Compliance programs and ethics management in oil refineries: is there an effect on the compliance knowledge and intentions of employees?

The study aims to identify the influence of ethics management (formal and informal) on the compliance knowledge and intentions of employees at oil refineries with compliance programs. The hypotheses were tested through structural equation modeling and fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis using a sample of employees from Brazilian refineries with compliance programs. On one hand, the findings reveal that the combination of formal and informal ethics management supports compliance knowledge, leading to stronger compliance intentions. Singularly, the formal (informal) management of ethics is more efficacious in promoting compliance knowledge (intentions). On the other hand, there are two pathways that lead to employees showing a high intention of compliance: the presence of a combination of formal and informal ethics management or the presence of compliance knowledge.