Testing a Culture of Compliance Is Challenging but Worth the Effort

Incentives go a long way in guiding behavior within an organization, according to panelists at a conference on the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act

Regulators have pushed companies in recent years to foster a culture among their employees that encourages compliance with U.S. laws but measuring whether a company has achieved that goal can be tricky.

Companies looking to measure their compliance culture typically resort to a range of methods, from strategic interviews with supervisors who oversee risky parts of the business to employee perception surveys and focus groups run by outside consultants. But no matter how difficult it can be to quantify an organization’s culture, regulators say they expect businesses to make the attempt.