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Whistleblowing: role of organizational culture in prevention and management.

Article Excerpt
Whistleblowing is an effort by a member or past member of an organization to deliver a warning to the public concerning a serious wrongdoing or danger created or masked by the organization (Ahern & McDonald, 2002; Bolsin, Faunce, & Oakley, 2005; Davis & Konishi, 2007). Whistleblowing results from a malfunction of the ethical environment of the organization to focus on its accountability for the safety and welfare of the patients. Individuals believe they must take a stand for the wrongdoing in the organization. Organizations that wish to protect themselves from public embarrassment stemming from whistleblowing need to establish a sound ethical culture. In this article, the type of organizational culture that would prevent the need for whistleblowing, as well as mechanisms to manage the whistleblowing process when it is needed, will be addressed. In a previous article on whistleblowing, I discussed the ethical justifications for the action, information on legal protections, and ways to reduce the risks and negative consequences often experienced by the whistleblower (Lachman, 2008).

What Does the Literature Say Is Important?

Several authors suggest ways to structure the organization to eliminate the need for whistleblowing, with discussion of needed polices to manage whistleblowing internally (Callahan, Dworkin, Fort, & Schipani, 2002; Grant, 2002; Greene & Latting, 2004; Near & Dworkin, 1998; Weiss, 1998). Grant (2002) indicated a belief that whistleblowing would not be necessary if the organization provided a safe way to discuss and manage ethical concerns. An organizational system needs to be transparent to be effective; the primary reason people do not report wrongdoing is that they think nothing would be done to rectify the situation (Near, Rehg, Van Scotter, & Miceli, 2004). Weiss (1998) presented steps to manage employee concerns by developing internal grievance procedures, encouraging and rewarding use of these procedures, appointing senior executives to be responsible for investigating and reporting wrongdoing, and assessing large fines for illegal actions. Near and Dworkin (1998) suggested that a more pragmatic option would be to have legal protection for whistleblowers, unlike the existing laws that fail to protect the individuals. Stories of ruined careers, stress-related illness, and even broken marriages abound in the literature about the impact of whistleblowing.

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