... Since that time Whistleblowing, or the deliberate non-obligatory act of disclosure, which gets onto public record and is made by a person who has or had privileged access to data or information of an organization, about non-trivial illegality or other wrongdoing whether actual, suspected or anticipated which implicates and is under control of that organization, to an external entity having potential to rectify the wrongdoing.1 Both federal and state statutes and regulations have been created to protect these individuals from various forms of retaliation. Even without a statute, numerous decisions encourage and protect whistleblowing on grounds of public policy. While many of us can see the criminal and political ramifications of whistleblowing there is still one area that can often be seen as a more personal one…that of the ethical debate. As stated in Lars Lindblom’s article Dissolving the Moral Dilemma of Whistleblowing, “The ethical debate on whistleblowing concerns centrally the conflict between the right to political free speech and the duty of loyalty to the organization where one works.”2 The political philosophy of John Rawls that can be applied to this dilemma, show that the requirement of loyalty, in the sense that is needed to create the moral dilemma of whistleblowing, is inconsistent with that theory. In this sense, there is no moral dilemma of whistleblowing. This position has been labeled extreme in that it says that whistleblowing is always morally...
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...Are the Dodd Frank Act Whistleblowing Measures Effective? Whistleblowing in the Financial Markets: Name: Professor: Course: Date: In the wake of the Global-Financial Crisis there have been various strategies employed to improve corporate governance, but the main question to ask will they work? The expansion of whistleblower bounties under s.992 of the Dodd-Frank Act 2010 (Dodd-Frank Act) has been one such measure. This measure has been identified as significantly controversial, because it is superseding the traditional internal reporting processes (Schuman & Keating, 2011). The Dodd-Frank Amendment Act that was introduced in 2011 was an attempt to mitigate the potential harm that offering bounties to whistleblowers may have; albeit it seems to be side-lined through consultation processes. Thus, the following research will explore if the bounty provisions are a necessary and effective tool to increase supervision within financial institutions. The concept of “Whistleblower” needs to be identified before moving on in this discussion. The concept relates to a company insider reporting to an appropriate body when there are actions that are breaching the law or acting unethically (Kohn, 2011). Thus, whistleblowing and corporate governance are intrinsically linked. The indications are that the use of monetary incentives is not the most effective model to enforce whistleblowing as an effective deterrent, which can be supported by the poor statistical reception under the...
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...Whistleblowing LEG 500 Whistleblowing in a Publicly Traded Company Whistleblowing implies the imperative necessity to alert others (company) about immorality issues, including illegal activity, happening inside the organization. For the employee who decides to blow the whistle “usually brings to he/she undesirable consequences.” Some consequences are like threats, loss of employment, and social rejection. (Chiu,R. 2003) Whistleblower Traits Whistleblowers are characterized by strong ethic-moral values. They are perceived as an active person with enough courage to expose the wrongdoing occurring inside their company. They are “perceived as altruistically driven individuals who are steered by their attitudes.” The whistleblower is characterized by being an altruistically motivated person, perfectionist, professionally well educated, self-driven attitudes, conscious invariant behavior, and functional utilitarian. They are competent and professionals. Usually, the whistleblower act in good faith and they think they act for the best of the company. They have access to relevant information from the business that allows them to be aware of unlawful situations. Having this position in the business makes the easy to share information with the superiors or in another scenario to the authorities. A publicly traded company affected by whistleblowing is Rabanxy Inc. (NSE: Ranbaxy) Ranbaxy is an Indian Multinational pharmaceutical company that was producing generics drug...
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...WHISTLEBLOWING Whistle blowing adalah tindakan seorang pekerja yang memutuskan untuk melapor kepada media, kekuasaan internal atau eksternal tentang hal-hal ilegal dan tidak etis yang terjadi di lingkungan kerja. Hal ini merupakan isu yang penting dan dapat berdampak buruk, baik kepada individu tersebut maupun organisasi yang dilaporkan (Vinten, 1994). Menurut Vardi dan Wiener (1996), tindakan ini termasuk tindakan menyimpang karena menyalahi aturan inti pekerjaan dalam perusahaan yang harus dipatuhi oleh semua pekerja. Sedangkan menurut Moberg (1997) tindakan ini dikategorikan sebagai pengkhianatan terhadap perusahaan. Whistle Blowing dalam perusahaan (misalnya atasan) dapat disebut sebagai perilaku menyimpang tipe O jika termotivasi oleh identifikasi perasaan yang kuat terhadap nilai dan misi yang dimiliki perusahaan, dengan kepedulian terhadap kesuksesan perusahaan itu sendiri. Sedangkan tindakan whistle blowing yang bersifat ”pembalasan dendam” dikategorikan sebagai perilaku menyimpang tipe D karena ada usaha untuk menyebabkan suatu bahaya. Sementara itu, beberapa peneliti menganggap whistle blowing sebagai suatu bentuk tindakan kewarganegaraan yang baik (Dworkin & Nera, 1997), harus didorong dan bahkan dianugerahi penghargaan. Namun, whistle blowing biasanya dipandang sebagai perilaku menyimpang. Para atasan menganggapnya sebagai tindakan yang merusak yang kadang berupa langkah pembalasan dendam yang nyata (Near & Miceli, 1986). Para atasan berpendapat bahwa pada...
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...| | | | | | | Workplace Ethics: Whistleblowing What is whistleblowing? Whistle blowing is an attempt by a member or former member of an organisation to disclose wrongdoing in or by an organisation. There are 4 different kinds of whistleblowing: Governmental, internal, external as well as personal whistleblowing. Why is whistleblowing important? A 2004 study by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) reported that organizations without proper mechanisms for reporting fraud and unethical behaviour suffered fraud-related losses that were almost twice as high as those with such mechanisms. It also stated that about 40% of frauds are initially detected through whistleblowing, compared to 24% for internal audits, 21% by accident, 18% through internal controls, and 11% through internal audits. Thus, it is important to have a proper whistle blowing mechanism present in all organisations. Ethical Issue 1: Protection of whistle-blowers Protection of whistle-blowers is needed to encourage people to whistle-blow especially when: 1. Efforts to inform employers or government agencies have proven to be futile and he/she needs to go to the media. Example: HSBC Everett Stern case Stern was an Anti-Money Laundering officer at HSBC. In _____, he found many discrepancies and informed his supervisors and even the government agencies about it. However, there was no action taken. Stern then had to resort going to various media outlets to whistle...
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...Whistleblowing and Sarbanes-Oxley Whistleblowing is the disclosure by the employee of the company or organization of illegal practices that are taking place under the control of the employer. The information is disclosed to rival companies of organizations that are able to effect action against the company. Whistle blowing is determined most by the psychology of the individual and the intensity of the situation they are uncovering. Some employees are privy to the illegal practices of the companies, but they are not motivated to disclose because of lack of interest. It is situational rather than being personal because if an individual found that the actions were very wrong and very sure that they happened they would disclose. There have been laws enactments that will ensure that the employees are protected from whistleblowing and that every public company should have a whistle blowing by employee process in place; McGill whistle blown on NEON and NSF conspiracy, to evade the prohibition against payment of certain costs to Government grantees such as, foreign travels. The audit which was later overruled. McGill gave information on non-procedural overruling on the audit which violates the government’s standards of auditing. It was very proper for McGill to have whistle blown on illegalities in these organizations. The public is losing millions of shillings through such illegal practices and whistleblowers are there to save the government of further losses. He also exposed the...
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...Whistleblowing and Sarbanes-Oxley Lulu Rodriguez-King LEG 500 – Law, Ethics, and Corporate Governance Strayer University Prof. Karina Arzumanova January 25, 2015 Whistleblowing and Sarbanes-Oxley A whistleblower is a person who exposes misconduct, alleged dishonest or illegal activity occurring in an organization. Whistle blowing empowers workers to speak up for principles and ethics and shine a light on unethical practices that can cause negative consequences for consumers, citizens and colleagues. Internal whistle blowing can be very valuable for an organization; reports of misconduct, given early and taken seriously, can avert disaster. Alternately, public whistle blowing has toppled and shamed many organization. Research finds that employees who are female, employees who are more satisfied with their jobs, and employees with longer tenure are somewhat more likely to say that they have reported observed misconduct. A supportive climate for whistle blowing is associated with both intentions to report and actual reporting behavior. Many internal whistleblowers fear retaliation from within their organizations for whistleblowing. Retaliation deters future whistleblowers; therefore, organizations need to design systems to both protect reporters and punish retaliators (Trevino). Recent Example of Whistleblowing While working as Director of Technical Accounting Research and Training in the Finance and Accounting department at Halliburton...
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...Assignment 1: Whistleblowing and Sarbanes-Oxley LEG500030VA016-11 (Law, Ethics & Corporate Governance Professor Timothy Griffin Strayer University Jan Jones July 19, 2015 Describe the key characteristics of a whistleblower, and briefly summarize one (1) researched instance of whistleblowing in one (1) publicly traded company within the last 12 months. Include the details of the issue that the whistleblower reported and the effect of the whistleblower’s actions on both the whistleblower himself and the company. A whistleblower is a person who exposes any kind of information or activity that is deemed illegal, dishonest, or not correct within an organization that is either private or public. The information of alleged wrongdoing can be classified in many ways: violation of company policy/rules, law, regulation, or threat to public interest/national security, as well as fraud, and corruption. Those that become whistleblowers can choose to bring information or allegations to surface either internally or externally. Internally, a whistleblower can bring his/her accusations to the attention of other people within the accused organization. Externally, a whistleblower can bring allegations to light by contacting a third party outside of an accused organization. He or she can reach out to the media, government, law enforcement, or those who are concerned. Whistleblowers also face stiff reprisal/retaliation from those who are accused or alleged of wrongdoing. One whistleblower-related...
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...Whistleblowing at Westfield Textile Manufacturing Internal Stakeholders The internal stakeholders are the Westfield Textile Manufacturing employees who rely on their jobs to support themselves and their family. David Davidoff, the CFO, is also a stakeholder who must consider his reputation and his job during this process. The CEO and the COO are also stakeholders who can potentially put their reputation and jobs at risk dependent on the outcome of the case. The Board Members and Shareholders are stakeholders who depend on the financial gains of the company and the decisions that are made amongst the management at Westfield Textile Manufacturing. External Stakeholders One of the external stakeholders is the citizens of the undeveloped countries which can be harmed by the toxic product. The potential buyer from Good Housekeeping Magazine who may potentially gain from the sale of the toxic product is also a stakeholder. Also the family members of the employees at Westfield Textile may be impacted if the employees lose their jobs. Finally, the disposal company is a stakeholder who may gain or lose money dependent on the outcome of the case. Moral Considerations Selling products that are carcinogenic to a dealer while knowing the potential harm that it can cause is immoral because it is withholding harmful information that would harm innocent babies. It would be acting out of greed while harming others in the process and not acting for the best interest of others...
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...WHISTLE- BLOWING Introduction: Whistle-blowing is an attempt by a present or former member of an organisation to disclose the wrong acts in an organisation. First it was made by the government employees who made complaints of corruption or mismanagement in government offices. Later on it is used in corporatesector. Features of whistle-blowing: Whistle-blowing is the release of information by a member of the organisation regarding the illegal or corrupt conduct in the organisation. It has the following salient features: ✓ First of all. whistle-blowing can be done only by a member of an organisation. It is not like a witness of a crime but by an employee within the organisation. When the employees who become aware of illegal or immoral conduct in their own organisation resort to whistle-blowing. ✓ Secondly. there must be information in whistle-blowing. It should involve the release of non-public information. There is a distinction between blowing the whistle and sounding the alarm. The whistle blowers have to reveal new facts. ✓ Thirdly. the information should be of some significant kind of misconduct on the part of an organisation. Whistle-blowing is reserved for matters of substantial importance. For example, companies paying heavy funding for political parties is known to outsiders only from people who are associated with the companies. ✓ Fourthly. the information through whistle-blowing must be released outside the normal channels of communication...
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...Whistleblowing: Necessary Evil or Good Thing Maureen Haley University of North Carolina – Asheville April 16, 2014 This paper was prepared for Management 484-001, taught by Professor Donald D. Lisnerski Whistleblowing: Necessary Evil or Good Thing Is whistleblowing a necessary evil or good thing? Can whistleblowing be avoided? Can the whistleblower be protected? “A whistleblower is an employee who discovers corporate misconduct and chooses to bring it to the attention of others.”(Ghillyer, 2014) Whistleblowers can be viewed as providing a praiseworthy act or be severely labeled as informers who have breached the loyalty of their co-workers and company. Whistleblowing can be a service to the community and public. Whistleblowing can be ethical or unethical, and the whistleblower discovering corporate misconduct has the options to be an internal or an external whistleblower. Whistleblowing can save people’s lives. Dr. Jeffrey Wigand made the decision to go public with information that his employer Brown & Williamson (B&W) was manipulating the nicotine content, suppressed efforts to develop safer cigarettes, and lied about the addictive properties of nicotine. According to Sissela Bok, in the book Taking Sides: Clashing views in Business Ethics and Society, “not only is loyalty violated in whistleblowing, hierarchy as well is often opposed, since the whistleblower is not only a colleague but a subordinate. Though aware of the risks inherent in such disobedience...
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...Whistleblowing: The Right Choice Whistleblowing has become a contentious issue in both the public and private sectors. Whistleblowers are often regarded in derogatory terms. However, they should not be viewed in this manner. They are the average employee who does this out of loyalty. Many are retaliated against, and this forces the whistleblower to seek protections. Despite the negativity and retaliation, whistleblowing is the right decision because it exposes the wrongdoing of the employer. A whistleblower is a “person who reveals to a government agency or news media, confidential information of wrongdoing or conduct he or she regards as unethical”. They are referred to in derogatory terms such as “rat”, “stool-pigeon”, “snitch”, “fink”, and even called disloyal (Liuzzo, 2012, pg 28). But those terms do a disservice to the employee who wants to fix a problem or help the organization. Whistleblowers are none of those labels. Some are considered “citizen crime fighters” or “ethical resisters” who put their careers and lives in jeopardy for the safety of the public (Westman, 1991, pg vii) whose motivation stems from a deep ethical responsibility and loyalty. Any person who decides to speak out understands they have a responsibility not only to the public, but to the company, and to their co-workers. These must be considered in order to determine if whistleblowing is the right course of action. The whistleblower is motivated by whether the perceived...
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...Whistleblowing and Sarbanes-Oxley Due DyKetia Gregg Thomas Payne Jr. Law, Ethics, and Corporate Governance July 25, 2015 Whistleblowing and Sarbanes-Oxley Due 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 things whistleblowers do are very serious. One should always remember that such actions may lead to the loss of money and reputation by the company or particular workers. Not everybody is ready to accept these; that is why the whistleblower might be threatened and compelled to leave the working place. The employees have different views on who the whistleblowers are. Some believe them to be disloyal workers, who are ready to betray the organization at any moment; others treat them as a helping hand in the eliciting of truth and putting things right in the company. Corporate governance and whistleblowing are working side by side. Sometimes a malpractice by an employee cannot be reported in an ordinary way. Typically this happens when a problem is related to the person who usually assists the whistleblower or to whom he or she reports to (Ethics and corporate...
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...Each day an individual will make a decision that will affect their life in some way. Should I wear the green shirt or the yellow shirt? Should I order a shake or lemonade? Should I wash the car today or wait until tomorrow? These simple decisions often happen without serious thought. Why? Because these decision are not life changing ones. But what happens when the decision is not so easy to make, when it’s life changing. Sometimes a person’s conscious greatly affects one’s decision making, especially when the topic of whistle blowing arises. In this paper, I will discuss and analyze whistle-blowing, where it occurs, the effects of whistle-blowing, whether whistle-blowing is an act of betrayal or public service, the consequences of whistle-blowing, and finally I close my paper with a conclusion. This paper also aims to provide a balanced approach to this topic. Understood correctly whistle-blowing is defined as an informant who exposes wrongdoing within an organization. Whistle-blowing is not about informing in the negative but more so, raises concern about malpractice within an organization. More so, it can also be defined as the release of information by a member (or former member) of an organization where there is evidence of illegal or immoral conduct in the organization, or conduct in the organization that is not in the public interest . The decision and bravery of being prepared to blow the whistle is directly related to the cultural resistance in many organizations...
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...Position Paper Whistleblowing, Is it Ethical? Whistleblowing, Is it Ethical? The ethical discussion behind whistleblowing has been debated for decades. With each level of every organization seeing the act of whistleblowing from a different position it has become a topic that all business schools address. The Whistleblowing Helpline defines whistleblowing as “raising a concern about a wrong doing within an organization” (About Whistleblowing). Furthermore, whistleblowing specifically refers to the revealing of concerns about legitimate criminal or unjust acts that present danger to the environment of the organization. Therefore, the whistleblower is the person who has a concern within their organization and is moved to raise that concern to the leadership of their workplace or to an external authority (About Whistleblowing). When done in the right context and for the right reasons whistleblowing is ethically acceptable under both the Utilitarian theory and the Deontological theory of ethics. While the act of whistleblowing is considered ethical under the reasoning of these two theories, the outcome of whistleblowing is not always glorious for the whistleblower. Instead most whistleblowers raise their concerns as a means of creating a better future for the organization, as well as all of its stakeholders. An employee who chooses to be a whistleblower is often times ridiculed and despised within their organization, especially when little or nothing is done about their...
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