...Introduction Whistle blowing is a term used to describe a person who reports a wrongdoing to a superior or an authority figure in order to stop the offense. At first thought whistle blowing may seem like an easy decision, but it can easily materialize into a difficult ethical dilemma. In a healthcare environment nurses are expected to put the welfare of there patients first, but what if the consequence of blowing the whistle is committing career suicide? Nurses need to know about this ethical dilemma so when a situation, such as the aforementioned, arises they will know what to do and hopefully make the right decision. This topic really appealed to me because I believe that it is an issue that all nurses will be faced with one day. Additionally it goes against everything I was taught growing up, I was raised to never “taddle tell” or as I got older to never “snitch”. As I now pursue a career in nursing theses rules no longer apply, and the safety and welfare of my patients must come first. Review of Literature One study conducted by Professor Firth-Cozens (2003) asked over 1,700 nurses and doctors “would you blow the whistle on a colleague?” Professor Firth-Collins and his team also explored the factors that go along with whistle blowing; these factors included the fear of retribution, the uncertainty of judging another’s competence and the desire to support other colleagues (“Would you”, 2003). The results were interesting as differences between doctors and nurses were...
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...What is a whistle blower? What is a whistle blower? To the untrained eye, you may think that a whistle blower is a person who controls a sport or game with a loud device called whistle. In reality, a whistle blower has become an important part of the American business landscape. So what is a whistle blower? According to Blacks Law Dictionary, a whistleblower is an employee who turns against their superiors to bring a[n] problem out in the open. BusinessDictionary.com states that a whistle blower is a person who discloses improper or criminal activity within an organization. Finally, under Sarbanes Oxley, “A “whistleblower” is someone, usually an employee, who reports an employer who has broken the law to an outside agency.” Under this very important act, whistleblowers are protected by federal and state laws. Employers may not retaliate against them for reporting misconduct. Whistleblowers may not be fired or otherwise mistreated, and in some instances the government may reimburse them for costs incurred as a result of reporting. Most importantly, the federally enacted statute of Dodd – Frank defines a whistle blower as, “Any individual who provides . . . information relating to a violation of the securities laws to the Commission in a manner established, by rule or regulation, by the Commission.” There are two types of whistle blowers: external and internal. An internal whistle blower is a person who reports misconduct on a fellow employee or superior within their company...
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...become frequently discuss and report among reporters and society. As we know, integrity is a part of ethical values that shows the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles. It is important to be integrity person to ensure the task or jobs are more honest and there is no abuse of power among the public or private employees. The situation can be seen in several countries, there are a lot of unethical behaviors from employer or employees. There must be a reason unethical behavior happened. So, whistle-blowing protection was introduced in order to prevent any unethically behaviors in organization such as fraud, corruption, abuse of power and so on. Whistle-blowing has been defined as ‘disclosure by a current of former organization member of illegal, inefficient, or unethical practices in a organization to a person or parties who have the power or resources to take action ( Near and Meceli, 1985). It continues to receive media intention (Vinten, 1997). Whistle blowing is a 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 the control of that organization, to an external entity having potential to rectify the wrong doing. Whistleblowing is presented as dissent, in response to an ethical dilemma, in the form of a public accusation...
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...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 to be transparent and accountability. It is hard to imagine the agony of discovering wrongdoing in your profession. The choice of keeping quiet can put others at risk and your guilty conscious will start you to thinking if you made the right decision .Blowing the whistle could also mean professional destruction. (en.Wikipedia.org/wiki/whistle-blowing)...
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...blowing the whistle? Ethics, values and beliefs all play a role in accounting. But when it comes being a whistleblower you can see where these things can start to conflict with one another. Even though there are laws to protect a whistle blower very few people do and those who do blow the whistle aren’t always happy after it’s done. At the same time those who do report do receive benefits and can say they truly have honesty and integrity. Ethics is more than just what’s right and wrong. What is right to one person can be considered wrong to another. Ethics are based off of what we know to be morally right or wrong. Smoking marijuana is wrong in the United States but considered ordinary or right in Amsterdam. Some ethical decisions go further than knowing what is the right thing to do, sometimes our emotions can get the best of us and leave us making poor decisions. When deciding the ethical thing to do in a situation you must set your emotions aside and base your decision on what you know or consider being right. Ethics is a large part of accounting. You are constantly faced with decisions where you need to decide the ethical thing to do. Whistleblowing involves the act of reporting wrongdoing within an organization to internal or external parties (Eaton & Akers, 2007).As a whistleblower your ethical decisions are what decide if you should blow the whistle. You know that adjusting numbers such as Enron did is wrong and unethical. Many people are afraid to blow the whistle...
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...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 concerns after they are raised. In the article, Patient safety, ethics and whistleblowing: A nursing response to the events at the Campbelltown and Camden Hospitals, Megan-Jane Johnstone writes “In situations where nurses report their concerns to an appropriate authority but nothing is done to either investigate or validate their claims, nurses are faced with the ethical dilemma and 'choice'...
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...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 blow on HSBC’s role in facilitating money laundering...
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...Whistle Blowing in Government or in a Business To speak or keep silent, those are the two of many common issues that plays along with the ethical considerations and morale of a Whistle Blower. On the other hand, what if you saw fraudulent actions of someone, should you speak or keep quiet? What if the person doing the fraudulent actions was a friend or a high ranking official, should you speak or keep silent, these and many others are the complex situations that could happen within a business organization. Whistle blowing, which seems to become increasingly common as employees speak out about ethical concerns or illegal practices in the work place to the public or to authorities. “There is a great deal of evidence to suggest that whistle blowing is one of the most important sources of information or detecting and reducing illegal and unethical corporate behaviors” (Kohn 2011). In general, whistle blowers feel a need to report the incident in order to put a stop to the illegal or ethical concern in the business or to correct them from happening on a regular basis. In the past years, there have been a lot of cases where employees have decided to come up in public eye and expose the unethical behavior within their companies. There is no doubt that many unquestionable practices among business organizations are being committed daily. With all the recent cases of corporate fraud, companies now provide for internal rules to protect the whistle-blower against retaliation,...
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...Whistle blowing is an act to disclose an organizational wrongdoing to parties that can take action. Sherron Watkins was the vice president of Enron Corporation that became a whistle blower in 2001. She sent an anonymous memo to Enron Chairman Kenneth Lay regarding the misstatements on the financial report. Enron hired lawyers from Vinson & Elkins to do an investigation on the financial misstatement allegations (Ackman, 2002). According to the memo from the investigations, after Watkins identified herself Lay held a meeting with her to discuss about her concerns regarding her allegations. The memo failed to indicate what Lay told Watkins. The investigation from Vinson & Elkins concluded that the questionable transaction that Watkins was concern about appeared proper (Ackman, 2002). Dan Ackman from Forbes argued that her action was not considered as whistle-blowing because she did not send the memo to parties that can take disciplinary action but actually provided legal cover for Kenneth Lay. Also, the fact that Watkins warned Lay about the misstatement of financial report indicates that Lay was not aware about the problem and did not do it on purpose. Watkins tries to put the blame mostly on Enron’s auditor Arthur Andersen and Vinson & Elkins and continued to provide cover to Lay and the board. Attitudes towards Whistle Blowing In today’s society, whistle blowing is viewed as misconduct and usually will cost a person’s job. In Watkins case, she said that Enron’s former Chief...
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...according to Sissela Bok. In my opinion, “whistleblowing” can save an organization from operating unethical activities, however, it can be prejudicial to future employment of the whistleblower. I believe that under certain circumstances, whistle blowing is necessary for the company’s welfare, but when the whistleblower’s own career is at risk, is it worth it? Furthermore, in most circumstances when a person's career is not at risk, I believe that there is still no ethical obligation to blow the whistle. Simply put, per Sissela’s point of view, people have a moral obligation to prevent serious harm to others if they can do it with little cost to themselves. In most cases, the issue is to have the assurance that there is little cost to the denouncer, which is not necessarily true. Personally, there would be very few situations where I would blow the whistle because of the uncertainty of maintaining my employment. Summarizing, whistle blowing is seldom done successfully, however, when an employee is brave enough to speak out against unethical practices of the business in which they work, often, they are regarded as heroes and can save a company from losing everything and prevent harm for many of its customers and other employees. Whistle blowing is something that cannot be done in an impulse due to the damaging effects that can be displaced on the whistleblower. If I were in a situation where I might have to take an action, I would take the time to analyze if the situation...
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...Is whistle blowing appropriate? Whistle blowing legislation and organizational whistleblowing policies are intended to reduce the wrongdoing in organizations and protect the person that reports these wrongdoings. It is easier for employees to report wrongdoing when the issue of of a legal nature, as compared to wrongdoings that have an ethical issue to them. The legal wrongdoing is clearer and therefore the whistleblower has less confusion in the matter. Additionally, the whistleblower may feel that they are legally responsible if they do not report the behavior or incident (Tsahuridu & Vandekerckhove, 2008). Ethical wrongdoing is mercurial, leaving the issue open for translation, if it is not clearly stated as wrong in the company policies. Not all issues can be clearly covered even in a comprehensive policy. This leaves employees unclear about the situation and the appropriate action to take. Individuals in the workplace should feel safe reporting potential wrongdoing regardless of exact knowledge of its nature. Any circumstance that appears to be unethical to an individual should be reported and is appropriate. This will assist the individual in continuing to be a moral individual and support the development of an ethical organization (Alleyne, Hudaib, & Pike, 2013; Badaracco & Ellsworth, 1989). Does whistle blowing violate company loyalty? Whistleblowing does present itself as a conflict between the organization or organizational leader...
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...To: Whom It May Concern Date: May 17, 2013 Re: Whistleblower Incidence Whistle-blowing is the activity of a person telling the general public or a person of authority something dishonest or illegal occurring within their organization. Many individuals end up facing severe consequences in the form of backlash from their organization. Over fifteen years ago, Joanna Gualtieri, a former foreign affairs realty portfolio manager, spoke up about lavish spending in the form of accommodation abroad for staff that was a part of foreign affairs. Reports from the Inspector General and Auditor general evidenced her claims. Some of the spending she observed was an eighteen million dollar mansion in Tokyo which remained empty for several years. The individual who was supposed to stay in it rented luxury properties spending up to $350,000 of government money a year. Another instance was a million dollar condominium owned by the crown in which the Ambassador’s Japanese butler and chef lived. At the time, she stated the bureau did not care and was reduced to a low-level job due to her claims. Her superiors ignored her and censored reports that described how the government’s multi-million dollar properties were being improperly used. She was harassed by three of her bosses and eventually ended up on unpaid medical leave. Some of the harassment she faced included: * Nay-saying of her concerns and claims * Ridicule to her dedication and stewardship * Forbiddance of...
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... the head of Motorola’s cell phone division, by doing the presentation at the board meeting. The whistleblowing occurred because Liska and Jha did not get along well, and Liska tried to save the situation with an attack on Jha. Liska objected to Jha’s hiring, his compensation package and the co-CEO agreement. Liska’s behavior markedly deteriorated after Jha’s hiring, implying that he was unhappy to be outranked by the new co-CEO. The reason behind Liska’s inflammatory presentation is a matter of contention. Liska says he was trying to fulfill his duty to the company by raising a red flag about the cellphone unit’s projections. Motorola says Liska knew he was on his way out, and he tried to extort the company by setting himself up as a whistle-blower who was being fired for speaking out. Another famous whistleblowing case is the case of WikiLeaks.2 WikiLeaks is an international non-profit organization which aims to publish online submissions of classified information, news leaks 3 from anonymous news sources and whistleblowers.4 It unleashed the wrath of the U.S. government and a wave of recrimination and reprisals against WikiLeaks and its key figures. Twitter was the only Internet Company to support WikiLeaks while others cut off essential resources to WikiLeaks’ survival. The goal of WikiLeaks is "to bring important news and information to the public”. People publish original source material alongside the news stories so readers and historians alike can see evidence of the...
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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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...14. A small group of managers at Falcon Computer met regularly on Wednesday mornings to develop a statement capturing what they considered to be the “Falcon culture” Their discussions were wide -ranging, covering what they thought their firm’s culture was, what it should be, and how to create it. They were probably influenced by other firms in their environment, since they were located in the Silicon Valley area of California. Falcon Computer was a new firm, having been created just eight months earlier. Since the corporation was still in the start-up phase, managers decided that it 2 6752 would be timely to create and instill the type of culture they thought would be most appropriate for their organization. After several weeks of brainstorming, writing, debating, and rewriting, the management group eventually produced a document called “Falcon Values” which described the culture of the company as they saw it. The organisational culture statement covered such topics as treatment of customers, relations among work colleagues, preferred style of social communication, the decision-making process, and the nature of the working environment. Peter Richards read over the Falcon values statements shortly after he was hired as a software trainer. After observing managerial and employee behaviours at Falcon for a few weeks, he was struck by the wide discrepancy between the...
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