Small government contractors are in an unenviable position when
it comes to developing effective ethics and compliance
programs.
On the one hand, profit margins are low, competition is fierce,
and financial and personnel resources are scarce —
particularly for tasks that do not contribute immediately to the
bottom line.
On the other hand, government agencies and mature prime
contractors expect emerging contractors to reflect the same
"culture of ethics and compliance" that large companies
commit substantial resources to implementing, and that the
government commits substantial resources to policing.
The fear of compliance missteps and attendant risks such as
reputational harm, contract termination, suspension/debarment,
civil lawsuits and criminal prosecution, keeps many conscientious
executives up at night. They realize that potential disaster
looms if they do not commit appropriate resources to building out
an effective ethics and compliance program, but
