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Sylvie Bleker is a professor of Compliance & Integrity Management at the Faculty of Economics at VU Amsterdam. The subject is currently the focus of much attention, but things were quite different in the early 1990s, Bleker explains. When she wanted to pursue her Ph.D. on the topic in the early 1990s, she couldn’t find a supervisor; people didn’t consider the subject interesting enough. She eventually earned her Ph.D. in 1995, one month before Shell came under fire due to the Ogoni people’s uprising in the Niger Delta against the environmental pollution caused by oil extraction in that region. Ogoni leader Ken Saro-Wiwa was subsequently executed by the Nigerian authorities. According to Bleker, that was when compliance and integrity issues really began to gain traction in the Netherlands. Bleker has assisted many companies in designing and implementing compliance programs. In her view, writing thick manuals full of rules serves only a limited purpose—they end up gathering dust in a drawer; you have to keep the process alive. Mistakes, in particular, can help with this; she believes there is much to be learned from them.

Following the Rules
According to Bleker, the focus is on the active human being. She says she began to view people differently after discovering the works of Charles Darwin, particularly his book *The Descent of Man*. It turned out to be an eye-opener for her. Among other things, Darwin explains how people operate in groups and why they do or do not follow rules. And according to Bleker, following rules is essential; without it, things descend into chaos.
Bleker: “You saw that, for example, with the onset of the financial crisis in 2007. People keep making the same mistakes and just can’t seem to shake off the trappings, even though humans are at their most beautiful in their purest form. By appealing to our humanity, people are more inclined to accept and follow the rules. Manuals with codes of conduct are insufficient.”

Collaboration with Voxius
Bleker has recently established a collaboration with Voxius. For example, they jointly organized a workshop for Bleker students and alumni; the topic was compliance in sports, with presentations by, among others, *Volkskrant* journalist Willem Feenstra (on match-fixing) and attorney Michiel van Dijk of CMS (on doping). In addition, the partnership focuses on connecting the two organizations’ respective networks. Voxius also regularly holds discussions with individuals from the compliance field referred by Bleker who wish to speak about their careers, and helps Bleker fill job openings through its network.

Bleker enjoys working with Voxius. Bleker: “It’s all about trust; I need to feel that people who are dealing with something as important as their careers are in good hands. After all, they’re talking about a major step in their lives. Voxius offers the expertise and reliability needed for that. That’s why I’m happy to refer people to them.”