Pros And Cons Of Whistleblowing

1160 Words3 Pages

With an aid of appropriate examples, discuss the problems that a whistle-blower is likely to have to consider in deciding whether or not to speak out.

Whistle blowing is an attempt by a former or current employee of an organization to disclose illegality or any other wrongdoing in or by an organization. Whistle blowing can be divided into two types namely, internal and external whistle-blowing. When wrongdoing is reported to someone with a higher rank than that of the whistle blower it is termed internal whistle blowing. On the other hand, if it is reported to outside entities such as governments, regulatory agencies or other external stakeholders it is referred to as external whistle-blowing. Another differentiation is whether the whistle …show more content…

With the fact that the whistleblower might lose their job and be retaliated upon even whether they win or lose the case, using a lawyer must be justified by an atrocious act being done by the organization.
Noting that most whistleblowers are between lower and middle management, the cost of lawyers to protect them or charge the accused with damaging the whistleblowers image is usually out of reach and the other portion of middle and senior management who enjoy the benefit of the illegal and unethical act will walk away with nothing but a public incident that if handle correct can be rectified without any real business damage in regard with production, cost and revenue. For example, Edward Joseph Snowden who leaked out sensitive information from the NSA was headline news around the world. The NSA rectified the problem with greater security systems and infrastructure and the NSA continues to operate as …show more content…

Some people believe that whistle-blowing is in direct violation of company policy of disclosure sensitive, secret and financially debilitating information. Meanwhile, some individuals believe it is in our human nature to question, identify and rectify morally incorrect practices which are detrimental to them.
From another perspective, what the whistleblower considers to be a wrongdoing might be regarded to others as a mere discrepancy that can be fixed internally without any real negative publicity. We all are born with “moral compass” (which is unique based on experiences during life, teachings and personal beliefs) that directs us away from wrongful actions and towards morally correct actions based on cultural norms, both locally and globally.

The

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