MANAGEMENT  OF CRIME: COMPETITION AND CRIME PREVENTION

Competition and cooperation 

Competition  and cooperation are both essential in society.During evolution there was very little cooperation in primate groups. However with the instinct of empathy and justice developing exchange of favours based on reciprocity developed. No animal society can cooperate based on reciprocity. Cooperation is thus fundamental to existence of human culture and society.

  A society based on unrestrained giving is however self destructive. As per game theory mutant behaviour of self benefit soon arises and multiplies to destroy social cooperation. Competition thus means reciprocal give and take and avoiding one sided giving. However competition is today regarded as responsible for technological and economic progress in economy and society. A society without competition would regress into lethargy and stop innovation. 

  There are severe adverse effects of competition. Competition not only creates winners and losers but leads to misery and loss of self esteem. Moreover competition  is responsible for learned crimes. The competition for food for a starving man is what impels him to seek criminal groups and initiate learned crime. Competition between firms to avoid failure and bankruptcy impels management to go for unethical and fraudulent practices. Political competition  in elections results in favouring racial politics as well as utilizing money and muscle power to win elections

Economic competion

The economy is the primary field where competition is legitimised through the market economy. Firms compete on the basis of efficiency of production . The best firms get the largest profits while many losers go into bankruptcy. This has been called creative destruction where like a Darwinian society the worst are eliminated.

  However it is important for firms to realise that they are their best competitors. The firm must set benchmarks to increase efficiency over time keeping in view its own past achievements. This leads to continuous improvements without outside competition.It must collaborate with its suppliers and distributors based on long term trust based on reliability ,price and technology  support. It must give employment security to its workers rather than hire and fire. It must have capital reserves to face economic downturns and not depend on surviving by reducing the workforce. It must not depend on capital from banks or institutional investors who can arm twist the management. Even collaboration with competitors on technology development projects can be undertaken based on reciprocity.

 Neoliberalism  advocates spot price mechanisms to determine worker hiring or supplier choices ,Though short term gain do occur in long term it may be counterproductive. A contract worker has no interest in benefitting the firm by learning as he knows he is dispensable. Similarly for suppliers ,bankers short  term relations are ultimately economically harmfull. Even customers depend on Brand reputation of firm to repeat buying.

   Japan utilised long term firm relations to develop production miraculously till 1990 and become a developed country. The MITI of government officials in charge of economic development promoted the formation of networks ,each containing a bank,a trading company.many industrial firms and suppliers and distributors. They acted collaboratively and created technological progress in separated industrial sectors with no competition between them. There was technological progress without excess competion . There was creation but no destruction as the firms supported each other in a network. Japan has brought the same collaborative networks in its investment in East Asia leading to spectacular economic growth.

    However the collaboration in Japan itself has undergone changes. With its developed status government intervention in networks results in inefficiency. The government thus provides externalities instead in the form of R abd D and infrastructure. Individual firms also are  more free to form their own networks based on trust and efficiency  rather than those based on traditional groups. Regulatory organizations and ministries set a certain framework within which firms work. These regulations prevent fraud ,enumerate quality standards and also provide social support for disadvantaged sections in health,education and social security .

Political competition

In democracies policies are made  after election by the winning politicians For the public it is the nature of public decisions affecting them which is important rather than the competition of elections itself. According to theory of pluralism no elite groups can influence policies through donations,numbers or influence. While taking decisions the outcome depends on context. The political bureaucrat is the ultimate decision maker and each decision is influenced by actors based on the situation. Thus there no permanent elites deciding policy in a democracy.

    However while this is true for individual decisions it is different for a series of them over time.Groups with wealth,association leadership or professional knowledge increase decision in their favour through their presence itself. The politician keeps their wealth potential,proffesional and mass bases while making decisions. In many cases he does not bring the policies on the agenda itself as he is busy with his priorities towards dominant elite. Thus decisions show a bias towards elites as do no decisions over a period of time,

   It is here that competion albeit indirectly ,creates mechanisms for elite groups to affect policies. Decisions which affect the public versus private sponsoring of externalities like health,education.infrastructure.research.defence.justice system require involvement of the entire population rather than elites. It is here that a referendum carried  out on individual decisions is required. Today mobile phones and digital identity allow such referendums.This can prevent system bias in public policies.Direct decision making as well as indirect and no decision is not peculiar to public office but occurs in all organizations firms or nonprofits.A similar referendum on issues affecting workers ,suppliers can result in more collaboration.

   A sense of public service is required in politicians rather than self serving narcissism. Political parties should choose their candidates based on extensive primaries .Morever an attempt should be made to exclude self serving narcissist from political office. Selection of candidates should be based on public debates on their vision and programs rather than networking for self promotion.These debates should be seen by the entire population,who may in turn give a preference digitally as to the best candidate to be nominated for standing for elections from the party. As a neccesay measure election campaigns,which requires enormous amount of money and is the principal reason for political corruption should be completely banned.

Education and competition

Education starting from schools upto graduate level is beset  with excess competition  . While the aim of education is to enlighten the student with knowledge ,today it has become a competitive field for ranks and securing admission to elite institutions.

    When a child gets less marks in his class he has a loss of self esteem .While  the topper may benefit from extra motivation the majority gets demotivated. The aim of an examination in a class at any level should be to secure a

pass marks. If teaching is of high quality the pass level may be raised allowing students to persevere to cross it. This type of examination will motivate learning without causing demotivation through rankings,

    The other issue is selection for STEM courses,admissions to elite Colleges based on competitive exams and rankings. Here again examinations by individual education institutions and even faculties is better. Like job interviews and selection where individual firms have their own criteria to recruit pass outs ,a similar examination should beheld by each institution. The candidate has to make all efforts to cross a level of difficulty. Those who are deserving ,talented and worked hard enough get their college of choice without an all embracing ranking examination.

Geopolitics

 Relation between states and later nations have been the ultimate arena for competition and exploitation. Each state lies in a situation where there is no central authority to protect the weak against the strong. Even powerful nations make geopolitical strategies to weaken other strong states or form powerful coalitions. An arms race is the inevitable result,along with toppling of unfavourable government by economic pressure or military arm twisting.

  Collaboration between states based on mutual benefit is one way to eliminate competition. In this strong nations should come forward to establish infrastructure and technology firms in weaker developing nations. The collaboration should involve use of local workers, management ,materials and full transfer of technology. Today powerful nations compete to establish multinational firms only to extract raw materials or capture markets in weaker nations. Alternatively sovereign debt is used to secure strategic benefits from an indebted nation.Ultimately however the solution would be a world state with real enforcement capability. This will ensure a centralized  balancing of distribution of resources based on actual needs of a nation.

Ack: No contest ,the case against competition;The ideal of the university;Asia in Japan’s embrace;Collaborative advantage,winning through extended enterprises;Neopluralism;Power in the city;Alliance capitalism;The criminal elite,-understanding white collar crime,The theory of system justification ;Direct deliberative democracy