Corporate corruption management: A proposal for an accountability framework

Abstract

This study develops an anti-corruption accountability framework covering relevant thematic aspects and indicators that stakeholders require to assess firms commitment to fighting corrupt practices. Relying on dialogic accountability premises, the study performs a research engagement exercise with Spanish stakeholders organized in two phases to gather and integrate their multiple views. First, semi-structured interviews were held with actors representing relevant constituencies to identify key thematic aspects to assess firms anti-corruption. Second, a focus group was organized with representatives of information users to define a set of suitable indicators to evaluate those aspects. The resulting anti-corruption accountability framework consists of 68 indicators that evaluate 27 key thematic aspects grouped into four overarching blocks. By helping make corporations accountable for managing corruption, the study offers insights to policy-makers and managers, particularly in the EU, where firms are mandated to report on anti-corruption. From a methodological perspective, the study shows the instrumentality of dialogic accountability to design spaces where firms and stakeholders can collaboratively interact and discuss the information the former should provide to allow the latter to assess corporate commitment on social and environmental topics, such as anti-corruption.