do. He did not think about it twice while he was giving the CD because his decision was the most rational decision at the time. He could have avoided bribery by using Gesteland’s â€Å"five rules† to avoid bribery. The first rule according to Gesteland is to never assume that you have to give bribe. In Jim’s case, he did not try to negotiate with the office; he directly assumed that the police officer wanted something in return of his freedom that is why he gave him the CD’s. The second rule is to â€Å"just say no.†