THE COMPLIANCE TRACK WALK
A Formula 1 weekend traditionally starts with a track walk. Even if the course is the same as last year, weather and other environmental influences can change the conditions. Drivers, mechanics and engineers walk round the racetrack together to jointly analyse the requirements for training, qualification and the race.
The high speeds at which Formula 1 teams race requires all participants, from drivers to mechanics to the team principal, to make operational decisions quickly. The results of these decisions will lead a team to victory or defeat and will potentially affect the participants’ safety. The combination of pressurised decision-making processes with high costs and rewards makes the sport vulnerable to the effects explained by Donald Cressey’s ‘fraud triangle’. As a criminologist, Mr Cressey developed the triangle to explain criminal behaviour, but as a sociologist he did much more, creating a simple model to explain the risks of human behaviour. The combination of motivation (temptation), rationalisation and (perceived) opportunity defines the conditions which may foster non-compliant behaviour by single participants inside a group. Furthermore, the triangle helps to identify those areas to focus on to prevent wrongdoing and implement adequate countermeasures.
Over-motivated employees can easily overstep the red line separating legal from illegal. This includes people with strong personal values. What can be done to mitigate the legal and compliance risks companies face?
Apr-Jun 2021 Issue
Patrick Henz