The Paradoxes of Whistleblowing
Tue, 16 Oct 2012 16:54:00 BST
On 8 October 2012, FEGReG welcomed Dr Wim Vandekerckhove from the University of Greenwich Business School to discuss whistleblowing.
In his view, research has until now focused primarily on trying to profile the whistleblower, and it is time research attention shifted towards those who hear and receive employee concerns in the workplace. Wim gave an overview of research relevant to the ‘management side of whistleblowing’, as well as discussing his own work in that light. The seminar was structured around three paradox-formulations of issues for research:
- whistleblowing policies only work in organisations that do not need them;
- anonymous whistleblowing is what people want, but not what they need;
- whistleblowing rights are duties.
Zakiyah Sharif, a Malaysian PhD student researching the whistleblowing intentions of internal auditors, described the seminar as “really valuable”, since it provided her with insights into the possible obstacles that a person may face in attempts to blow the whistle and the efforts that can be taken by management teams to help the practice succeed.
