Case of Willful Whistle Blower Group8

8/2/2019 Case of Willful Whistle Blower Group8

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Section C, Group 8: Arvind

V (09P130)

Karna Rao P (09P148)Manan Nagori (09P151)

Priyak P (09P156)

Rohit Mehta (09P164)


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A whistleblower is a person who allegesmisconduct

Most whistleblowers are Internal

whistleblowers , who report misconduct to afellow employee or superior within theircompany.

External whistleblowers , however, reportmisconduct to outside persons or entitieslike Media

Whistle blowing is a strong means to deter

corporate wrong doing


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When this right is abused, whistleblowerscan be as unethical as the company thatthey are blowing the whistle on

Views about whistleblowing vary widely frombeing seen as selfless martyrs for publicinterest and organizational accountability; to'dobbers' or "snitches" , solely pursuingpersonal glory and fame


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Fairway Electric is among the mostreputed companies in US market forbuilding nuclear power plants

Jim Bower, loyal employee of FairwayElectric, accidentally comes across an oldFairway report regarding a flaw in thedesign of the Radon II reactor

While it didnt amount to a safety hazard,the flaw wouldve resulted in additionalcosts for customers


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Jim brings the issue to the notice of his bossBob, who turns to the CEO Ken Deaver

Ken tells Bob to suppress the issue Jim then takes matters into his own hand

and anonymously reports the issue to themedia

This results in a public outcry and damagesthe reputation of the company

Jims peers say they dont wish to work withhim

At the end there is a talk of transfer/firin


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Jim is proud of the clean reputation hiscompany enjoys

Shocked by the fact that Fairway decided tokeep the flaw under wraps for so long

Feels morally obligated to make the issuepublic


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He realizes his responsibility towards thesociety

He couldnt stand the idea of duping thecustomers for the organizations gain

He did give a chance to the topmanagement to come clean and wasforced to take a drastic step

He is highly disturbed by the way hishonesty is rewarded


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At the time the flaw was identified, thework had already begun

Fairway had already sold the design tomany clients when the results of thereport came

There was no safety hazard involved The entire division stood to go down if

the flaw was reported There was nothing to be gained and a lotto loose by making the old issue public


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Ken had the companys interest in mind He failed to see the implications of risking the

long established clean reputation of Fairway He was not willing to give in because of past

mistakes and failed to take into account thestakeholders benefit

Ken had covered up the issue when it actuallyhappened, but he even failed to come cleanwhen it was made public by Jim

His behavior was highly unethical

Analysis


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Bob could understand the point of view of both Jim and the CEO, Ken

He had been with Fairway for over 8 years

and had great faith in the company He felt it was not his duty to judge what

happened 15 years earlier

He decided to go ahead with Kensdecision and push his own inhibitionsconcerning ethical implications of theissue aside


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Bob was more practical than passionate His relationship with Ken and his reliance on

his judgment, made him unable to see thesituation from a different angle

He also didnt fulfill his responsibilitytowards Jim as his superior and failed to

assume charge for the matter He is unethical if not doing anything when

you can is unethical

Analysis


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Clients were kept in the dark about thestructural flaw even when Fairway becameaware of it

The additional costs resulting from the flawwould not be borne by the companycustomers and the rate payers

Kens reaction to Jims discovery was tohush up the entire matter as soon aspossible


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Kens priorities seemed to be focused onavoiding any short term losses and not oncompany values

The identity of the whistle-blower was notkept confidential and became commonknowledge to everyone in the company

No attempt was made to make the

situation easier for Jim, instead Ken directsBob to transfer Jim to another division toavoid any problems


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Whistle blowing makes the organisationmore responsible

Employees following unethical practices arecaught and actions can be taken on them

Companies having sound whistle blowerpolicy are fined much less in case of anystray event happening

Employees prefer using internal channel to

highlight the problem than taking it tooutside media Increased employee satisfaction as all

instances of neglect is noticed and actedupon

Helps strengthen employees as well as the


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Whistle blowing can often bring to lightissues which are of great significance

This serves as a way to deter unethical

practices by companies At times, new laws and practices are

introduced which may benefit the wholesociety

Having a whistleblower policy frameworkin place keeps an internal check on theorganization


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Establish staff confidence that their issueswill be taken seriously by management

A clear and well-communicated anti-retribution policy

Staff involvement in the development of policies relating to whistle blowing

Offering prompt and continuous responses tointernal complaints

Promote organization's code of conduct Switch from an internally operated

anonymous tip hotline to one that ismanaged by an outside party


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India Clause 49 of the Listing Agreement -provides for a

non-mandatory requirement for all listed companies toestablish a mechanism called 'Whistle Blower Policy' for

employees to report to the management instances of unethical behavior, actual or suspected, fraud orviolation of the Company's code of conduct or ethicspolicy.

For public sector

The CVC shall, as the Designated Agency, receivewritten complaints or disclosure on any allegation of corruption or of misuse of office by any employee of the Central Government or of any corporationestablished under any Central Act, government

companies, societies or local authorities owned orcontrolled by the Central Government.


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Whistle Blower Policy for TataCompanies

" Reporting Concerns Every employee of a Tata Company shall promptly report to

the management any actual or possible violation of the Codeor an event he becomes aware of that could affect thebusiness or reputation of his or any other Tata Company."

Murugappa group To provide employees, customers and vendors an avenue to

raise concerns, in line with E.I.D.- Parry (India) Limiteds

commitment to the highest possible standards of ethical,moral and legal business conduct and its commitment toopen communication. To provide necessary safeguards forprotection of employees from reprisals or victimization, forwhistleblowing in good faith


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Ingvar Bratt , a former Bofors engineer who revealed himself as theanonymous source in the Bofors Scandal about illegal weapon exports. Anact that led to a new Swedish law concerning company secrets whichcommonly is referred to as Lex Bratt .

Satyendra Dubey , who accused employer NHAI of corruption in highwayconstruction projects in India, in letter to Prime Minister Atal Behari

Vajpayee. Assassinated on November 27, 2003. Enormous media coveragefollowing his death may lead to Whistleblower Act in India

Jeffrey Wigand , a former executive of Brown & Williamson who exposedhis company's practice of intentionally manipulating the effect of nicotinein cigarettes on the CBS news program 60 Minutes. Famously known asthe man who blew the whistle on Big Tobacco and almost single-handedlyrevealed the health dangers of smoking to the public.

S. Manjunath , a formerly manager at Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOCL),and crusader against adulteration of petrol. He was shot dead onNovember 19, 2005, allegedly by a petrol pump owner from Uttar Pradesh


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Documents

Case of Willful Whistle Blower Group8