Consulting & Media

Interview for SRF: Large corruption scandal (Seco) tried in Switzerland

Expert interview on bribery and public sector corruption for Swiss public broadcasting (SRF):

Swiss national radio broadcast https://www.srf.ch/audio/rendez-vous/berufungsprozess-in-grossem-schweizer-korruptionsfall?partId=12495927
SRF online news: https://www.srf.ch/news/schweiz/groesster-korruptionsfall-seco-skandal-wird-erneut-verhandelt

Keywords: Bribery; Corruption; SECO case; Swiss national braodcast SRF; Anti-Corruption; Public Integrity

How people become corrupt: "High sums lower the moral inhibition threshold" (Wie Menschen korrupt werden: „Hohe Summen senken die moralische Hemmschwelle“)

Corruption expert Kristina S. Weißmüller on the psychology of bribery, dangerous gray areas and successful anti-corruption strategies. Interviewed by Barbara Nolte, 19 March 2023, Tagesspiegel, Germany.

https://www.tagesspiegel.de/gesellschaft/wie-menschen-korrupt-werden-hohe-summen-senken-die-moralische-hemmschwelle-9511496.html

Keywords: Bribery; Corruption; Moral Justification; Anti-Corruption; Public Integrity

What motivates integrity violations? Insights from Behavioral and Administrative Science

Kristina S. Weißmüller was invited to present her research insights as an expert at Transparency International Switzerland's Anti-Corruption Practitioners' Circle, 4 November 2022. Transparency International Switzerland, Bern, Switzerland.

Organizational corruption is one of the most pressing unresolved issues of leadership and management. This talk presents insights from research on the psychological and contextual mechanisms !hat allow individuals to rationalize integrity violations. The results of 344 studies worldwide show that four important clusters of factors effectively weaken organizations' cultural integrity: political influence, institutional characteristics, co-worker behavior, and employee motives and characteristics. As a remedy, this talk also highlights factors that help create and strengthen an organizational culture of integrity. lt discusses the effectiveness of distinct anti corruption strategies (grass-root vs. bottom-up) to inform the practice of integrity management, human resource policy, and leadership practice of integrity.

Keywords: Corruption; Whistleblowing; Anti-Corruption; Transparency International; Moral Justification; Integrity

Evaluation of the certification procedure of Code of Honour Switzerland and comparison with the ZEWO Label of Quality (Evaluation Zertifizierungsverfahren Ehrenkodex Schweiz und Vergleich mit dem ZEWO-Gütesiegel)

Ritz, A., Weißmüller, K.S., Kalbermatten, C. (2021). Evaluationsbericht zuhanden Stiftung Ehrenkodex. Kompetenzzentrum für Public Management, Universität Bern, Switzerland.

Keywords: Nonprofit Management; Evaluation; Certification Procedure; Quality Management; NGO Code of Honor