Ethics and Whistle-Blowing - Assignment Example

Name ______________________ ______________________ ______________________ Ethics and whistle-blowing Executive Summary In recent years, given the competitive advantage one organization twants to have over another, whistle blowing has gained an all new dimension... with a mixed bag of opinions ranging from those that are for it and those that are against it. In all, someone who blows the ahistle, needs to have guts to commit the act, keeping in view both negative and postiive repercussiions that could be in store for him or her. This assessment based on one such act of whistle blwoing by a Mr Johnson, and the subsequent aftermath. While the positive one was that his whistle blowing bore fruit, the negative one was that he was the only member of the top executive to be shown the door. i Justification for the use of anonymous letters for whistle blowing The decision by Mr Alwyn Johnson to blow the whistle on the goings on at the bank was wise and selfless since it averted an imminent catastrophe of the magnitude that befell the other state banks. (Callahan, E.S., et.al.) Mr Johnson’s way of blowing the whistle by writing the anonymous letters was also appropriate. The anonymity of the letters triggered swift action from the premier, more than they would have had, if letters hadn’t been anonymous. Possibly, the letters would have been dismissed as a way of settling scores by an employee who was unhappy with his seniors. Indeed, the action bore fruit. Probably, if he had chosen to keep quiet, the bank would have suffered negatively due to the non performing assets with the property developers in its wholesale banking division. Eventually, it would have gone under as a result of the poor lending policies, and thus met the same fate as state banks of Victoria and South Australia. Mr Johnson demonstrated a sense of duty by taking the initiative to investigate the performance of the assets. Drawing from his experience in the National Australia Bank, he was able to decipher an eventuality before it happened. (Meithe, T) Even after he came up with the findings of his investigations, he went ahead to warn his superiors. When they did not take a step towards saving the situation, he went the extra mile to seek redress from the higher authority. What Mr Johnson must have done with his anonymous letters? Mr Alwyn Johnson blew the whistle in good faith, but probably he did not follow the survival strategies before blowing the whistle. (Jubb) In a nutshell he could have considered: 1. Didn’t talk to his family… it could have helped him gather some more ideas on how to do it 2. Wasn’r alert and didn’t discreetly learn of any other distraught employees in the workplace.. 3. Before formally breaking ranks there is no evidence that he considered whether there was any reasonable way to work within the system by approaching the first level of authority. 4. Didn’t develop a strategic plan. 5. Forgot good relations with staff and administration in the process. 6. Before and after he blew the whistle, it seems he didn’t keep a careful record of events as they unfolded. 7. Didn’t seem to have kept enough evidence with him to provide him life support at an adverse event. 8. Worked on his own and didn’t seek support. Media could have helped him. 9. Didn’t seem to have consulted a competent lawyer. (Kaplan E) 10. Lost guard, especially when he revealed he was behind the whistle blowing act. 11. Somewhere down the line wore some level of cynicism ii) The pitfalls of revealing his identity Whistleblowers are seen as people who "sound an alarm from within the very organization in which the work, because of a threat to public interest". With such a definition, it is always a doubleminded task for the whistle blower whether or not to reveal his or her identity. Johnson would have stayed better off if he had not disclosed his identity. Probably carried away by the sheer success of act, he thought his futures would shine if he said he did it. It was a typical case of getting blinded by the immense success borne by the decision and the vote passed to thank the writer, that he identified himself. The motive of the revelation could have been selfish since he could have expected to be recognized for whistle blowing. Probably it is this motive that led to his own ouster. Rather than receive accolades from the bank’s management, Mr Johnson was shown the door, the only senior executive of the bank to be fired. The fact that he chose to remain anonymous as he carried out his duty as whistle blower, showed that he was acting for the good of the bank. This led to an audit that vindicated his decision. Had he not gone forth to receive the credits for the task, he would have retained his job. The eventual fate of Mr Johnson shows the thankless nature of whistle blowing. His colleagues at the bank, who by error of omission or commission, decided to keep silent over the issue of nonperforming assets with the property developers in its wholesale banking division, remained unscathed. Even his seniors who had disregarded his counsel in the first place are left scot free and no action is taken against them. a. Was the bank justified of their act of sending a whistle blower home The move by the bank to fire Mr Johnson after he revealed his identity was unfair. He deserved the exact opposite in terms of a promotion and recognition for the risk he took to blow the whistle. After saving the bank from an inevitable collapse, his seniors who had disregarded the advice in the first place cracked the whip on him and went into the merger to enjoy the benefits. The fact that they chose to send him away raises doubts of the bank’s top management. They could have been planning to engage in more fraudulent activities in the new Trust Bank and did not want to have Mr Johnson in the way. Probably they were bitter by the turn of events since they could have formed a cartel with the property developers to fleece the bank by taking advantage of its nonperforming assets. His continued presence could endangered their mission. (King, Granville) The action taken by the Trust Bank against Mr Johnson necessitates the development of modalities including a piece of legislation to deter those in authority from victimizing the whistle blowers in order to encourage more people to come forth and uncover corrupt practices.. b. Views on whistle blowing Whistle blowing refers to the decision by a member of an organization to unravel practices that are not ethical in an organization (Micelli, M.P.) The revelation includes sufficient evidence of the illegal practice that is discretely going on away from the public eye. The whistle blower is not guided by malice and he acts in the best interest of the organization and his country. This noble action is however steeped in controversy as some people view it as a sign of disloyalty to the organization. According to such individuals, it is tantamount to ‘washing dirty linen in public’. The repercussions of such exposure on the firm’s image and even public perceptions are huge. This could result in loss of business, and for public organizations, they could become the subject of corruption investigations. In spite of this, whistle blowing acts in the best interest of both the whistle blower and the organization It is an unpopular way of fighting corruption since it involves personal sacrifice. The whistle blower puts his (or her) job and even his (or her) life on the line when he steps forward to unearth a scam Two examples In what appears to be a good intention on part of whistle blowers, it has largely been observed that most of them are at the receiving end after they blow the lid off something and are reprimanded at a later stage. Teresa Chambers is one such example. Teresa, who served as the head of the US Parks Police 28-year veteran of law enforcement, served as the head of the U.S. Parks Police, one of the nation's top uniformed Federal law enforcement agencies, until she became a whistleblower. Teresa blew the whistle that US Parks Police was no longer meeting the expectations of the people from Washington, D.C., New York City, and San Francisco, whom it was supposed to serve. Teresa has attributed this to the demands growing out of 9-11. Seven months after she blew the whistle, the Department of Interior terminated her. (Robert Longley) Another case is of Virginia Berede. Virginia was fired after she served for 21 years in the North Shore Long Island Jewish Hospital’s perioperative unit. Her termination was as a result of her repeated complaints to her supervisor in which she maintained that "there were problems with sterility of surgical instruments, that there were surgical trays that were unclean, and there were surgical instruments blocked with biofi (a previous patient's tissue and blood)." This was dismissed by the hospital. Following this whistle the complaint went to the Supreme Court of New York, which didn’t rule in her favour citing there wasn’t enough proof in support of the complaint. Soon thereafter she was fired. (Tammelleo, A. David) Conclusion Despite the numerous dangers that the whistleblowers expose themselves to, it is a worthwhile decision to heed conscience. Therefore, there is need for the establishment of proper structures to guide whistle blowing in organizations. Ideally, the institutions should be set up internally as a means of monitoring and self regulation. If effectively done, whistle blowing helps to avoid the inconvenience and embarrassment that comes with being exposed in the media and external organizations However, internal mechanisms for whistle blowing come with a sizable risk of compromise. The temptation to ignore evidences of corrupt practices by junior internal officers is rife especially when it involves senior officers. The pressures of everyday management challenges leads to shifting of priorities by the organization and issues such as whistle blowing takes a back seat. Sometimes, it emerges that acting on a whistle blowing report threatens relationships. Therefore, it calls for a proper external whistle blowing mechanism. With objectives and structures properly laid out at the start, the whistle blowing organization should be headed by an individual with high social standing in order to enable him deal authoritatively with all the issues that arise. However, the whistle blower should only resort to the external medium of exposing the obnoxious practice that he (or she) is privy to, after exhausting all the available internal mechanisms. The internal and external mechanisms for whistle blowing need to reinforce each other in order to create a society with regard to ethics, values and justice. A free mass media also contributes immensely to unearthing the scandals, especially with issues to do with public organizations. It is also necessary for legislation to be developed with the aim of protecting the whistle blowers from possible vengeance. All said and done, whistle blowing needs to be recognised as a worthwhile practice in the general interest of society. Once the important role that whistle blowers play in protecting society from unethical practices is recognised, many more will come out to blow the whistle. Silence to such practices leads to complacency as the vices eat up our resources and moral fabric. The society needs to come to the realisation that corrupt practices need to be nipped in the bud because they are bad for society. This will eventually reduce the repercussions suffered by the whistle blowers . References Callahan, E.S., et.al. "Integrating Trends in Whistleblowing and Corporate Governance: Promoting Organizational Effectiveness, Societal Responsibility and Employee Empowerment", American Business Law Journal. #40. 2002. pp 177-215. Jubb, Peter. "Whistleblowing: A Restrictive Definition and Interpretation", Journal of Business Ethics. #21.1999. pp 77-94. Kaplan, E. "The International Emergence of Legal Protections for Whistleblowers". Journal of Public Inquiry. Fall/Winter, 2001. pp 37-42. King, Granville. "The Implications of an Organization's Structure on Whistleblowing". Journal of Business Ethics. #20. 1999. pp 315-26. Miceli, M.P. & J.P. Near. "Whistleblowing: Myth and Reality". Journal of Management. #22. 1996. pp 507-527. Meithe, T. Whistleblowing at Work: Tough Choices in Exposing Fraud, Waste and Abuse on the Job. Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press. 1999. Robert Longley, The Plight of Whistleblowers, Terminated Parks Police Chief tells her own story, Available at http://usgovinfo.about.com/od/rightsandfreedoms/a/whistler.htm, Accessed on September 23 2008 Tammelleo, A. David, NY: 'whistle-blower' nurse terminated: court fails to find retaliatory termination, Available at http://www.allbusiness.com/sector-54/professional-services-legal/1186489-1.html, Accessed on September 23 2008 Read More