Review “Just pucker and blow: An analysis of corporate whistleblowers” in Chapter 2. Please respond to the following:
The various forms of retribution that whistle-blowers endure at the hands of employers both financially and psychologically for attempting to correct mismanagement, fraud, and dishonesty are often too much for the whistle-blower to bear. Careers are in jeopardy because individuals with strong ethics decide to pursue law suits against their employers. One example is where the US Forest Service employees found their careers ruined by either demotions or loss of jobs when caught speaking out in favor of the environment or sound science, or when
You’re right Timothy. But sometimes it takes more courage for the employees to speak up about unethical conduct of their superiors. Probably because they’re afraid of being retaliated like getting fired from work or demoted. Nevertheless there are laws like Sarbanes-Oxley of 2002 and Dodd-Frank (Section 922) that would protect whistleblowers from the retaliation of their employers and even reward if the whistleblowers can provide the original information to the SEC .
Hayley, I absolutely agree with you. Each individual must make his or her own decision as to whether the disturbing unethical offense is worth the personal cost (Reece 2014, pg 111). When I was personal faced with trying to decide to whistle blow or keep quiet and do nothing at all; I had to tell. I tried to just keep my head down and be silent but, the silence was literally making me sick. I couldn’t eat, I couldn’t sleep, and what I knew was constantly on my mind, I felt like I couldn’t function properly. The reason I was unable to function was because not being honest was not in my charter. I made the decision to be the whistleblower, and yes I did receive some back lash but for me that was better than the silence. Every individual is different,
Several theories indicate why the whistle-blowing process has become more prevalent and characteristics or processes encourage individuals to come forward a report instances of wrongdoing or making organizational behaviors public knowledge (Lennane, 2012). The process of whistle-blowing often involves an individual being conflicted between loyalty to their organization or their belief that they have a responsibility to protect public interest above the practices of their organization (Soma & Nirmala, 2011). Individuals may attempt to initiate
Whistleblowing is the act that employees commit when they cry foul on their own organization for misdoings, corruption and illegality. I shall argue that whistleblowing in the workplace is “sometimes permissible” in order to keep businesses and corporations in check. I shall do so by presenting the best argument for whistleblowing to be “sometimes permissible” and not “always permissible”.
First off, whistleblowers are by definition someone who informs on an organization involved in illicit behavior- illicit meaning forbidden by law. In Gale’s Opposing
If you are an organization, who is looking forward to define the whistle blowing policy for your company but are not sure what to do, following recommendations are just for you.
The best solution to this problem may lie between yes and no. One does have a certain moral standard to uphold. This would include blowing the whistle on a company that is hurting others because of unsafe products. This would also include the moral responsibility to provide and care for yourself and a family. A person does have a moral responsibility to both of these. One way to accomplish both would be to inform the public about the company's wrong doings, but do it anonymously so no one would know who did it. By staying anonymous, you can keep your job and still
If something happens in the organization, for example, a worker is thought to be engaged in illegal activities, then a whistleblower reports on this to the legal institution. As a rule, a whistleblower is an employee, so to encourage him/her to disclose the information and to assure that one is making a right step the Whistleblower Protection Act was adopted (Ethics and corporate social responsibility, 2009).
The whistleblower him or herself must be carefully scrutinized. What are the personal and the professional reputations of the whistleblower? What is the motive driving the whistleblower? Is it to benefit the client or the organization, or is it a need for attention or revenge? Is the whistleblower's cause seen as legitimate and significant by trustworthy colleagues and friends? Is the whistleblower aware of the potential consequences of blowing the whistle and still willing to accept responsibility for actions taken?
Assessing the Organization’s Internal Whistleblowing System is the last step to build a whistleblower system. Find out employees’ opinions about the organization’s culture and specifically seek employee views on the organization’s commitment to ethics and values. Four Questions should be taken into considered when assess the internal whistleblowing system: a) Does the organization have a code of conduct? b) Are employees aware of it? c) Does the company train on what is an ethical breach? d) Have there been recent breaches and how were they addressed?
Integrity has always been the most important quality to me throughout my life. I believe that if people are able to trust my judgment and trust my decisions, I will go a lot farther in every aspect of my life. For example, if my coworkers are able to trust my work actions I will be given more independence at work and more freedom to make decisions which will ultimately lead to a higher potential for promotion. Think about it, would you ever consider promoting a worker who you knew lied, cheated, or performed illegal acts such as fraud? I know I wouldn’t. This brings me to my next point; what would I do if I knew one of my clients was performing an illegal fraudulent act? Would I have the courage and be willing to risk my job in order to bring the truth to the foreground? Would I blow the whistle? I would like to think that I would answer a definite yes to that question but the truth is when one is in the position to either blow the whistle or not blow the whistle there are many outside forces that play into the decision. It is necessary to be reminded that in order to preserve integrity, blowing the whistle is a necessary act when deemed appropriate. In this essay I will explain what types of situations require the whistle to be blown and how to determine those situations, as well as any trends found through research between whistleblowers such as age, gender, loyalty to job, etc.
In most cases whistleblowers are internal whistleblowers, which report on misconduct that happen within the company done by fellow employee or superior. Interesting questions with respect to internal whistleblowers is, under what circumstances a person will act on to spot and to stop illegal, unacceptable behavior and report it. If there are complaint systems within the organization that offer not just option to dedicated through plan and control organization but option for absolute confidentiality then people will find a reason to take action with respect to unacceptable behavior within an organization (Rowe and Hall,
Therefore whistle blowing has many advantages and disadvantages. There are many benefits if a member of an organization blows the whistle. Firstly it shows the employee who actually blows the whistle is a Good Samaritan and has good intentions. Also if telling superiors the truth about what is happening in the company he or she could be rewarded for coming forward. Another advantage is that it is the best thing to do, to warn others of malpractice and wrong actions from within their company. This is because then other employees would have knowledge about what type of organization they are working for and would have the chance of not being a part of it. Also if an employee does decide to blow the whistle he or she would be protected by the common law against retaliation. Even though in some cases whistle blowers tend to lose their job, in one case from the article ‘When the truth hurts’ a man named ‘Arantz’, lost his job after blowing the whistle, however his name was then cleared and was then reinstated into the police force was compensated $250,000 for wrongful dismissal.