A person who discloses the misconduct and criminal activities occur in an organization is called the whistle-blower. Basing on the case, Cynthia Cooper who worked in WorldCom is a whistle-blower. The trip of being a whistle-blower started from 2002, when Cynthia realized the financial fraud in WorldCom. Without the help of the whistle-blower hotline process, she decided to unravel the fraud with her colleagues. However, she would never imagine how difficult it is. Whistle-blower hotlines are special procedures provided to employees or third parties for reporting misconduct and wrongdoing within the companies in a safe and anonymous way. Through the whistle-blower hotline process, the safety and anonymity of whistle-blowers are guaranteed and the reports can be made anytime based on the 24 hours basis. As the case indicated, without the help of whistle-blower hotline process, the only thing Cynthia Cooper could do for dealing with the fraud is stepping over her boss and contacting the audit committee chairman directly and this made Cynthia face enormous pressure. If the whistle-blower hotlines exist in WorldCom, Cynthia can simply ring the hotline in a discreet way and the reports will be sent to the management of WorldCom. In this situation, Cynthia did not need to take the risk of losing her job and the fraud can be solved inside the WorldCom instead of disclosing the fraud to the public and placing the WorldCom in danger. Whistle-blower hotlines can bring many benefits to the businesses. The following advantages illustrate the importance of adopting an effective hotline process: -Minimizing the infl...
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...they realize the dishonest activities is ignoring. The survey indicates that nearly 44% workers do nothing when they observe the wrongdoing. Management can highlight the hotline process clearly to employees, especially for the protection part. Once the executives get the compliance, they should reply rapidly so that the whistle-blowers know the problems are addressed. The last thing to emphasize is the organization's zero-tolerance retaliation policy. -Rewards may lead to the improper use of the hotlines. In order to get the rewards, some whistle-blowers or workers may give the incorrect or useless information even they may report the untrue wrongdoing. In this case, the time and resources are wasted. In order to prevent this problem,the discipline of the hotline process should be established clearly.
Whistle blowing is a controversial topic in the professional industry. Whistle blowing is the act of speaking out against a fellow colleague or even a friend that has done something non-ethical or illegal in the workplace. A whistleblower raises concerns about the wrongdoing inside of the workplace. Employees hesitate to become a whistleblower because of the idea of becoming a snitch on fellow employees and having a bad rep around the office. This concern was lowered in 1989 with a law called the Whistleblower Protection Act that protects federal government employees in the United States from retaliatory action for voluntarily disclosing information about dishonest or illegal activities occurring at a government organization (whistleblowers.gov).
The term Whistleblower means “An employee who discloses information that s/he reasonably believes is evidence of illegality, gross waste or fraud, mismanagement, abuse of power, general wrongdoing, or a substantial and specific danger to public health and safety. When information is classified or otherwise restricted by Congress or Executive Order, disclosures only are protected as whistleblowing if made through designated, secure channels. (What is a Whistleblower?)” The idea behind whistleblowers is that they believe trying to inform the public of illegal acts within their businesses has the potential to protect the public from wrongdoing. The following studies analyze scholar’s findings on different factors related to whistle blowing as
Also, around 5,300 employees were found to be involved in the scheme over a period of 5 years. In this case, if the defendant is liable, how should they be prosecuted for their fraud? Aggressive sales goals push employees to break the rules. “On average, 1 percent of employees have not done the right thing, and we terminated them.
Whistleblowers often make their way into the public eye, but what is a whistle blower exactly? What are the criteria? Whistle blowing is "raising the alarm in public about a wrong being committed in private" (Vickers, 2002, p.42). By definition, a whistle blower can only "blow the whistle" on an organization of which he is a member (Vickers, 2002). That point is rather obvious. After all, the concept of being a whistleblower is providing inside information. Also, it brings up a significant problem. People are reluctant to "blow the whistle" because they can lose everything they worked for. It seems almost unfair. The person in this predicament will have to decide whether or not to keep his job as is, or to do the right thing and tel...
In the 1970’s, Ralph Nard coined the term whistleblower referring to when a referee blows a whistle to indicate an illegal or foul play. Oxford dictionaries define whistleblower as “a person who informs on a person or organization regarded as engaging in an unlawful or immoral activity.” This can be in either the government or corporations. The debate on whistleblowers continues to be pertinent in light of recent scandals. Many believe in the value of transparency, but disagree about the correct way to achieve it. This is why we created laws, such as the Whistleblower Act and the Espionage Act. The Whistleblower Act was put in place in order to protect “[A]ny disclosure of information” that a covered employee “reasonably believes” evidences “a violation of any law, rule, or ...
“Faced with what is right, to leave it undone shows a lack of courage” (Confucius Quotes, 2012). The person who does her duty, at great risk to her own interest, when most others would defy from fear is considered a hero (Schafer, 2004). Dr. Nancy Olivieri is a hero who blew the whistle on Apotex, University of Toronto (U of T) and the Hospital for Sick Children (HSC); and fought for her academic rights till the end. Whistle-blowing refers to actions of an employee that breach her loyalty to the organization but serves the public interest. When other constraints proved to be ineffective, whistle-blowing acts as a check on authority of the organization. Whistle-blowers expose severe forms of corruption, waste, and abuse of power within their organization and put the organization in a position where it is answerable to the public, thus enhancing its accountability (Cooper, 2006, pg. 198-205).
The act of whistle-blowing is an ethical issue that all employees have the right to. Whether they decide to make the corrupt information known publicly or anonymously, the information they provide can protect everyone involved. The ethical and moral sides of whistle-blowing can go both ways. In order to protect the customers, patients, or consumers of the harmful products the companies are offering, employees that have morals and feel the need to make the truth be known have an ethical responsibility to do so. Issues of being a whistle-blower are more controversial than the responsibilities of the employees doing so. When a whistle-blower takes action, they expose information from their company that it not meant to be public. They basically turn their backs away from their company and colleagues by revealing the truth. When surveying these issues, an employee who is torn by exposing information or keeping silent must decide whether it is more ethical to stay loyal to their organization or to the organization's
Which allows employees that have observed any illegal acts or acts that raise concern to be able to report to a company hotline that allows that individual to report with the secrecy of the act without fear of retaliation from the company. Generally, whistleblowers are employees that are dedicated to the company and is a model employee. They do not have any intentions of hurting the company, but rather to improve the company. By having an anonymous reporting method of any situations allows employees to feel that the company values their opinions and actually care what is happening within the company. Another reason that this is a plus is because this keeps everybody honest, since there is an open door policy of reporting any illegal acts. The best way to implement this protocol is to educate employees on what the purpose of the program is. Then train the employees on the simple reporting procedures and certify that everything is clearly written and efficiently understood. When the complaint has reported an Ombudsperson or manager will report the matter to upper management to conduct an internal investigation. When all is done and the complaint is true, then actions will be done to correct the problems. In this case of the secretary being fired for refusal to prepare false expense reports for her boss, there is no need for her to be terminated instead this allows the creation of the whistle-blowing hotline for the company to investigate any illegal acts within the
Management has a system in effect that will monitor the claims process and keep it working collectively for all employees. Each quarter, management will review the existing policies and procedures for ethics training and reporting and suggest areas for improvement. The use of the website for reporting claims of misconduct can also be used as a suggestion box. A link has been provided so that employees can anonymously make suggestions for the improvement of the ethics training system. Any reasonable suggestions will be given the utmost consideration and will be implemented upon the unanimous agreement of management. Programs found to be ineffective will be removed. The removal or implementation of programs will be discussed in training sessions so that trainee feedback can be taken into account, as well.
Whistle blowing cannot usually be done in an impulse due because of the damaging effects that can be placed on the whistleblower. If I were in a situation where I had to take an action, I would take plenty of time to analyze the situation and think about if it could harm others. I would also keep in mind the consequences that would be placed on me. It is an important tool to enforce on ethical practices for any
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 a general form, whistleblowing occurs when a person exposes activity that is illegal, unethical or incorrect within an organization. When this happens, many controversial issues come into play. The whistleblower becomes untrusted in the workplace, the business's reputation gets pulled into the line of fire, and the act of whistleblowing becomes abused.
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 decisions 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, the consequences of whistle-blowing, and finally I close my paper with a conclusion.
In the recent past, there have been several employees who have brought to light corrupt and unethical business practices on the part of their employer. Whistleblowers are known as internal and external individuals who disclose their firms’ illegal behavior. When faced with such an accusation, some companies have tried retaliating against the informer (Beatty 743). As a result of these cases, there are numerous laws that exist that protect employees from retaliation. Within this paper, the most significant whistleblowing protection statutes and acts will be discussed, as well as, important cases, and the ethics behind whistleblowing.
Working in any environment, some people are subject to see things that may be illegal or unethical. In any situation like this, how do you determine the best decision, whether to keep quiet or speak out? According to Merriam-Webster dictionary, a whistle-blower is one who reveals something, converts or informs against another person’s transgression in the workplace. In 1989, the United States passed the Whistleblower Protection Act. This act protects federal employees in the workplace if they report any misconduct or wrongdoing. Whistle-blowing is becoming more universal, however is it really worth the whistle-blowers risk and integrity? I will attempt to analyze key facts regarding