Strengthening Internal Reporting Systems: A Qualitative Study into the Role of Dutch Confidential Advisors

Organizations—public as well as private ones—continue to struggle with the correction and prevention of integrity violations. In this regard, specific attention in the Netherlands has been given to the confidential advisor (CA), who supports reporters, informs employees on integrity policies, and signals to management about integrity risks and trends in internal reporting. To further strengthen the internal reporting systems of organizations, a legislative proposal has been submitted in the Dutch Parliament with the aim of requiring all organizations with a minimum of 50 employees to appoint at least one CA. In light of the new law, the goal of this study is to examine how CAs perform their functions in practice, and to what extent they can contribute to the strengthening of internal reporting systems. The study finds that CAs lay most emphasis on supporting reporters by advising them on integrity issues, yet often at the expense of informing of employees and signaling to management. These findings have important academic and practical implications. For scholars, it gives new insight into an important element of internal reporting systems. For CAs, it shows that they should perform their three functions in an integrated manner to be the most effective.