Discussion – Whistleblowing

Discussion – Whistleblowing

Whistleblowing is an act of exposing an unethical or illegal action that may be taking place within an organization (Weiss, 2014). One of the recent popular cases of whistleblowing was Edward Snowden’s reveal of the United States government’s surveillance of private information. Snowden was an employee of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), where he copied and leaked information that was classified to the public, showing that the government has surveillance programs without people’s knowledge.

In a situation such as Snowden’s, I would feel pressured not to report such information. The government is a powerful body, and the consequences of such actions can be dire. This would not only mean losing the job but also possibly facing serious criminal charges. For instance, Snowden was termed a traitor and was forced to seek asylum in Russia. In spite of the challenges associated with the situation, Snowden chose to reveal the secrets of the government to help people protect their private information.

An organization’s code of ethics can influence my decision in a whistleblowing situation. If an organization is openly against unethical behaviors and has policies to protect whistleblowers, then I would be more willing to make a report. However, the situation above would not be influenced much by the ethics. If the organization that supports the whistleblower is doing an unethical activity, then it would be less likely to help the whistleblower. It is easier to be a whistleblower and promote ethical behavior in an organization that is likely to support one’s actions and take it as a step to improve their practices rather than one that takes a whistleblower as an enemy of the organization.

References

Weiss, J. W. (2014). Business ethics: A stakeholder and issues management approach. Berrett-Koehler Publishers.

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Discussion – Whistleblowing

Your text discusses whistleblowing by offering examples of people who paid with their lives to those who were rewarded handsomely for whistleblowing.
For this discussion, choose one of the following three scenarios:

• A real-life example of whistleblowing with which you are personally familiar.
• A case of whistleblowing you know about from a text or other source.
• A hypothetical example of something to which we can all relate. For example, catching another learner cheating.

In your post:

• Explain whether you did or would feel pressure not to report what you know. Explain why this is so.
• Explain what you did, what was done, or what you would do ultimately in your chosen scenario.
• Describe whether codes of ethics, such as those in schools or the military, that require reporting of unethical behavior would influence your decision.

In preparation for this discussion, you may want to review Case 3 on pages 113-119 of your text concerning the Ford Pinto.