De strafzaak tegen de voormalig topman van Jumbo roept fundamentele vragen op over de grens tussen privé en professioneel handelen. Wat als niet alleen de individu, maar ook de organisatie zelf eerder serieus was bevraagd?

Major scandals show the damage that organizational misconduct can do to society. Compliance officers play a crucial role in mitigating organizational misconduct. There is extensive empirical research on how such misconduct can effectively be prevented. However, little is known about compliance officers’ experiential knowledge and how this aligns with these scientific findings. Based on semi-structured interviews with compliance officers, this paper analyzes their experiential knowledge and its alignment with empirical research on a conceptual level and, moreover, on a substantive level by zooming in on two concepts: first, role modeling and leadership, and second, sanctions. It shows that none of the interviewed compliance officers believed in a quick fix for compliance: all identified a combination of concepts at play in mitigating misconduct.