Corruption and Incompetence DO go hand in hand! And where there is one, you're likely to find the other. Damn it would make an awesome area of study for a sociologist!
In my career in both big companies and startups, I feel like I've been exposed to so many mysteriously incompetent departments and executives, only to find later that there was an explanation that I consider corruption.
Of course, thats not to say it's illegal. It's usually perfectly legal behavior that optimizes for personal gain rather than the outcome you'd expect from the person or department's title.
And that brings us to a point that has been bothering me for a while- When we look at those global 'corruption index' infographics and stuff, they must be measuring the _Illegal Corruption_ in a country, right? Like when a bureaucrat demands a bribe.
How could anything measure Legal Corruption? Like when an executive hires friends who are less competent than whatever the 'regular' hiring process would produce? Or when lobbyists get legislators to pass regulations that materially favor their business, stuff like that.