Whistleblowing and Corporate Ethics: Hughes Aircraft

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Introduction Whistleblowers were never treated with hospitality. In general, 90% of whistleblowers lost their jobs or were demoted, regardless of the industry; 27% faced lawsuits; 26% had psychiatric or medical referrals; 17% lost their homes, and 8% went bankrupt (Waters 2008). As highly righteous as whistleblowers are, they also suffer severe consequences. In Hughes Aircraft case, the company's employees who decided to blow the whistle, Goodearl and Aldred were extremely affected and treated unfairly, so much so that " [Goodearl] and her husband had to file for bankruptcy, and Aldred was on welfare for a year before she could find another job."(The Hughes Whistleblowing Case , n.d.). Hence, the main focus of this paper is to determine whether or not whistle blowing is really worth the trouble, even though it is almost always ethically correct. What are Goodearl’s obligations/responsibilities? Goodearl has several responsibilities. First, Goodearl has responsibility to herself and her family, for one cannot survive with proper sources of income to exchange for goods and services. In this situation, she would act out of her self-interest. Second, she has responsibility to Hughes Microelectronics because she is an employee of the company and is responsible for the testing floor operation. Because of her responsibility to which the company delegates, Goodearl is obligated to act based on principles that will maximize the overall result of the company. Third, Goodearl is obligated to serve her country, to act for the benefit of the United States. In Hughes Aircraft case however, Goodearl's obligation to the United States is in conflict with the company's interest, which ultimately affect her self-interest as well. What are Hugh... ... middle of paper ... ...nly solution to prevent unethical corporation from causing harm to the world. Take World Com for example, if the newly hired financial analyst had the courage to question the integrity of the company and blow the whistle a little earlier by reporting to the government agency, stockholders of World Com wouldn't suffer billions of losses. For this reason, whistleblowing is the best solution to unethical corporate practice. Works Cited Carroll, B. (1991). The Pyramid of Corporate Social Responsibility: Toward the Moral Management of Organizational Stakeholders. Business Horizons . The Hughes Whistleblowing Case . (n.d.). Retrieved 12 3, 2011, from computingcases.org: http://computingcases.org/case_materials/hughes/case_history/hughes_case_history.html Waters, A. (2008). Nurses fear their concerns about care will be ignored. Nursing Standard, 22(37), 12-13.

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