Planet under Pressure

FROM WHISTLEBLOWING TO
COMPLIANCE SOLUTIONS
The field of compliance has undergone major developments over the last 20 years. Although
in the beginning the importance of business ethics was not recognized, or even rejected, and
compliance was only seen as a set of regulations, the understanding of a value-oriented
corporate culture gradually grew. This was accompanied by the development of compliance
software to support people who want to report misconduct without fear of retaliation, and thus
to help build better ethics in businesses.
By Kai Leisering, Business Keeper
Twenty years ago, when it all started
under the supervision of the UN, states
and businesses shared a vision of making
the world a better place. They agreed on
goals that would enable – and promote
– progress in people’s social and ecological
conditions, and therefore would
improve the quality of life for everyone.
An integral part of the defined measures
has been fighting corruption – an evil
that challenges equal chances for all
people regarding wealth, employment,
and a healthy environment. Those who
developed the early initiatives realized
that defining common rules for ethical
behavior and business ethics can be a
strong foundation on which to build.
Over time, this has led to global policies
and legislation that have incorporated
basic principles to fight corrupt practices.
But what are these rules, which are just
written down on paper, able to change?
Missing awareness for corrupt
actions
Kenan Tur was an early pioneer. Being
involved in the discussions about how
to support global initiatives on fighting
corruption, he became aware that these
rules needed to include the possibility
for people to speak up without having
to fear retaliation and negative consequences,
especially when pointing out
misconduct. Motivated by his belief that
even a single person can make a difference,
he decided to develop the world’s
first web-based whistleblowing software,
and thus gave birth to Business Keeper.
Business Keeper was founded with the
goal of protecting the identities of people
who have information about possibly
corrupt actions within their organizations
and want to report them without
being publicly labeled as an informer.
At the beginning, Tur’s idea was rejected,
and he experienced resistance from
nearly all the big players. This included
the suggestion that no malpractice was
occurring, and there was denial that a
corruption problem even existed. But
conviction and passion kept him going.
Perhaps as a result of the numerous corruption
scandals that have become public,
an important positive development has
been the common understanding of some
of the leading companies worldwide,
namely that committing to the fight
against corruption requires organizational
measures. These measures include,
for example, appointing people at the top
of the organization’s hierarchy to assume
responsibility, to define guidelines and,
in the end, to implement a Compliance
Management System. This led to whistleblowing
systems becoming standard and
an accepted best practice instrument in
the fight against corruption. Decades
later, in 2020, this is considered normal,
and some might have even forgotten that
this was not always so.
Business ethics require new
compliance tools
Over time, compliance has grown into
something bigger. Whereas compliance
focused only on fighting corruption in
the early days, it has now become the
central governance function in organizations
and includes many other areas,
ranging from competition law to data
privacy, and from IT security to employees’
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Global Goals Yearbook 2020