How governments can stimulate compliance effectiveness

1. Separating the wheat from the chaff

Good compliance is good for business. A culture of integrity, embedded in the corporate strategy and supported by a code of conduct as 'living document' is crucial to protect trust by customers, governments, and other key stakeholders of the organization. Many companies adapt their strategies to align with the UN Agenda 2030 for sustainable development.2 However, resulting ethics and compliance commitments will fade if they are not followed by measurable goals and actions. Professor Sandra J. Sucher (Harvard Business School) explains that trust can only endure if it is based on both 'cognitive trust' (expertise and reliability) and 'affective trust' (motives and actions).3 She calls upon meaningful transparency as a way to hold management accountable for its commitments towards stakeholders of the company. In this article, it is argued that governments should act as 'gatekeeper' for companies that tender for importa...

Verder in dit artikel:

1. Separating the wheat from the chaff

2. Lessons from the past

3. When is a compliance program good enough? 

4. Incentives for 'doing the right thing'

4.1. Business-to-business incentives

4.2. Government-to-business incentives

4.3.  Enforcement-to-business incentives

5. Conclusion