The term ‘whistle-blower’ comes from a whistle that a referee uses to indicate illegal or foul play (Qusqas & kleiner, 2001). In general, whistle-blowing has been defined as the disclosure by organization members of illegal, immoral or illegitimate practices under the control of their employers, to persons or organizations that may be able to rectify the action (Miceli and Near 1992). This definition acknowledges that whistle-blowing is about organizational wrongdoings that can either be made internally or externally (Miceli, 1984), and its main purpose is to rectify corporate wrongdoings and malpractices effectively (Syahrul Ahmar Ahmad et al, 2012). Whistleblowers play an essential and legitimate role in revealing political and organizational crime around the globe. Clearly, whistleblowers have the potential to be important actors in processes that underlie the corporate governance mosaic.
The issues of whistleblowing have widely spread among the corporate misconduct with the discovery of many accountings scandal such as Enron and Word.com that led to the passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act 2002 (Eaton & Akers, 2007). Meanwhile in Malaysia, in line with its commitment to fight corruption and fraud, the Malaysian Parliament has enacted the Whistleblower Protection Act 2010. This Whistleblower Protection Act 2010 was enforced in 2011 and represented a new piece of legislation protecting the rights and identities of persons who report instances of corruption. Thus, by having a mechanism to protect the whistleblower will lead to an increase in the number of corruption complainants. In 2012, 96 individuals were given this protection of identity under the Act right after two years of the enforcement of the Act (Tan Sri Dato’ Seri Zulkefli Ahmad Makinudin, 2013).
There are two types of whistleblowing, which are, internal and external whistleblowing. Internal whistleblowing refers a prescribed act that has a sanction mechanism via internal policy, while external whistleblowing is a disclosure involving public authority, media, and public civil society organization (Park et al, 2014). The various motives may affect the whistleblower’s decision either to blow the whistle internally or externally. External whistleblowing exposes wrongdoing to the public and this would damage the organization’s image. Thus, internal whistleblowing is more often supported by leaders of organization. (Liu et al, 2015)
Words by:
Nur Najiha Binti Jamil Faculty of Business, Hospitality, Accounting & Finance
MAHSA University
In study conducted in Australia by Bobek, Robin and Sweeney (2007), employees were found to be likely to report any wrongdoing in their organizations for three reasons: when they perceive that it would threaten the organization, when it happens frequently, and when it would have serious impacts on them and the country. Besides that, whistleblowing also may detect frauds in institution and help in countering corporate wrongdoing (Kaplan & Schultz, 2007). The employees play an important role for detecting such misconduct by reporting it either internally or externally. Thus, it’s very important to study on the factors influencing employee’s intention to disclose the wrong doing of an organization. In conclusion by having knowledge on whistleblowing intention and factors of it will hinder the practice of illegal, immoral or illegitimate activities in an organization.
References
Anugerah, R., Abdillah, M.R. and Anita, R. (2019) Aunthentic leadership and internal whistleblowing intention: The mediating Role of psychological safety. Journal of Financial Crime. Vol 26 No 2, pp 556-567
Eaton, T.V. and Akers, M.D. (2007). The Evaluation of IT Ethical scenarios Using A Multidimensional Scale. Database for Advances in Information Systems, 32, 1: pp75-85
Salleh, K., & Yunus, N. S. (2015). Encouraging factors for whistleblowing in public sector: Malaysian case evidence. Proceedings of the International Conference on Accounting Studies (ICAS 2015). (August 17-20 August 2015). Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM). Johor, Malaysia
Kaplan, S. E. and Schultz, J. J. (2007). Intentions To Report Questionable Acts: An Examination of The Influence of Anonymous Reporting Channel, Internal Audit Quality and Setting. Journal of Business Ethics, 71, 2: 109-124.
Miceli and Near, (1992) “Whistleblowing: A restrictive Definition and Interpretation” as cited by Jubb,Peter (Aug 1999) Journal of Business Ethics pp83
Park, H., Blenkinsopp, J. and Park, M. (2014), “The influence of an observer’s value orientation and personality type on attitudes toward whistleblowing”, Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 120 No. 1, pp. 121-129.
Liu, S.M., Liao, J.Q. and Wei, H. (2015), “Authentic leadership and whistleblowing: mediating roles of psychological safety and personal identification”, Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 131 No. 1, pp. 107-119.
Ajzen, I, (1991), The Theory of Planned Behaviour. Organizational Behaviour and Human Decision Processes
Ab Ghani, N, (2013). Predicting whistle-blowing intention in Malaysia; Evidence from manufacturing companies. Ph.D. Curtin University, Curtin Graduate School of Business
Nur Najiha Binti Jamil Faculty of Business, Hospitality, Accounting & Finance
MAHSA University
In study conducted in Australia by Bobek, Robin and Sweeney (2007), employees were found to be likely to report any wrongdoing in their organizations for three reasons: when they perceive that it would threaten the organization, when it happens frequently, and when it would have serious impacts on them and the country. Besides that, whistleblowing also may detect frauds in institution and help in countering corporate wrongdoing (Kaplan & Schultz, 2007). The employees play an important role for detecting such misconduct by reporting it either internally or externally. Thus, it’s very important to study on the factors influencing employee’s intention to disclose the wrong doing of an organization. In conclusion by having knowledge on whistleblowing intention and factors of it will hinder the practice of illegal, immoral or illegitimate activities in an organization.
References
Anugerah, R., Abdillah, M.R. and Anita, R. (2019) Aunthentic leadership and internal whistleblowing intention: The mediating Role of psychological safety. Journal of Financial Crime. Vol 26 No 2, pp 556-567
Eaton, T.V. and Akers, M.D. (2007). The Evaluation of IT Ethical scenarios Using A Multidimensional Scale. Database for Advances in Information Systems, 32, 1: pp75-85
Salleh, K., & Yunus, N. S. (2015). Encouraging factors for whistleblowing in public sector: Malaysian case evidence. Proceedings of the International Conference on Accounting Studies (ICAS 2015). (August 17-20 August 2015). Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM). Johor, Malaysia
Kaplan, S. E. and Schultz, J. J. (2007). Intentions To Report Questionable Acts: An Examination of The Influence of Anonymous Reporting Channel, Internal Audit Quality and Setting. Journal of Business Ethics, 71, 2: 109-124.
Miceli and Near, (1992) “Whistleblowing: A restrictive Definition and Interpretation” as cited by Jubb,Peter (Aug 1999) Journal of Business Ethics pp83
Park, H., Blenkinsopp, J. and Park, M. (2014), “The influence of an observer’s value orientation and personality type on attitudes toward whistleblowing”, Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 120 No. 1, pp. 121-129.
Liu, S.M., Liao, J.Q. and Wei, H. (2015), “Authentic leadership and whistleblowing: mediating roles of psychological safety and personal identification”, Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 131 No. 1, pp. 107-119.
Ajzen, I, (1991), The Theory of Planned Behaviour. Organizational Behaviour and Human Decision Processes
Ab Ghani, N, (2013). Predicting whistle-blowing intention in Malaysia; Evidence from manufacturing companies. Ph.D. Curtin University, Curtin Graduate School of Business