Whistleblowing

Why Do People and Organizations Practice Cancel Culture?

How Does it Play Out? Canceling someone typically consists of a group publicly shaming an individual, followed by the refusal to engage with that person in any capacity. In other words, it’s collectively not talking or working with someone in any capacity. In the workplace, canceling can have enormous effects because it could mean a […]

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What You Should Do if Your Boss Asks You to Do Something Illegal/Unethical

Weighing the Harms and Benefits of Alternative Actions We would like to think that organizations run their businesses ethically and, for the most part, this is true. However, there may be circumstances when a supervisor asks you to do something illegal or unethical. There are a variety of reasons this could occur including: Examples of

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What Motivates Someone to Blow the Whistle?

Do Whistleblower Awards Lead to More Whistleblowing? The ethics of whistleblowing is a tricky matter. Whistle-blowing brings two moral values, fairness and loyalty, into conflict. Doing what is fair or just (e.g., promoting an employee based on talent alone) often conflicts with showing loyalty (e.g., promoting a longstanding but unskilled employee). Taken to its extreme

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Corporate Governance Failures at Boeing

The Company Failed to Walk the Talk of Ethics I have previously blogged about the failures at Boeing in production systems, inspections, internal audits, a safety culture, and reporting to the board of directors. One lingering question is: Why didn’t the board of directors at Boeing act to disclose the problems with the production design and manufacturing

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What Should Be Included in an Organization’s Code of Ethics?

Setting an Ethical Tone at the Top I have previously blogged about the importance of having a code of conduct for all organizations. A code of conduct establishes the ethical principles upon which the behavior of employees will be judged. It helps to distinguish right from wrong. A code provides guidelines on reporting wrongdoing, and so much

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Is Whistleblowing a Moral Act?

One’s Motive for Acting is the Key Is whistleblowing a moral practice? Different views exist on this important issue. Generally, the act of whistleblowing should be motivated by good intentions – i.e., to right a wrong. On the other hand, if the motive is to gain a financial reward or retaliate against a company for

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What Does the Fraud at FTX Mean for You?

Transparency and Ethics Are the Keys to Holding the Cryptocurrency Markets Accountable? FTX was considered to be a very stable point in a very volatile world. Having them collapse or having them conduct fraudulent activity that is what’s really shocking many people and having a huge negative effect on the entire crypto world. From time

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WHY GEN Z IS LEAST LIKELY TO REPORT WORKPLACE MISCONDUCT

THE IMPORTANCE OF WHISTLEBLOWING POLICIES In a recent study by Ethisphere it was stated that younger workers are more willing to report workplace misbehavior than workers from other generations, yet they are less likely to report it. The reason given is that they lack confidence in their employer’s anti-retaliation policies. In other words, they fear that by

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Creating a “Speak Up Culture” in the Workplace

Reporting Wrongdoing Enhances Workplace Ethics I have previously blogged about the speak up culture, a phenomenon that broadly encourages employees to bring matters of concern to top management so that corrective action can be taken when warranted. What is a Speak Up Culture? Tanya Finnie addresses the issue in a LinkedIn post. She says: “speak

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What is the “Speak Up Culture” in the Workplace?

Relationship to the “Cancel Culture” I was glancing through LinkedIn posts and found one by Tanya Finnie about the Speak Up Culture. Having blogged many times before about the cancel culture, I was intrigued to find out more about the speak up culture and its relationship to cancel culture. “Speak up culture” refers to a

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