Leading University,Sylhet

Assignment on

“Whistle Blowing’’

Course Title: Business Ethics and corporate Social Responsibilities

Course Code: BUS-350

Prepared For

Shantono Hasan

Lecturer

Department of Business Administration

Leading University Sylhet

Prepared by

Name ID Number
Abdullah 1202010006
Bishnu Sutradhar 1202010011
Atikur Rahman 1202010012
Aninda Acharjee 1202010015
Thowkir Ahmed 1202010016
Sourav Datta Choudhury 1101010136

BBA 31st batch , Sec – ( A )

Executive Summery

Whistle blowing is when an employee raises a concern about wrongdoing or malpractice in the
workplace that has a public interest aspect to it. Officially this is called ‘making a disclosure in the
public interest’. GOV.UK defines whistle blowing as “when a worker reports suspected wrongdoing
at work”. These wrongdoings can be related to a range of issues, such as social care and clinical
failings, financial mismanagement and environmental damage. Whistle blowing is important to
protect and reassure the workforce, and to maintain a healthy working culture and an efficient
organization.

Whistle blowing has become much more high profile in recent years: as well-publicized cases such
as Hillsborough and the Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust inquiry have shown. A greater
public need for transparency, coupled with wider access to knowledge and information, and its
dissemination through social and other media, mean that there is an increasing scope to uncover
and In the first phase of our work on whistle blowing we evaluated the whistle blowing policies of
39 government bodies and highlighted good practice.

However, having a policy in place is only the first step. For whistle blowing to work, the culture of
an organization needs to support and enable the systems, structures and behaviors through which
it can work effectively
What is Whistle Blowing?

 “Whistle Blowing” is the term used to refer to unauthorized reporting or disclosure of

confidential information in institutional settings
 The whistleblower steps outside the approved channels of communication to disclose
information to an audience who normally would not be entitled to it
 The unauthorized public disclosure of privileged information by an employee to protect the
public interest
 must be unauthorized
 must be public
 must be information the employee has access to by virtue of their job position

What is Whistleblower

Anyone who has and reports insider knowledge of illegal activities occurring in an organization.
Whistleblowers can be employees, suppliers, contractors, clients or any individual who somehow
becomes aware of illegal activities taking place in a business either through witnessing the
behaviour or being told about it. Whistleblowers are protected from retaliation under various
programs created by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the Securities
and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Purpose of Whistle Blowing

 To draw attention to unethical, inappropriate or incompetent conduct which has or may

have detrimental effects either for the institution or for those affected by its functions

 It extends to situations where an individual believes that an activity is harmful while others
involved are not aware of it or reject the perception that is involved

Characteristics of Whistle Blowing

 The whistleblowers are prepared to take full responsibility for their actions

 Implies a concern for the preservation of ethical values which overrides a concern for self-
preservation

 Whistleblowers open themselves to the risk of losing personal and financial security,
counter-accusation and alienation and yet they feel compelled to make the disclosure and
to stand by it
Is whistleblowing Ethical ?

Ethics reflects to the society’s notion about the rightness and wrongness often act.Frm this view

point whistleblowing is ethical because release of non public information as a moral protest

regarding illegal or immortal conduct that is opposed to the public interest.

The act of whistleblowing can cause a conflict of interest between the personal, organizational and

societal spheres. Much of this conflict steams from the context the one views a whistleblower as

someone sharing knowledge of misconduct from the benefit of others or someone which grass and

acting disloyal to their organization. Different perception of ethics and the whistleblowing are given

below

1. Public perception of ethics and whistleblowing : Whistleblowing can be a divisive topic and

while most would agree with the value of reporting wrong doing and condone good

organizational governance external context can colour acceptance and perception.

2. Personal perception of ethics and whistleblowing : The whistleblower is ultimately torn

between loyalty to their employer and their moral commitment to the law and society at

large . any feel they have the most to lose at least in the first instance.It could be argued

that it is incongruous with human nature to display loyalty to a bureaucratic organization.

3. Corporate Perception of ethics and whistleblowing : If an organization has a whistleblowing

hotline in place they should not be complacent when its comes to its usage and

communication if a company doesn’t receive many whistleblowing reports they shouldn’t

assume that no news is good news.

Ethical Issues Related To Whistle Blowing

Whistle-blowing is a conflicting subject in terms of employee loyalty. On one side whistle-

blowing can be seen as disloyal and on another, loyal. It is often assumed that employees have a

vow to protect the dealings of the organization. Ravishankar (2010) stated that an arbitrator in a

1972 case told an employee that it is wrong to bite the hand that feeds you. There are some

employees that are labelled as an “informer” which is unacceptable in some cultures. They may

also be called untrustworthy and a trouble maker. Disloyalty arises when the person has ulterior

motives. He may not be seeking to help the organization; but to manipulate the system in order to

gain benefits like incentives, recognition or promotion.

Some researchers argue that it is impossible to associate loyalty with an abstract entity. The

organization does not have a mind of its own; instead, it is made of individuals working towards the

same goal. Loyalty depends on ties that demand self-sacrifice with no expectation of reward, e.g.,

the ties of loyalty that bind a family together the second is that the relation between a company

and an employee does not involve any surrender of self-interest on the part of the company, since

its primary goal is to maximize profit. Indeed, although it is convenient, it is misleading to talk of a

company having interests. Since, then, the relation between a company and an employee does not

fulfill the minimal requirement of being a relation between two individuals, much less two

reciprocally self-sacrificing individuals, it is felt that it is a mistake to suggest the employee has any

duties of loyalty to the company. Loyalty does not imply that we have a duty- to refrain from

reporting the immoral actions of those to whom we are loyal. An employer who is acting immorally

is not acting in their own best interests and an employee is not acting disloyally in blowing the
whistle, in reality, the argument can be made that the employee who blows the whistle may be

demonstrating greater loyalty than the employee who simply ignores the immoral conduct, as he is

attempting to prevent his employer form engaging in self-destructive behaviour.

Second, loyalty requires that, whenever possible, in trying to resolve a problem we deal

directly with the person to whom we are loyal. Thus, for example, a father might be loyal to a child

even though the child is guilty of stealing from him, but this would not mean that the father should

let the child continue to steal. Similarly, an employee may be loyal to an employer even though she

takes steps to protect herself against unfair retaliation by the employer, e.g., by blowing the whistle

externally. Loyalty, however, goes beyond considerations of justice in that, while it is possible to be

disinterested and just, it is not possible to be disinterested and loyal. Loyalty implies a desire that

the person to whom one is loyal take no moral stumbles, but that if moral stumbles have occurred

that the person be restored and not simply punished.

When Whistle Blowing morally Justified?

When the firm through a policy or product will commit serious harm to the public (as consumers

or bystanders), the employee should report the firm.

When the employee identifies a serious threat to those who may be harmed, he or she should

report it and state his or her moral concern.

When the employee’s direct supervisor does not act, the employee should use the internal

procedures and chain of command up to the board of directors.

The employee must have documented evidence that is convincing to a reasonable, impartial

observer that his or her view of the situation is accurate and that the firms’ practice, product, or

policy seriously threatens and puts in danger the public and/or product user.

The employee must have valid reasons to believe that revealing the wrong doing to the public will

result in the necessary changes to remedy the situation. The chance of succeeding must be equal to

the risk and danger the employee takes to blow the whistle.
 Stages of Whistleblowing incident

 Gather your evidence: stick to the facts and be specific about the particular risks you are
concerned about.
 Get the tone right: express yourself in a low key, professional manner, however angry and
distressed you might be.
 Specify your duty of care: relate it to your particular professional code if you are covered by one.
 Be positive: state what you think should be done, as well as pointing to what should not be
happening.
 Follow procedures: make sure you know how you are supposed to raise a concern.
 Create a paper trail: keep notes of all relevant conversations and keep a file of all written
communication sent and received.
 Work with others: you might have no choice but to go alone, but you will be more effective and
less vulnerable if you can raise concerns collectively.
 Pose potential solutions: if possible, set out what you think should be done as well as
highlighting the problem.
 Keep it on the record: if you receive assurances of action in response place these on the record.
If you are met with silence or receive threats in response, place that on the record too, always
professionally and in a low key.
 Be balanced: how quickly and in what ways you escalate concerns should depend on how urgent
or serious they are.
 Seek allies: look for friends and allies to share the burden with.
 Conclusion

In concluding, it is necessary to outline that whistle blowing can be both good as well as it

may be harmful to an organization. What is of outmost importance is the motive behind an

employee blowing the whistle. If it is done out of genuine concern for the public then it is good for

the organization. However if the employee does it to get back at a supervisor or a fellow employee

it may be detrimental to the companies wellbeing.