Advertising British Exporters on Doing Biz with Integrity
Doing Business with Integrity in High-Risk Markets
June 12, 2018
With our partners GovRisk, we were consultants on a new UK cross-government programme - the Business Integrity Initiative (BII), which DFID is helping to get under way. The BII, which was first conceived during the British Government’s Anti-Corruption Summit in 2016, aims to promote high standards of integrity and ethical behaviour when building a successful British business presence in emerging and frontier markets. Underlying the BII is the idea that UK companies that do business with integrity in overseas markets are better positioned to reduce risks and capitalise on commercial opportunities: companies that make integrity core to their business protect and strengthen brand reputation, enjoy greater and more sustainable commercial success over the long-term, and minimise the risk of prosecution.
In the months leading up to the launch of the BII, IBLF Global supported DFID by facilitating a number of discussions with British companies about how the British Government can support them in these markets. Many companies asked the Government to provide “signposting” on where to get information, especially for SMEs with less experience of working outside their traditional markets such as the EU and US. Phase 1 of the BII, run by IBLF Global and GovRisk, focused on delivering precisely this.
The platform chosen to support businesses is www.great.gov.uk, which was launched by the Department for International Trade in November 2016. Its “Export Journey” is designed to advise businesses of varying levels of experience on how to export, including the specific steps that they may need to take. In early 2018, we identified an opportunity to supplement this information with specific advice on risks encountered by exporters in high-risk markets. With the help of extensive desk research, interviews with British exporters, and inputs from an Expert Panel (chaired by IBLF Global’s Dr Jan Dauman, and comprising 25 leading experts in the field of compliance, anti-corruption and business integrity management), we developed new anti-corruption and human rights wording for www.great.gov.uk.
Aside from providing the new information now available to the British (and international) business communities, the project provided fascinating insights about how governments can communicate positively with SMEs on what is often perceived as a difficult and uncomfortable subject. We learnt much about the views and experience of British exporters and their understanding of how they can operate successfully within the UK Bribery Act. The project also contributed to fostering new forms of cross-government cooperation between DIT and DFID and other government departments.
