Reconceptualising Corporate Compliance: Responsibility, Freedom and the Law

This book offers a comprehensive examination of the issues surrounding corporate compliance.

Corporate compliance standards are often the subject of significant public debate. Recent media scrutiny of the tax strategies of complex multinationals revealed that, notwithstanding prior scandals such as Enron, Worldcom and Parmalat, corporations continue to adopt compliance practices that, whilst technically legal, fundamentally undermine the intention (or spirit) of the law. However, the question of corporate compliance is not simply a matter of fiscal policy but goes to the core of our understanding of corporate responsibility within society. As we enter the fourth industrial revolution, and as we continue to bear witness, these matters remain of fundamental and pressing importance.

Yet why is it that technical compliance is so widely rejected by society yet so widely adopted and defended by corporate actors? Why is it that regulatory responses to each corporate scandal seem unable to prevent future transgressions? Why is it that otherwise law-abiding citizens act contrary to their personal values when making compliance decisions within a corporation?

In this book, Dr. Donovan responds to these questions by providing a persuasive argument for the legitimate role of spirited compliance within a market economy. In doing so, she employs the lens of classical liberal ideology, challenging the widespread view that technical compliance is simply 'capitalism.' However, finding a normative foundation for spirited compliance only addresses one part of the problem. In an examination that has relevance beyond the compliance arena, the author also explores why and how corporate architecture contributes to the often atypical decisions that individuals make when acting within a corporate environment. The book draws upon behavioural psychology to answer this question and offers insights into how the often-elusive goal of corporate behavioural change can be achieved.