XM satellite
radio and the American Red Cross teamed up to give the
workers and relief help for Hurricane Katrina a source for
national radio coverage. Red Cross staff and volunteers along
the Gulf Coast now have access to the channel, which is a
24-hour, nationwide XM channel to provide help and information
for Hurricane Katrina victims and other Red Cross workers across
the country.

XM Channel 248 -dubbed the Red Cross Radio is now available on
XM Satellite Radio from the west coast to the east coast. All XM
receivers, portable, at home or in your car can now listen to
the channel for updates and news. As part of the partnership, XM
has donated radios to the Red Cross and relief workers so that
they may stay up-to-date on a the relief effort. “In addition to
Red Cross Radio, XM offers the XM Emergency Alert Channel (XM
Channel 247), which tracked the hurricane’s progress and now
provides updates on clean-up, road closures, school closings,
and other information from federal and local governments, law
enforcement, and other agencies.” – (XM satellite radio) XM
Radio is proud to have the Red Cross channel, which it is using
to send out information and announcements to workers across the
region. The portability and national coverage of the station
allows all workers and all of those involved to be on the same
wave length. Support for Red Cross efforts is being heard all
across the country and the XM radio channel has played a large
part in this relief effort

About The Blue Cross

Blue Cross was started in 1929 by Justin Ford Kimball, at Baylor University in Dallas, Texas. It was developed to guarantee teachers 21 days of hospital care for $6 a year. Later on the plan was enlarged to other people in the Dallas area and then throughout the country.

In 1939 the term Blue Cross was used to include other plans as well. Blue Cross is a name used by an association of health insurance plans throughout the United States.

It was developed in 1929, by Justin Ford Kimball, at Baylor University in Dallas, Texas. The first plan guaranteed teachers The plan was extended to other employee groups in Dallas, and then nationally. The American Hospital Association (AHA) adopted the Blue Cross symbol in 1939 as the emblem for plans meeting certain standards.

So as it stands today Blue Cross is an independent membership association working on a service basis and providing protection against the costs mainly of hospital care. Benefit payments are made directly to the hospital. Benefits vary among various Blue Cross associations.

And then there is Blue Shield which, rather than covering hospital care, provides protection on a service basis against the cost of surgical and medical care in a limited geographical area.
The actual Blue Cross, which was a blue Greek Cross, was created by the artist Joseph Binder under the auspices of E A van Steenwijk who was the Company secretary of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota.

The Blue Cross began now to be used in other parts of the country as well. At present it is a national trade organization linking 40 health insurance companies in the US, Canada and Puerto Rico together.

Supposedly, Blue Cross operations are considered to happen as franchises in specifically designated regions. At present these services are available in every state wihin the United States and every Canadian province

Blue Cross is very prevalent in providing coverage to State as well as Federal government employees and they are also very important in the administration of Social Security. There is a problem with health insurance in the United States.

There is a conflict between the need for the insurance company to make money versus the need of their clients to remain healthy.

This need to make money has become so uncontrolled that one third of the population in the US can not afford medical insurance and medical bills today are the major cause for bankruptcies. This is why state and federal regulation of health insurance companies is necessary.

On the other hand medical insurance companies could hypothetically face unforeseen events such as the chicken flu where a large percentage of their clients all of a sudden face horrendous hospital bills.

Theoretically this could bankrupt the insurance company within a very short timeframe. So to prevent this situation medical insurance companies use a variety of checks and balances to limit payments to beneficiaries.

And of course it is a well-known fact that those seeking health insurance are also those most likely to have medical problems being present or future ones. It is also known that if the cost of healthcare to the beneficiary is very low than the use of medical benefits will be much greater than if the cost is substantial.

So to find the balance where medical services are available when needed but not abused to the extend that for every paper cut you will make a visit to the doctor proper safeguards should be in place.

So in theory, if people would exercise, would eat healthy food, would avoid addictive substances, this would lower health insurance prices because the insurance companies would pay fewer doctor bills.

However, you could then also say that too much of the insurance premiums would be paid out in executive salaries or kept as profits by the company.

About The Blue Cross
Blue Cross was started in 1929 by Justin Ford Kimball, at Baylor University in Dallas, Texas.
It was developed to guarantee teachers 21 days of hospital care for $6 a year.
Later on the plan was enlarged to other people in the Dallas area and then throughout the country.

In 1939 the term Blue Cross was used to include other plans as well.
Blue Cross is a name used by an association of health insurance plans throughout the United States.

It was developed in 1929, by Justin Ford Kimball, at Baylor University in Dallas, Texas. The first plan guaranteed teachers The plan was extended to other employee groups in Dallas, and then nationally. The American Hospital Association (AHA) adopted the Blue Cross symbol in 1939 as the emblem for plans meeting certain standards.

So as it stands today Blue Cross is an independent membership association working on a service basis and providing protection against the costs mainly of hospital care. Benefit payments are made directly to the hospital. Benefits vary among various Blue Cross associations.

And then there is Blue Shield which, rather than covering hospital care, provides protection on a service basis against the cost of surgical and medical care in a limited geographical area.
The actual Blue Cross, which was a blue Greek Cross, was created by the artist Joseph Binder under the auspices of E A van Steenwijk who was the Company secretary of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota.

The Blue Cross began now to be used in other parts of the country as well.
At present it is a national trade organization linking 40 health insurance companies in the US, Canada and Puerto Rico together.

Supposedly, Blue Cross operations are considered to happen as franchises in specifically designated regions. At present these services are available in every state wihin the United States and every Canadian province

Blue Cross is very prevalent in providing coverage to State as well as Federal government employees and they are also very important in the administration of Social Security.
There is a problem with health insurance in the United States.

There is a conflict between the need for the insurance company to make money versus the need of their clients to remain healthy.
This need to make money has become so uncontrolled that one third of the population in the US can not afford medical insurance and medical bills today are the major cause for bankruptcies.
This is why state and federal regulation of health insurance companies is necessary.

On the other hand medical insurance companies could hypothetically face unforeseen events such as the chicken flu where a large percentage of their clients all of a sudden face horrendous hospital bills.

Theoretically this could bankrupt the insurance company within a very short timeframe.
So to prevent this situation medical insurance companies use a variety of checks and balances to limit payments to beneficiaries.

And of course it is a well-known fact that those seeking health insurance are also those most likely to have medical problems being present or future ones.
It is also known that if the cost of healthcare to the beneficiary is very low than the use of medical benefits will be much greater than if the cost is substantial.

So to find the balance where medical services are available when needed but not abused to the extend that for every paper cut you will make a visit to the doctor proper safeguards should be in place.

So in theory, if people would exercise, would eat healthy food, would avoid addictive substances, this would lower health insurance prices because the insurance companies would pay fewer doctor bills.

However, you could then also say that too much of the insurance premiums would be paid out in executive salaries or kept as profits by the company.

Making the Right Choice

‘in a number of surveys the need for the effective management of cross-cultural differences is seen as one of the core competencies for international managers’

As organisations take a more global view of their markets, they are finding that there is an increasing need to interact, negotiate, and work effectively as individuals and teams with people whose values, languages, customs and business practices are different from their own, where misunderstandings can lead to costly mistakes and even business failures.

It is perhaps not surprising, therefore, that in a number of surveys carried out in recent years the need for the effective management of cross-cultural differences is seen as one of the core competencies for international managers.

What is surprising though is that, when selecting people to take up international appointments, whether as frequent travellers working out of their home countries, or to go to live and work in another country, only a few use this as a major selection criteria.

In one particular piece of research, 60% of the organisations questioned put ’sensitivity to different cultures’ in the top five of their criteria, but only 25% admitted to giving it the same level of importance in the selection process.

In the real world, what tends to happen is that organisations – often under pressure to fill a vacancy in a hurry – select people with the best functional skills and who understand how the organisation’s systems and procedures work rather than those with cross-cultural sensitivity. Very often they will not have developed a model of the cultural competencies required to work in a particular market, or have the means of measuring people’s aptitudes and abilities in these areas. They will instead rely on the individual to ‘pick things up’ as he or she goes along and, for a few people, this can work.

Clearly, the appropriate levels of functional and management skills are essential. However, organisations do need to ask themselves how much more effective would someone be if, as part of the selection process, they were objectively assessed on their ability to manage cultural diversity and provided with the necessary pre-assignment training, coaching and mentoring to help them in managing cultural diversity?

If accompanied during the assignment, their partners and families will also need help to live in the other culture, but this too is so often overlooked. The employee usually has the security of the organisation culture to fall back on, particularly when things are not going well, but the family does not have this in the same way. They, however, are in direct and daily contact with the new culture, often at a less sophisticated level, and needing to manage on a daily basis the frustrations of not being able to get things done. They may need to use local language skills more frequently than does the employee and, in some countries, their life will often seem boring and meaningless. An unsettled family can have an adverse affect on the employee’s performance and, in some cases, this may result in family relationships breaking down and the need for early repatriation.

The really successful international manager will fully understand the cross-cultural implications of his or her role at the national, organisational and family cultural levels, and will be able to build on the cultural similarities and reconcile the differences.

At the organisational level, therefore, one of the strategies for achieving international competitive advantage should be to develop market specific criteria for cross-cultural effectiveness; assess and develop people against these, and provide the necessary pre-assignment training and ongoing support for the employee and, if appropriate, his or her partner and family.

Expansion of business is a dream of all the businessmen. The expansion of any business is dependant on many factors (say) mode of communication, effectiveness in communication and cultural awareness. With the introduction of the Internet, the mode of communication is not a big deal today. Businessmen can connect to people around the planet with ease through the Internet. While the mode of communication is very easy, the effectiveness in communication entirely depends upon the persons Intercultural communication skills. Intercultural communication is the basic necessity of the growth of any small business. You will be well aware of the fact that International business is highly competitive and so is the Intercultural communication. Switching your small business to the highly competitive International business greatly depends on the effectiveness of Intercultural communication. Most of the small businesses available out there will not be able to communicate with the Global clients and the suppliers as they are not used to it. This is where the cross cultural training comes into play.

Cross Cultural Training and Translation Services go hand in hand

As already said, cross cultural training is indispensable for expanding a small business into an International one. The cross cultural training will enable you to understand and respond the worldwide client’s needs. Not only the clients, as you will be switching you small local business to an International one, you will have to correspond and transfer messages to the employees. This is where the translation services come in handy. The translation services will help you to transfer the messages and project ideas to the worldwide employees in their own understandable language. Thus the use of translation services will increase the work efficiency of your employees. Hence when expanding your business to an International model, it is necessary to go with a professional translation service provider along with getting quality cross cultural training.

Cross Cultural Training to gain Cultural Awareness

To survive in the Global market you should be able to grab the attention of people of different cultures. For this, you will have to understand and learn the different cultures of your business targeted Countries. Trying to learn the cultures of the host Country will itself increase the brand awareness of your business among people. Moreover, with the cultural awareness, you will be able to present the ideas and thoughts of your business to the host very effectively.

With many small businesses seeking expansion, the need of Cross Cultural training is in huge demand today. With the increase in demand, many cross cultural training providers have spawned today. It has to be remembered that, Cross Cultural Training will be interesting and effective only if you get trained with the best. Hence it is important to choose the best Cross Cultural Training provider, or else it will be a waste of time and money. Moreover, you will be ruining your business with improper cross cultural training. The important fact that has to be noted is that cultural skills are very easy to develop if trained with the best.

To motivate the use of publicly available quality data for the betterment of hospital care, the Blue Cross and Blue Shied Association Health Insurance has recently announced the national Network Hospital Measurement pilot plan, which would offer quarterly performance reports to hospitals and employers. Blue Cross Health Insurance represents this is a significant step towards helping consumers to receive more consistent and effective care.

The report is based on openly available clinical measures from the Centers for Health Insurance and Medicaid Services and the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organization. The reports offer health insurance quotes framework fro continued collaboration with the Blue Cross Health Insurance Plans’ network hospitals to assist additional country wide benchmarks for high-quality care.

“Our mission is to progress the constancy of these proven, proof-based treatments at hospitals across the nation,” said Scott P. Serota, the Blue Cross Health Insurance’s president and CEO. “Making this knowledge work to advantage providers, employers and consumers is the founding principle of the Blues’ vision for better health insurance quotes.”

National studies on health insurance quality have proved that our health insurance system lacks consistency in how scientifically proved care is offered across the country. Blue Cross Health Insurance Quotes is very important and Blue Cross Health Insurance national performance pilot adopts 18 established proof-based measurements. Some measure are very simple, such as making sure that heart attack patient gets aspirin on time at the Blue Cross Health Insurance hospital, or that a pneumonia patient gets advice on quitting smoking.

Eighteen Blue Cross Health Insurance and Blue Shield Companies, representing more than 80 percent of group 94 million Blue Cross Health Insurance subscribers, are very happy about the Blue cross health insurance quotes which are estimated. Collectively, Blue Cross Health Insurance and Blue Shield companies deal with more than 90 percent of all physicians in the country and 80 percent of all hospitals.

Cross cultural researchers have studied different behavioral values in different cultures. Geert Hofstede researched this a few decades ago and came out with a basic outline for people interested in multicultural marketing.

And these different behavioral values are outlined extensively in the book The Culturally Customized Web Site, which discusses cross cultural online marketing.

What Are The Different Cultural Behaviors You Can Market To?

Basically, The Culturally Customized Web Site outlines that different cultures have different ways of behaving along 5 different scales.

High Individualism versus High Collectivism Behavior
High versus Low Uncertainty Avoidance Behavior
High versus Low Power Distance Behavior
High Masculinity versus High Femininity Behavior
High versus Low Context Behavior

These different behavior scales can be used by international internet marketers. Marketing aimed towards these particular behavioral needs gives internet marketers tools to play with. Marketing can be tweaked for one culture to get better responses from different countries and cultures.

This is especially helpful, if you are marketing to another country at the opposite end of one or more of these scales to your country. Simply imagine the change between a High Individualism culture and High Collectivism culture.

How Cross Cultural Study Can Help You?

Studying these 5 different behavioral values in your different cultural markets can give you valuable international marketing insights and can be useful in identifying:

The best overall communication strategy to invest in.
How best to stimulate market feedback.
How best to create loyalty.
The most appropriate social media to use in each country.
The best way to build your authority status in a country.
The sales argument most likely to work.
The types of guarantees you need to highlight.

The Culturally Customized Web Site is careful to mention that you need to emphasize the key elements that speak more to the culture you are targeting. But this does not mean you should leave out the other elements that pull more weight in other cultures.

Internet marketing has no set rules. It is all about testing your particular market. It should not be surprising that international internet marketing is the same.

Which Cross Cultural Marketing Is Essential To Be Done In Your Target Country?

Good cross cultural online marketing must also take into account two other things:

Cultural Perception of environment, language and color
Cultural Symbolism with regards to country specific symbols, icons and color

This is something you cannot use internet marketing tactics to help you test.
The differences in cultural perception and cultural symbolism requires specific a cultural background. It is best to give this task to a professional currently living in your target country.

If you do not have the means to do this, pay particular attention to your international market feedback. Get on the phone and ask people in your target country what they think about your website.

Cultural Behavioral Research Helps Online Marketing

The research done in cultural behavioral values has helped traditional international marketing. Internet marketers can also use this research to help develop their international markets.

Easy testing and tracking gives internet marketing more scope to refine different cultural approaches and improve international results.

Are you committed to speeding up your international sales cycles?

Learn how to combine cross-cultural marketing tools and international sales strategies for faster sales.

Join us on the International Sales Road Map

Would you like to develop your international business?
Are you a beginner at international sales and marketing?
Read the Beginners Guide Discover Your International Business

Do you have an international sales negotiation coming up? Are you nervous about how it will go?

Most people don’t give much thought to the actual cross cultural communication process prior to their first real cross cultural negotiation. They get obsessed with secondary details.

Cross Cultural Negotiation Skills

Imagine you are in a long line of people waiting for a taxi at the busy Paris airport. With people swarming everywhere. The noise of the street traffic competing with the noise from the airplanes in the background.

And then you hear such a large commotion, right up at the front of your taxi line. You think it is yet another bomb scare and crane your neck to get a closer look with your bags in your hands ready to move. But out of the confusion you hear laughter.

What happened?

It was only someone who began to try bargaining the price of his ride before he got inside the taxi…with a Parisian taxi driver. The tension breaks as a ripple of laughter mixed with annoyance runs down the taxi line.

It is an old story. But it does highlight cultural differences in negotiation very well.

Different Cultures Have Different Negotiation Practices

Negotiation practices differ from country to country. Some cultures expect clients to negotiate over things that would be totally unacceptable in other countries. Some cultures get upset or angry by things that are totally acceptable in other cultures.

Different cultures simply have different approaches when it comes to negotiation.
This can be intimidating when you travel to a new country to negotiate for business.
And even more so if it is your first time.

It is important to know what is culturally expected of you when it comes to negotiation.

If you are just starting out in developing your international markets, it is wise to do some homework and identify the standard expected negotiating habits in the country you are travelling to.

No matter how much research you do prior to your first cross cultural negotiation communication road blocks can easily come up. This is even more likely if your negotiation is taking place in a foreign environment to what you are used to.

So it is even more important to develop skills to ride through communication hurdles.

A Beginners Guideline

Prior to your first cross cultural negotiation give some thought on how you will keep on track.

Here is a guideline to help beginners.

If you find yourself on your own in a country where negotiation practices are different to your own, there is a strategy to follow.

Prior To Your Negotiations

Do your research on what will be expected of you. Define your schedule, and what you are expected to wear and bring. If you are a woman, be sure to verify standard practices beforehand.

Are there any standard culturally specific negotiating practices? Remember to ask for advice prior to cross-cultural negotiations.

If you feel you will be in a different environment than you are used to you have two options to consider:

Hire local representation. Some large multi-national companies hire local company representatives to facilitate all business procedures in certain countries in the Middle East and the Far East.

Arrange for a local third party to accompany you. Look for someone who can tell you if you are making any cultural blunders. This will give you a certain peace of mind.

Prior research helps, but even so, it is not always easy. You will also need to keep your own behavior and attitudes turned towards your negotiation.

This is where the following 8 points are important.

Best Practices During Your First Cross Cultural Negotiation

Ask and find out what is expected of you.

Explain that you are looking forward to the business opportunities open to both of you.

Explain that this is your first trip and you have not done business in their country before.

State your good will and that you do not mean to do anything awkward.

Ask to be told or shown what to do.

Apologize if you do or say something that seems to be out of place.

Continue to show your desire to proceed in the negotiations.

Continue to say that your look forward to doing business with them and learning more about their culture.

Keep this guideline in mind during your negotiations.

Remain constantly aware of your environment so you can implement any of these points if needed.

Use each point appropriately when needed.

Do not go overboard. Overly stating your enthusiasm or apologizing incessantly can be destructive to your negotiations in some cultures.

Use this guideline as a gentle reminder to stay tuned to where the other party is at. If you feel in any way that you need to refer to one of the points above, do so, and continue your negotiation.

Cross cultural communication is a process where you adjust your communication a little and learn to meet another culture in the area where you both feel comfortable. It is about knowing when to ask discretely for feedback to make sure you are all on the same path.

Your first cross cultural negotiation will simply be a first step in the process of adjusting to another culture. Your cross cultural communication skills improve with practice.

Follow these guidelines for your first cross cultural negotiation and you will not make people laugh.

A new job or simply a job transfer? Need a change of scenery? Whatever reasons you have for moving to the country lanes and byways of the Aussie outback, or just simply away from the city, what always stands out is that you will be escaping the cat and mouse/dog-eat-dog lifestyle of the city for a quiet life in the country.

Just make sure you start your new, relaxed lifestyle off on the right foot with a stress-free moving experience by hiring removalists Australia recommended by Compare Quotes. They provide a free quote from three furniture removalists that have been selected for your specific furniture removal needs.

But, wait, are you really sure the country lifestyle is for you?

Before you commit to leaving the city, spend some time in your new country area and make sure you could actually live there. Talk to the local residents and research schools and amenities thoroughly. Even talk to local furniture removalists. Remember that some city luxuries like fast broadband, good mobile phone reception and cable TV might not be available in your new area.

Make sure that the property you are buying is the size that you really need. Property is so much cheaper in the country so chances are you can afford a much bigger house than in the city. But do not get carried away. Think carefully about how much space you actually need for you, your family and your possessions. There is no point in having a huge country home if it is half empty. Again, you can consult with removalists Australia on this.

You might not need all your possessions in the country so take time to know what to really take with you. You do not want to move more than you have to and give more headaches to the furniture movers. Go through your belongings and think about which ones actually have a place in your new lifestyle.

Make a smooth move by hiring the best furniture removal company. Getting specialized cross-country furniture movers to take care of your relocation will save you a lot of time and stress.

Good furniture movers will help you take care of utility reconnection, packing and unpacking, furniture freight, cleaning and secure storage.

And do not forget to keep your new neighbours happy. Do not annoy the neighbours before you have even moved in. Follow good furniture removal etiquette to make sure you make a positive first impression in your new community.

So get a free quote from Compare quotes on cross-country furniture removalists today. Just click on http://www.comparequotes.net.au/

    Corruption and Experiences of  Different Countries

    The experiences of a number of countries pertaining to corruption are reviewed in this sub-section. Cross-country survey covers nature, scope, type of corruption as well as the measures taken to curb corruption and outcome of such efforts. But it needs to be stated that not all aspects of corruption have been covered in the countries concerned due mostly to the non-availability of information.

     In the Philippines the network of corruption in the public sector is rather extensive and covers petty fixers, workers at lower levels of the organizational hierarchy to mid-level officials taking undue advantage of their positions, and extending to the elite whose profit from corruption transactions with government runs into millions of pesos but whose powerful positions render them almost untouchable by the law enforcement agencies (Alfiler, 1979). Six types of corruption in the public sector of the Philippines have been identified (Carino and Guzman, 1979). These are: tong, lagay or arreglo, retainer, favor, individualized and systematic corruption. Anti-graft and investigatory agencies appointed by a number of Philipino Presidents failed to effectively check corruption due to organizational instability, frequent changes in leadership, political pressure in employee recruitment, public apathy and strained relations with other branches and agencies of the government (Alfiler, 1979).

     In Uganda corruption is the outcome of self-aggrandizement, of unrealistically low remuneration for public servants and a closed political system (Ouma, 1991). Corruption has resulted in the loss of badly needed revenue and skilled manpower, distorted priorities of public policy and shifted scarce resources away from the public interest (Ouma, 1991). Naturally, distrust among different segment of the society has increased and despondency of the people-at-large has been excerbated.

     In Ghana the way corruption has been institutionalized in the government is fascinating. In one ministry bribe money is divided in the following manner: 50% to the minister, 20% to the junior ministers, 10% to go-between, 10% to the secretary of the political party in power and the rest to an open cash fund kept by the minister for expenses like paying informers within the ministry, providing gifts to individual visitors and maintaining attractive women around the office (Vine, 1975). The causes for such widespread political corruption are: traditional contexts and effects of colonialism; the new men who inherited political leadership after independence; and bureaucratic transition from a colonial to an indigenous administrative system. Political corruption took its toll in the form of waste of resources, instability and reduction in the capacity of government (Vine, 1975).

     It is now commonly agreed that corruption has vitiated India’s public life like a cancer spreading over a human body. All sectors, be they administrative or political or economic, have come under the ever-increasing onslaught of corruption. There are many reasons as to why this has happened. Political actors of all shades including ministers, legislators, office-bearers of political parties, and other political office-holders are involved in corruption (Padhay, 1986). Members of the public bureaucracy are no less corrupt. Measures taken to combat corruption like setting up of inquiry commissions have failed. These commissions’ findings have not been taken seriously by successive governments and consequently their recommendations have gathered dust. At the same time, some of the commissions were created with a mala-fide and political intent. Corruption control is possible only with the adoption and implementation of four national agenda. They are: reforming the political process, restructuring and reorienting the government machinery, empowering the citizens and creating sustained public pressure for change (Guhan and Paul, 1997). Under each a number of appropriate and timely recommendations are made to cleanse the widespread corruption that exists in India at all levels touching almost each and every governmental institutions and their functionaries.

     Singapore and Hong Kong are two countries whose success in effectively tackling corruption in the public service is well-known.

     When the People’s Action Party (PAP) came to power in June 1959 it found a colonial corrupt bureaucracy in place. The PAP, which is still in power, realized something had to be done to minimize corruption in the Singapore Civil Service (SCS). Over a period of time the PAP government introduced a number of measures to curb corruption.

     The then existing Prevention of Corruption Ordinance was amended and replaced with the Prevention of Corruption Act (POCA) to curb opportunities for corruption and to increase the penalty for corrupt behaviour (Quah, 1995:148). At the same time additional powers were given to the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau by POCA. It is obvious that Singapore’s anti-corruption strategy has been effective because it is designed to remove two major causes of corruption – the incentives and opportunities (Quah, 1989).

     Corruption in Hong Kong public service had been well-entrenched. Public officials were known to make money utilizing their positions. But the situation changed drastically with the arrival of a new Governor, Sir Murray MacLehose, in 1973. He estabilished an Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC). The ICAC under the leadership of a distinguished former public official was given a wide array of powers. The ICAC had the power to arrest people on suspicion, search and seize without a warrant, require information, freeze assets and property and prevent people from leaving the colony (Caiden, 1991b:249). The Commission was assisted in its operations by five advisory committees on Corruption, Operations Review, Prevention, Community Relations and Complaints, drawn from cross-section of the population and reported directly to the Governor (Caiden, 1991b:249). The ICAC was organized into three areas: (a) an operations department to investigate, arrest and help prosecute suspects; (b) a corruption prevention department to restructure government organizations to reduce opportunities for corruption; and (c) a community relations department to change people’s attitudes toward corruption (Caiden, 1991b:249).