Major Barriers and Best Solutions to the Adoption of Ethics and Compliance Program in Chinese International Construction Companies: A Sustainable Development Perspective

Abstract

Unethical behavior is one of the grand challenges facing international construction companies (ICCs) to move toward sustainable development when operating on an international basis. The ethics and compliance program (ECP) has played a significant role in addressing illegal and unethical behavior and avoiding liability in multinational companies. However, there have been few studies on the current status, major barriers, and best solutions to ECP adoption in ICCs. To fill this gap, an international questionnaire was conducted; 87 valid samples of Chinese ICCs located in 44 countries were filtered out for in-depth analysis. The survey results showed that only 36.8% of responding ICCs exercised compliance functions through the compliance department. The top five recognized barriers hampering ECP adoption were “lack of related laws and regulations”, “insufficient support from the government”, “lack of authorization to the compliance department”, “shortage of compliance professionals”, and “lack of case studies”. There was no disagreement about the barriers’ rankings among organizations of different firm ownerships, sizes, and locations, except the variable “great institutional distance”. Results also revealed the top five best solutions to help ICCs overcome the identified barriers. The findings would enhance the understanding of industry practitioners and policymakers, hence helping them address corresponding solutions to boost ECP adoption and promote the sustainable development of ICCs.