Business Ethics Exam - Week 10: Whistle Blowing

Business Ethics Exam - Week 10: Whistle Blowing

• Definition of Whistle Blowing: Making public matters that organizations ignore or hide, which constitute a significant moral wrong, such as immediate danger to employees or the public.
• Goals of Whistle Blowing: To expose wrongdoing and potential harm, and to encourage organizational change.
• Characteristics of Whistle Blowing: Whistle blowers often face conflicting obligations and serious consequences. Some see it negatively due to a "Culture of Silence".
• Whistle Blowing Process:
  • Internal attempts to resolve the problem must be made first.
  • The public interest (including fellow employees) must be threatened.
• Edward Snowden: Former NSA employee who leaked classified documents regarding surveillance programs in 2013.
• Snowden's Actions: Snowden acted upon his moral obligation to help free people from oppression, leaking files revealing programs operating without public oversight and violating the Constitution.
• Stages of Whistle Blowing:
  • Internal: Reporting concerns within the organization to attempt to resolve the issue internally.
  • Escalation: Moving up the organizational hierarchy to get action and/or change.
  • External: Seeking outside intervention, such as informing the media, when internal and escalation efforts fail.

Whistle Blowing and Moral Dilemmas

• Complicity and Dirty Hands Problem: Whistleblowers face competing obligations (duty to organization vs. duty to the public), potentially doing something wrong in the process of doing the morally right thing. This conflict is a prominent dilemma for ethical consideration.
• Reflective Equilibrium: Balancing opposing obligations in decision-making.
• Competing Ethical Obligations: Whistleblowers face conflicting moral obligations (e.g., loyalty to the organization vs. preventing harm to others).
• Anticipated Guilt/Guilty Conscience: Motivating factor for whistleblowers; the thought of not preventing harm leads to internal conflict and compels the individual to act.
• The Challenger Shuttle Disaster: The failure to address early warning signs of a potential disaster within the NASA organization was a consequential error that led to many deaths.
• The Oliveri Pharmaceutical Case: A hematologist reported concerns about the potential harm of a drug while working at the Research Ethics Board. She faced challenges and opposition when trying to raise these issues to the public's attention.

Corporate World and Ethics

• Jackall's Rules of Corporate Life: Unwritten rules in the corporate world (e.g., never challenge superiors, avoid causing trouble, etc.) that promote conformity and may impede ethical behavior.
• Conflicts of Interest: A situation in which an individual has competing interests, especially when those interests are not in the best interests of others.

Corporate Governance

• Corporate Governance: The controls put in place to ensure corporations act ethically, legally, and transparently, for the benefit of stakeholders and shareholders.
• Sarbanes-Oxley Act (2002): A US law created to enhance financial recordkeeping and improve corporate accountability and transparency.
• Peso Silver Mines v. Cropper (1966): Court case emphasizing the importance of fiduciary duties and good faith in business dealings.
• Canada Aero Service v. O'Malley (1974): Court case highlighting the fiduciary duty of officers to act in the best interests of the company and not exploit opportunities for personal gain.

Intrinsic Motivators and Avoiding Conflicts of Interest

• Autonomy, Connection & Purpose: Instead of financial incentives, employees are driven and motivated by their own sense of autonomy in their work, feeling connected to the organization, and having a purpose that transcends individual desires only.
• Ethical Risks of Rewards: Rewarding/incentivizing individuals for goals may inadvertently encourage unethical behaviour.
• Intrinsic Motivation: Motivating factors beyond financial incentives, including autonomy, purpose, and connection to work, which can enhance overall productivity and engagement.

Business and the Environment

• Oil Sands (Alberta): The extraction and production of oil in the Alberta oil sands region pose severe environmental and societal challenges to indigenous communities and others.
• Tragedy of the Commons: Depletion of shared resources due to individual self-interest, often leading to overexploitation.
• UK Mushroom Case: Illustrates the challenge of managing finite common resources.

Human Rights and Ethics in Resource Extraction

• Cobalt Mining in the DRC: Mining for cobalt (used in electronics) poses severe ethical and human rights concerns, involving child labor and dangerous conditions.
• Duty to Future Generations: The importance of considering the impact of actions on future generations when making decisions related to the environment and other shared resources.

Four Key Theories in Ethics

• Utilitarianism emphasizes consequences and promotes actions that maximize overall happiness for the most people.
• Deontology emphasizes duties and rules, regardless of consequences.
• Shareholder Theory (Friedman) emphasizes maximizing shareholder value as the primary role of businesses.
• Stakeholder Theory (Freeman) broadens the focus to include the interests of various stakeholders, beyond only shareholders.

This quiz focuses on the concept of whistle blowing within the context of business ethics. It covers the definition, goals, characteristics, and process of whistle blowing, as well as real-life examples such as Edward Snowden's actions. Test your understanding of these critical ethical issues faced in organizations.