"A whistleblower (also written as whistle-blower or whistle blower) is a person, often an employee, who reveals information about activity within a private or public organization that is deemed illegal, immoral, illicit, unsafe or fraudulent."
The importance of leaders to establish a culture of ethics and encourage employees to speak up when they witness behavior that violates ethical standards.
Whistleblowing: Whistleblowing refers to exposing or reporting illegal, unethical, or immoral activities within an organization to the appropriate authorities. It involves taking a legal and ethical stand against wrongdoing and can have serious consequences for the whistleblower.
Ethical Leadership: Ethical leadership refers to the practice of leading with moral principles, values, and standards. It involves acting responsibly, ethically, and with integrity, and creating an environment in which others are encouraged to do the same.
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR): CSR is a business model that involves taking responsibility for the social, ethical, and environmental impacts of a company's operations. It involves a commitment to sustainability, philanthropy, and ethical business practices.
Code of Ethics: A code of ethics is a set of guidelines and standards that govern the behavior of employees within an organization. It outlines the ethical principles and values that the organization expects its employees to adhere to.
Whistleblower Protection: Whistleblower protection refers to the legal and ethical safeguards that protect whistleblowers from retaliation for reporting illegal or unethical activities within an organization. These protections vary by country and jurisdiction.
Ethical Decision Making: Ethical decision making involves evaluating the ethical implications of a decision or action and making choices that align with one's moral principles and values. It requires critical thinking, moral reasoning, and a commitment to doing the right thing.
Whistleblower Hotlines: A whistleblower hotline is a confidential reporting mechanism that allows employees to report illegal, unethical, or immoral activities within an organization anonymously. It provides a safe and secure way for employees to raise concerns without fear of retaliation.
Corporate Governance: Corporate governance refers to the system of rules, practices, and processes that govern the operation of a company. It involves establishing clear lines of authority, accountability, and transparency, and ensuring that the company operates in an ethical and responsible manner.
Transparency: Transparency refers to the practice of openly and honestly communicating information about a company's operations, policies, and practices. It involves providing clear and accurate information to stakeholders, including employees, customers, and investors.
Accountability: Accountability refers to the responsibility that individuals and organizations have for their actions and decisions. It involves taking ownership of mistakes and shortcomings and working to improve and make things right.
Internal whistleblowing: Reporting the ethical misconduct of an employer to a supervisor or manager within the organization.
External whistleblowing: Reporting the ethical misconduct of an employer to a regulatory agency, media organization or any third party outside the organization.
Anonymous whistleblowing: Reporting the ethical misconduct of an employer by concealing the identity of the whistleblower.
Public whistleblowing: Reporting the ethical misconduct of an employer through the media or other public channels.
Retaliation whistleblowing: Retaliating against an employee as a result of his/her whistleblowing activities.
Whistleblowing as a public service: Whistleblowing activity that aims to promote public awareness of ethical misconduct in organizations.
Ethical leadership by example: Leaders who set an example by making ethical decisions and by leading their organizations with integrity.
Ethical leadership by education: Leaders who educate their organization on the importance of ethics and the consequences of unethical conduct.
Ethical leadership by transparency: Leaders who are transparent in their decision-making processes and hold themselves and their organization accountable for their actions.
Ethical leadership in crisis: Leaders who demonstrate their ethical values and principles during times of crisis or uncertainty.
Ethical leadership through rewards and incentives: Leaders incentivize good behavior by rewarding employees for exemplifying ethical behavior.
Ethical leadership by punishment: Leaders punish employees for engaging in unethical behavior.
"Whistleblowers can use a variety of internal or external channels to communicate information or allegations."
"The most common form of retaliation is abrupt termination of employment."
"Several other actions may also be considered retaliatory, including extreme increases in workloads, having hours cut drastically, preventing task completion, or bullying."
"Over 83% of whistleblowers report internally to a supervisor, human resources, compliance, or a neutral third party within the company."
"Whistleblowers can also bring allegations to light by communicating with external entities, such as the media, government, or law enforcement."
"Whistleblowing can occur in either the private sector or the public sector."
"Laws in many countries attempt to protect whistleblowers and to regulate the whistleblowing activities."
"These laws tend to adopt different approaches to public and private sector whistleblowing."
"For their claims to be credible and successful, they must have compelling evidence to support their claims that the government or regulating body can use or investigate to 'prove' such claims and hold corrupt companies and/or government agencies to account."