While corruption is defined as "the misuse of entrusted power for private benefit", it can also be described as representing non-compliance with the "arm's-length" principle under which no personal or family relationship should play any role in economic decision-making, be it by private economic agents or by government officials.

It is important for all who are interested in minimising corruption to realise that what any one public sector employee understands as "corrupt" may not be shared by his or her colleagues. This lack of commonality of understanding adds to the difficulty of combating corruption.

Therefore, the starting point for any serious work on containing corruption has to be the personal perspectives of those in positions of trust or authority - and this must begin by raising awareness of what constitutes the threshold of acceptable behaviour and the creation of a more informed understanding of the costs of corruption.