Title: Managerial tactics to tackle corruption: a literature review and a conceptual model of corrupt behaviour in business organisations

Authors: Anton Studenkov; Nuno Baptista; Fernando da Mata

Addresses: Superior School of Technology and Management, Polytechnic University of Leiria, Morro do Lena, Alto do Vieiro, 2411-901 Leiria, Portugal ' Superior School of Technology and Management, Polytechnic University of Leiria, Morro do Lena, Alto do Vieiro, 2411-901 Leiria, Portugal; Center for Research in Organizations, Markets and Industrial Management (COMEGI), Universidade Lusíada, Rua da Junqueira, 188-198, 1349-001 Lisboa, Portugal ' Estação Zootécnica Nacional, Instituto Nacional de Investigação Agrária e Veterinária (INIAV), Vale de Santarém 2005-424, Portugal; Center for Research in Agrifood Systems and Sustainability, Instituto Politécnico de Viana do Castelo, Viana do Castelo 4900-347, Portugal

Abstract: In management and economic studies, research mostly approaches the phenomenon of corruption from the perspectives of cultural traditions, social norms, and principal-agent interactions, or adopts an institutional perspective to research organisational dynamics. This paper takes a different perspective, focusing on the micro-level, more specifically the behaviour of corporate managers. The main purpose of the paper is to provide a conceptual model of how managers can deal with corruption in their organisations. To achieve this objective, we first conduct a literature review on the reasons that lead managers to tackle corruption, and which solutions are available to deal with this problem. Based on the results of the literature review, and drawing from behavioural ethics literature, we propose a stepwise model that explains the process of corruption at an individual level across four stages: moral awareness, moral judgement, moral motivation, and behaviour. The model also identifies managerial interventions that can be applied.

Keywords: corruption; literature review; conceptual model; prevention; strategy; anti-corruption; business ethics; risk; international business; micro-level analysis.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBCRM.2026.155770

International Journal of Business Continuity and Risk Management, 2026 Vol.16 No.3, pp.319 - 339

Received: 01 Mar 2025
Accepted: 12 Apr 2026
Published online: 13 Aug 2026 *

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