Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Whistleblowing ethical essay
General theories on whistleblowing
Whistleblowing ethics
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Whistleblowing ethical essay
There are number of study regarding to whistleblowing from different aspect of perspectives. A theory is needed in which the nature and parameters of appropriate whistleblowing have to specify in order to articulate coherent understanding of whistleblowing (Hoffman and McNulty, 2010).
In the classic textbook business Ethics of Richard De George, he discussed about the morality of whistleblowing. According to De George, he specifies three positions regarding whistleblowing which whistleblowing as morally prohibited, as morally permitted, and as morally required. De George’s whistleblowing criteria have been referred to as representing the standard theory on whistleblowing (David, 1996; Hoffman and Schwartz, 2014). He was refuted that whistleblowing
…show more content…
This criteria seems support to internal whistleblowing, perhaps because it might cause loss to the company if whistleblowing externally. However, if one’s superiors in the organization were directly or indirectly involved in the offending action or policy, it might make things worse and put the whistleblower at great personal risk (Hoffman and McNulty, 2010).
The appropriateness of whistleblowing depends to a large extent on the circumstances. A good theory of whistleblowing should provide guideline in how to minimize harm to any stakeholders of an organization. The focus should on how to attain the most ethical resolution rather instead of depend on the position of the person to whom one reports the malpractice to determine the validity of whistleblowing.
Hoffman and McNulty (2010) further their study to establish a more robust theory of whistleblowing based on ethical principles because of the inadequate in the criteria of De George’s ethical theory of whistleblowing. The central ethical principle of business ethics is “the recognition of the universal dignity or worth of all human beings and the necessity for all business actins to reflect respect for that dignity” according to Hoffman and McNulty (2010). With this
Corruption is a persistent problem that plagues the world and it knows no boundaries. Transparency International defines it as the “abuse of entrusted power for private gain” (2013). For the purposes of this thread, ‘corruption’ is defined as any individual, collective, or structural act or process that permits the use of public authority or position for private gain. This definition captures the broad and many ways individuals and institutions abuse power and the public trust. In regard to whistleblowing, much conflict stems from the context in which the whistleblower is viewed.
The Sarbanes-Oxley Act was drafted to encourage and protect whistleblowers from retaliation after the fraud scandal that cause the collapse of Enron in 2001. In a 2010 Senate Report found that “external auditors detected only 4.1 percent of uncovered fraud schemes, “whistleblower tips detected 54.1% of uncovered fraud schemes in public companies” and were thirteen times more effective than external audits” (Turpan, 2016). Whistleblowers serve an important service to the public and are more effective than external audits. The CFAA has been used to by employers to retaliate against employees who act as informants for agencies like Internal Revenue Service or Security Exchange Commission to expose fraud. There employees, not to their financial gain, gather information as evidence of fraud by the company. With a broad interpretation of CFAA, the employee would "exceed their authority" and was "unauthorized" to access the information, therefore allowing the company to hide their illegal
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 Council (GMC) stipulated this act of raising concern as a doctor’s duty in its Good medical practice guide. This paper will be based on the analysis of the experience of whistle blowers, reasons why they chose or chose not to take such actions and personal opinions on whistleblowing in the medical community.
Instead of offering amnesty to whistleblowers for a limited time, we must implement this rule on a permanent basis, and let it be known that it is necessary to report suspicious behavior if noticed without any consequence. The permanent implementation will keep all the employees honest with each other and the company thus minimizing the chance of corruption.
This occurs when someone tells a coworker about an illegal or immoral practice, in hopes that this person will do something to change the company. This usually occurs when they are trying not to cause any bad publicity for the company. If a company discourages the internal reporting, they are likely to become worse off and the individual that initially started the internal report will have to go out of the company and notify a governmental agency or even the press. From an ethical standpoint, internal reporting is a big part of keeping companies clear from whistle blowing. Even when whistleblowers keep the problem inside the company, they are still often seen as traitors or not company
On the study “quantitative and qualitative analyses are conducted of 33 cases of internal and external whistleblowers wrongfully fired for reporting wrongdoing” The results were “An employee's tenure in the organization likely impacts his or her choice of internal versus external channels for reporting wrongdoing. Newcomers tend to be less familiar with appropriate channels for internal reporting or effecting change (Miceli and Near, 1992, p. 117), they may identify less with the firm's goals, and they may lack knowledge of shared norms or how the corporate culture operates (Terry).” They also found “external whistleblowers have less tenure with the organization, greater evidence of wrongdoing, and they tend to be more effective in changing organizational practices
On November 29th, Mary Inman gave us a talk on the topic whistleblowing, which let me know more about the whistleblower activities and the whistleblower protection. According to the definition given by the website whistleblowers international, whistleblowing is someone who reveal the unethical or illegal activities within the company. The person can be current or past employee, or an outside individual who is familiar with the unethical activity. This whistleblower does not need to be U.S. citizen.
First I will be telling you about the pressure of being a “whistleblower”. In Fahrenheit 451 the pressure of being a “whistleblower” is so real, everyone is told to rat out everyone who has a book in their household, if they find out they have a book in the home it is burned to the ground. This is related to our society because we are pressured to do what is right, and part of my belief system is to do what is right and to point out what is wrong. For example if someone were to gossip behind their back I would try to stand up and tell them it is wrong and tell the person what the others said
When professionals in the health sector are compliant to the standards and ethics of practice, then accidents in the sector and any activities that undermine patient safety are bound to be addressed. In particular, whistleblowers in the sector should also be protected to improve service delivery in the health sector.
Ethics in business is a highly important concept, as it can affect a company’s profits, salaries paid to employees and CEOs, and public opinion, among many other aspects of a business. Ethics can be enforced by company policies and guidelines, set a precedent when a company is faced with an important decision, and are also evolving thanks to new technology and situations that arise due to technology usage. Businesses have a duty to maintain their ethical responsibilities and also to help their employees enforce these responsibilities in and out of the workplace. However, ethics and the foundation for them are not always black and white. There are many different ethical theories, however Utilitarianism, Kant’s Deontological ethics, and Virtue ethics are three of the most well known theories in existence. Each theory is distinct in that it has a different quality used to determine ethicality and allows for a person to choose which system of ethics works best with both the situation and his or her personal ethical preferences.
Although Hollate introduced a compliance program and code of conduct when it went public, the programs were put on “the back burner”. This outcome is not surprised for that the company does not pay attention to the programs. It is, therefore, important to “reinforce the values” and “employee a boundary system when actions are inconsistent with the code of conduct” for the purpose of early detection. Tyco provides a good example after its scandal, by initiating “mandatory annual compliance training for all its employees worldwide” and creating the Tyco Guide to Ethical Conduct to familiarize employees with company expectations and help them make ethical decisions. As tips is the most useful method for internal and external sources to detect frauds, the whistleblower hotline should be well communicated with encouragement on reporting any suspicious activity. In addition, to improve the effectiveness of the compliance program and code of conducts, Hollate should implement management monitoring and evaluation on a regular
In the business world there are many fundamental aspects and situations that can lead to several issues. In order to find an optimal and professional solution, business decision makers need to apply moral and ethical standards. And it is at that moment in which business ethics perform its role. Business ethics, which is in charge of examine how companies and individuals should act in business situations, is very essential in order to reach a common agreement and to work within the laws of business and solve an arisen dilemma. Working of the hand of ethical business companies, employees, investors, directors, and even individual officers can be beneficiated and obtain most favorable outcomes.
Companies always know there is a possibility that the whistle will be blown, in this case the obstacle is created by knowledge that their employees stand to gain an advantage from uncovering corporate misbehaviour and thus they may be proactively looking for other people outside the organization to inform the
Whistle blowing is an attempt of an employee or former employee of a company to reveal what he or she believes to be a wrongdoing in or by a company or organization. Whistle blowing tries to make others aware of practices that are considered illegal or immoral. If the wrongdoing is reported to someone in the company it is said to be internal. Internal whistle blowing tends to do less damage to the company. There is also external whistle blowing. This is where the wrongdoing is reported to the media and brought to the attention of the public. This type of whistle blowing tends to affect the company in a negative way because of bad publicity. It is said that whistle blowing is personal if the wrongdoing affects the whistle blower alone (like sexual harassment), and said to be impersonal if the wrongdoing affects other people. Many people whistle blow for two main reasons: morality and revenge.
In this research paper, I will talk about ethics in business communication and in detail, about how important it is like ethical business communication takes some forms, and the second point will be Ethical issues in Business Communication followed by What shapes our view of ethics, in this point I'll mention some of the perceptions that people have helped in the formation of Ethics, the next point will be Communicating ethics in a way that informs and affects behavior, it will be points for incorporating organizational ethics, then the Ways to overcome ethical dilemma, in the last will be the conclusion It will be a final summary of ethics in business, Before all these points I will start with the introduction, and it will be the