Whistleblower Ethical Dilemmas

Violations of Company X rules of acceptable behavior will be viewed as misconduct, which upon review can constitute immediate suspension. Pending further review and investigation some

According to Webster’s Dictionary, ethics is defined “as the discipline dealing with what is good and bad and with moral duty and obligation” (Merriam-Webster Online). This concept is prevalent in the world of police work since police officers are supposed to be the “good” in whatever is considered a “bad” situation. Many police departments offer training in ethics during the time in which a cadet is in the police academy and after officers are put on the streets, which is called in-service training. It is the hope that while this training is available to officers, that they hold a basic code of ethics within themselves which

To resolve concerns / complaints as quickly and effectively as possible, through an informal response by a frontline member of staff. If this is not possible then through a more formal investigation and conciliation in an open and non-defensive way.

Special units in police forces are essential to the function of any organization, however some of these special units might evolve into feeling superior to the rest of the agency. The mentality of doing it their own way sets in and more likely than not this behavior is not cohesive with the policies and procedures in place by the agency. Unfortunately, this attitude develops from not being checked, and leads to the unit feeling as though they are untouchable. When not having checks and balances

Bouville (2008) describes whistleblowing as an act for an employee of revealing what he believes to be unethical or described as an illegal behaviour to a higher management (internal whistleblowing) or to an external authority or the public (external whistleblowing). Whistle-blowers are often seen as traitors to an organisation as they are considered to have violated the loyalty terms of that organisation while some are described as heroes that defend the values and ethics of humanity rather than loyalty to their company. In the medical community, it is the duty of a practitioner aware of patient care being threatened to make it known to those in charge and for those in charge to address the issues and act on it. The General Medical

Aksamits response led into an impromptu question of, what would you do to eliminate any chance of retaliation against the whistleblowing employee?

26). This finding is worrisome since even if new regulations are implemented and additional legal tools are approved to avoid this type of wrongdoings; what will be done with the ultimate decisive factor, which is the human professional behavior and conduct? Focusing on the former while underestimating the later would just pave the road for a future inconceivable outcome.

An argument can be made that whistle blowing should only be warranted when there is a group or a majority that feels something should be brought to the attention of an outside authority if deemed so. As discussed in the study the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) determined that since his actions were not a concerted effort among him and his colleagues, the

Sanction members for improper conduct and performance. The profession is responsible for policing its own membership.

Malek encourages employees to use the company’s internal whistleblowing instruments when they encounter unethical behavior in the workplace (115). He also argues that some organizations may identify such revelations as crime, especially if it involves top management. Sometimes, it is challenging to convince people about the top management’s unethical conduct without getting vilified or punished. In such an event, the whistleblower may face a predicament of whether to report the transgression and risk jail

This will be of extraordinary help when the informer chooses to report the case and degree of provocation looked to the higher experts. Also, keeping up a record of delicate issues will help make a superior preventive strategy to screen discrimination and provocation at work.

resulted from whistle-blower's tip- offs should be a wakeup call to cios. It chiefs may well

In these cases, the ethical issues relate to lying, money cheating, deception, law breaking, exploitation of employees, and profiteering.

1. Employees are often the first to realise that there may be something seriously wrong within the Council. However, they may not express their concerns because they feel that speaking up would be disloyal to their colleagues or to the Council. They may also fear harassment or victimisation. In these circumstances it may be easier to ignore the concern rather than report what may just be a suspicion of malpractice.

Whistleblowing has traditionally been defined as the act of bringing an organizations illegal and immoral actions to light by a member of the organisations (Greenberg, 2011; Miceli, Near, Dworkin & Miceli, 2008). It is also a method of defending rights, safe-guarding interests and justice as well as righting wrongs (Berry, 2004). According to Bjørkelo et al. (2011), whistleblowing can further refer to an organizational social regulation apparatus in that it provides a means for employees to hold one another accountable for abiding by not only the organization’s moral and legal code but also society’s. Channels of whistleblowing can be both internal (within the organizations) or external (media platforms such as newspapers), usually if nothing is resolved at an internal level it is then taken to external channels (Miceli, Near, Dworkin & Miceli, 2008).