Whistleblowing

Organizasyonlarda Yanlış Uygulamalara Karşı Bir Sivil Erdem, Ahlaki Tepki ve Vicdani Red Davranışı: WHISTLEBLOWING

by Av. Davut Erkan

Can we organize courage? Implications from Foucault's Parrhesia.

by Wim Vandekerckhove

co-authored with Suzan Langenberg
accepted for publication in Electronic Journal of Business Ethics and Organization Studies (EJBO)

Ethics in organizations, raising concerns, and whistleblowing have been previously theorized through Foucault’s work... more Ethics in organizations, raising concerns, and whistleblowing have been previously theorized through Foucault’s work on the power/knowledge bond. However, approaching these issues through the work from Foucault’s third period on parrhesia, or fearless speech remains an underdeveloped route.
This paper contributes to this emerging research stream. Based on Foucault’s work on parrhesia, and the importance of courage for fearless speech to occur, we theorize the possibility of critique within organizations as a moment of disorganizing, which requires a chain of parrhesia where not only the speaker but also the hearer requires courage.
The paper examines the possibility and risks of organizing courage through three illustrations of ethical guidelines, whistleblowing, and open dialogue.

Keywords: parrhesia, whistleblowing, business ethics, courage

Whistle-blowing in the medical curriculum: a response to Faunce

by Nigel Palmer

Palmer, N., & Rogers, W. (2005). Whistle-blowing in the medical curriculum: a response to Faunce. Monash Bioethics Review (1), 50-58

We agree with Faunce's proposal that academic legitimacy is
important in ensuring that whistle-blowing is... more We agree with Faunce's proposal that academic legitimacy is
important in ensuring that whistle-blowing is included in medical
curricula. We disagree, however, with the assertion that this is best achieved by means of an over-arching theoretical foundation for health care whistle-blowing of the kind suggested by Faunce. We propose that systematic theoretical justification is neither the sole nor the main determinant of academic legitimacy when it comes to matters for inclusion in medical school curricula, and outline an alternative view, together with a practical example of a healthcarewhistle-blowing topic.

That Wich Depends on Us: Responsibility, Democratic Courage and Shame

by Ingerid S. Straume

Submitted for Cahier Castoriadis No. 8, L'autonomie en pratique(s), Facultés Universitaires Saint-Louis, Bruxelles

Key words: education - responsibility - democracy - courage - parrhesia - shame - teachers - politics Key words: education - responsibility - democracy - courage - parrhesia - shame - teachers - politics

Speaking Out

by Rita Pal

Published by Legal and Medical

A summary article on whistleblowing in the NHS and its pitfalls. A summary article on whistleblowing in the NHS and its pitfalls.

Whistleblowing and patient safety: the patient's or the profession's interests at stake?

by Rita Pal

‘Whistleblowers in Organisations: Prophets at Work?’

by Joanne Roberts

Co-authored with Stephanos Avakian,  Journal of Business Ethics, (DOI: 10.1007/s10551-011-1148-7)

This article argues that the study of biblical prophets offers a profound contribution to understanding the... more This article argues that the study of biblical prophets offers a profound contribution to understanding the experience, role and attributes of whistleblowers. Little is known in the literature about the moral triggers that lead individuals to blow the whistle in organisations or why whistleblowers may show persistence against the harshness experienced as a result of their actions. This article argues that our understanding of the whistleblower’s work is highly informed by appreciating how moral values and norms are exercised by prophets in seeking to become agents for change. This article identifies three core implications that have practical and theoretical relevance. The first concerns how the whistleblowing activity challenges the established order of an organisation as this is comprised of institutional structures, policies and procedures. Institutions display an unusual fragility against the seemingly powerless individual who helps reveal the wrongdoing. By disclosing ‘hidden’ knowledge concerning illegitimate intentions and actions, the seemingly powerless individual creates tension that has implications for the stability and order of the organisation. The second implication concerns the degree of social concern and the individual’s interpretation of morality. Whistleblowers, like prophets, display concern for moral values that have implications for the welfare of others, and which they seek to promote through their whistleblowing act. The third implication concerns the importance of agency. By taking a moral stance, the whistleblower assumes an important agentic role facilitating change through his/her intervention. Although such change is sudden and unpredictable it brings about new conditions for the organisation and its members.

Whistleblowing and Democratic Values (free ebook) IPAD version

by Wim Vandekerckhove

edited by David Lewis and Wim Vandekerckhove
Published by The International Whistleblowing Research Network

pdf version available

Whistleblowing and Democratic Values (free ebook)

by Wim Vandekerckhove

edited by David Lewis and Wim Vandekerckhove
Published by The International Whistleblowing Research Network

Ipad version available

THE CONTENT OF WHISTLEBLOWING PROCEDURES: A CRITICAL REVIEW OF RECENT OFFICIAL GUIDELINES.

by Wim Vandekerckhove

Whistles From The Central Plains States: Implications for Culture Change in Late Pleistocene-Early Holocene

by Jason Howery

Draft

This is a look at Ground stone tool technology (GST)  from five Paleoindian Sites Located in the Central United... more This is a look at Ground stone tool technology (GST)  from five Paleoindian Sites Located in the Central United States and an Entirely New insight as to their functionality.

Whistle Blowing, Religiosity, Spirituality and Integrity: Understanding the Impact of Social Dominance Orientation and Environmental Context

by Daniel Martin

Journal of Moral Organizational Psychology (Forthcoming)

Individual differences have been shown to impact whistle blowing (Miceli & Near, 1988; Mesmer-Magnus &... more Individual differences have been shown to impact whistle blowing (Miceli & Near, 1988; Mesmer-Magnus & Viswesvaran, 2005; Brinker, Dozier & Miceli, 1985). This study empirically examines previously unexplored effects on whistle blowing of a specific set of individual differences variables. These variables are religiosity, spirituality, integrity, and preference for social hierarchies. In addition, in that contextual variables can be expected to modify the impact of individual differences, we test the effects of our target independent variables in alternate organizational contexts (both academic and accounting). Analyses found weak positive relationships between whistle blowing and spirituality in an accounting scenario, with no relationship existing between religiosity and likelihood of whistle blowing in academic setting. Stronger positive relationships emerged between integrity and whistle blowing in both scenarios, with preference for maintenance of social hierarchies having a positive relationship with the accounting scenario being established. Considerations for future research and applications are offered.

Whistleblowing: A Survey of Literature

by Ankit Kesharwani

Will The Whistleblowers Play For The FSA?

by Michael Filby

M Filby, 'Will the Whistleblowers Play for the FSA?' (2002) 152(7044) New Law Journal 1247

Offences which the Financial Service Authority (FSA) are encouraging employees to report concerning the financial... more Offences which the Financial Service Authority (FSA) are encouraging employees to report concerning the financial sector, and the consultation released proposing extensions to the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998 and guidelines for internal investigatory procedures.

Flirting With Disaster: Why Accidents Are Rarely Accidental

by Marc Gerstein

with Michael Ellsberg, foreword and afterword by Daniel Ellsberg, published by Union Square Press, 2008, 2010.

Chernobyl and Katrina. Challenger and Columbia. BP and Vioxx. The Iraq War. Were these unavoidable misfortunes that no... more Chernobyl and Katrina. Challenger and Columbia. BP and Vioxx. The Iraq War. Were these unavoidable misfortunes that no one could possibly have imagined? Hardly. All of them were disasters that could have been prevented, or whose damaging repercussions could have been mitigated.

Despite warnings of impending disaster, preemptive action is rarely taken by those who have the ability to do so. How do smart, high-powered people, leaders of global corporations, national institutions, even nations, often get it so wrong? While most investigations focus on the technical causes of disaster, Flirting With Disaster examines the psychological, social, and cultural impediments to whistle-blowing, showing what we can do to reduce the possibility of disasters happening at all.

Analyzing such phenomena as bystander behavior and the butterfly effect, amid a series of instructive case studies—not only the aforementioned shuttle crashes, natural disasters, and industrial accidents, but also Arthur Andersen’s shady accounting at Enron; the 1994 Mexican peso crisis that nearly caused an international monetary meltdown; and the American sub-prime lending crisis that emerged in August 2007, revealing the country’s unhealthy dependence on consumer credit—Marc Gerstein, an organizational psychologist, urges a re-evaluation of the timidity, distorted thinking, errors of judgment and self-serving conduct that result in disasters from the boardroom to the halls of academe to the Oval Office.

Daniel Ellsberg, renowned and respected for releasing the Pentagon Papers, offers a foreword and a powerful afterword addressing what happens “When Leaders are the Problem.”

Flirting With Disaster is a must-read for those who want to foster truth-telling in their organizations, and head off-disasters in the making. At once alarming, entertaining and hopeful, this is a book that offers very real and practical lessons for everyday life.