Rebuilding public trust through the lens of corporate culture: an inevitable necessity to sustain business success in Australia

Purpose - This paper aims to promote corporate culture (CC) of compliance to ensure responsible business by motivating self-felt and self-imposed strategies by corporations in Australia. It argues that the way “legal compliance” is pursued in Australia may develop undesirable features within corporate internal affairs ranging from adverse reactions to resentment rationalising or concealing of misconduct. This study showcases that the integration of corporation and ethical values in the compliance governance is inevitable to sustain productive CC and public trust in businesses. Design/methodology/approach - This research is based on existing primary and secondary legal resources and different reports, including the Royal Commission’s Report 2019 and public submissions. It attempts to establish a claim that a self-felt and self-motivated approach to legal compliance contemplated by commitment and devotion to the company, and its consumers instead of external control can achieve consistent and positive outcomes that benefit both the company and its stakeholders. Findings - While the sanction-deterrence based legal directives provide a strong and sophisticated foundation for detecting and punishing inappropriate culture and have traditionally been effective in fostering compliance, the inclusion of ethical values in the regulatory approach and self-led corporate strategies are required to stimulate sustained compliance, accountability and public trust. Practical implications - There has been a dearth of intellectual inquiries (to the best of the author’s knowledge) about the role of CC and self-imposed corporate strategies in ensuring legal compliance. This paper will contribute to filling this gap in the legal literature and the wider academic deliberation on the standard and effectiveness of CC. Originality/value - This research is the author’s original work and has not been submitted elsewhere for publication.