OUR GLOBAL MOVEMENT
May 4, 2021 - Anti-corruption measures by many of the world’s biggest companies are often little more than a box-ticking exercise with firms unsure how to measure whether they are effective in practice, according to new research from Transparency International UK.
Based on comprehensive analysis and a series of in-depth interviews with compliance professionals from major multinationals, Make it Count details how businesses pour huge sums into legally required anti-corruption and anti-bribery programmes and training but lack the guidance and resources to assess whether these approaches actually work.
But by measuring which actions have the most impact and adapting their approach accordingly, companies can help prevent corruption in their operations, build investor confidence and improve their bottom line in the long run.
Bribery and corruption remain a growing challenge for UK businesses according to a 2020 Global Economic Crime Survey. Twenty-five percent of respondents said they had experienced bribery in the past 24 months, and 38 percent of organisations had been asked to pay a bribe.
This report serves as a comprehensive guide for companies and anti-corruption practitioners to understand why analysing impact is important, presents solutions to challenges companies are likely to face, and suggests practical steps to begin measuring the effectiveness of their own anti-corruption approaches.
Duncan Hames, Director of Policy and Programmes at transparency International UK, said:
“Companies go to great lengths to determine what is working and what is not, but our research shows this is not the case when it comes to evaluating their own anti-corruption efforts. Responsible business leaders should question how they can be sure their approach to preventing corruption is working without meaningful measures of its effectiveness. This is not simply a matter of counting widgets, so businesses leading on integrity will need to drive improvements in how they measure the impact of these endeavours.”
Transparency International UK calls on:
Notes to editors:
Transparency International UK is the UK’s leading independent anti-corruption organisation and part of the global Transparency International movement.
‘Anti-corruption approach’ in this report refers to not only a company’s formal anti-bribery and anti-corruption programme but also its wider efforts on ethical conduct, such as incentive structures and organisational culture.
It is estimated that the annual costs of international corruption amount to a staggering $3.6 trillion.
