What is it about?
Despite being a highly regulated sector, and in some ways ahead of the game in terms of compliance, pharmaceuticals companies regularly fall foul of anti-bribery laws. This paper argues that this reflects two tensions. First, local norms - particularly in emerging markets - often conflict with the requirements of anti-bribery laws, e.g., companies operating in Asia are expected to provide extensive gifts and hospitality, but this often makes it difficult to control local representatives. Second, business models often rely on sales teams that are deeply embedded in local cultures and motivated by commission payments, creating barriers to their compliance. Within organisations then, there is a need to make compliance teams more cognisant of the pressures on sales teams, so as to develop more workable rules and systems.
Featured Image
Why is it important?
The enforcement of anti-bribery laws is getting tougher and spreading to more and more jurisdictions. While it is difficult to completely protect against bribery risk, companies that have thought through their risk profiles and changed their business models accordingly are likely to be treated more leniently by the authorities.
Perspectives
Conducting the interviews was very interesting because I met many frustrated compliance professionals who could not understand why they were failing to get their message across to others in the organisation. This publication might encourage organisations to think more deeply about the risks and undertake reforms that make it easier to bring everyone on board with new norms.
Dr Elizabeth David-Barrett
University of Sussex
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: A Bitter Pill? Institutional Corruption and the Challenge of Antibribery Compliance in the Pharmaceutical Sector, Journal of Management Inquiry, March 2017, SAGE Publications,
DOI: 10.1177/1056492617696885.
You can read the full text:
Resources
Contributors
The following have contributed to this page
