8/7/2019 Whistleblowing an athical dilemma

1/5

WHISTLEBLOWING: AN ETHICAL DILEMMAJoan K. Pierson,Karen A. Forcht,Ben M. Bauman

Information and Decision Sciences DepartmentJames Madison University

Harrisonburg, Virginia, USA

ABSTRACTBecause most organizations depend on computer systems that electronically store important data toperform crucial business functions, the integrity of these information systems is paramount. Securingcompany systems, however, is not always an easy task. More sophisticated systems often providewidespread access to computer resources and increased user knowledge, which ma y lead to addeddifficulties in maintaining security. This paper explores whistleblowing-employees' exposing illegal orunethical computer practices taking place in the organization~as a method of computer security and thesupport for whistleblowing found in codes of ethical conduct formulated by professional societies.

INTRODUCTIONWhistleblowing is the term applied to the reporting by employees of illegal, immoral, or illegitimatepractices under the control of their employers to parties who can take corrective action (Elliston1985). Whistleblowing is a controversial organizational issue. On the positive side, whistleblowerscan help organizations correct unsafe products or working conditions and curb fraudulent or wastefulpractices. Whistleblowers may provide a previously underutilized source of information critical inmaintaining the performance of large complex organizations (Ewing 1983, Miceli & Near 1985).Conversely, whistleblowers may threaten an organization's authority structure, cohesiveness, andpublic image (Weinstein 1979). Despite the problems, there is an increased interest on the part ofmanagers in the issue of whistleblowing and how to handle such incidents (Bamett 1993, Ewing1983, Keenan 1988a, Rowe & Baker 1984).Codes of ethics provide guidance for professionals in such fields as accounting, law, engineering,medicine, and education, as well as in information systems. This paper examines support forwhistleblowing found in codes of ethics formulated by computer-related professional societies.

ATTITUDES TOWARDWHISTLEBLOWINGMost studies on whistleblowing address the topic in a general manner-there are few publishedreports of research activities that concentrate on computer-related incidents. Research in the area ofwhistleblowing is difficult because the presence of organizational blocks aimed at thwartingwhistleblowing also serve to block inquiry from outsiders (Parmerlee, Near, & Jensen 1982). Mostmanagers and employees personally approve of the practice of whistleblowing, although managersappear to be slightly less empathetic on the issue than do employees. In a study conducted byKeenan, 96% of the employees and 87% of the managers indicated their personal approval ofwhistleblowing (Keenan 1988b). Those results are similar to earlier studies (United States MeritSystems Protection Board 1981). Most managers and employees also believe that whistleblowing isin the best interest of the company. Employees were again slightly more positive than the managersabout thebenefits to a company of whistleblowing in Keenan's study.Deciding to Report WrongdoingIt appears that the majority of personnel, regardless of whether they are managers or not, havewitnessed some sort of wrongdoing in the workplace (Keenan 1988b). Most such incidents are notreported. A few research studies have examined factors affecting the decision of an observer toreport wrongdoing. Ignoring wrongdoing is an expected response since ignoring observedorganizational problems is the standard or norm.

58 AJIS

8/7/2019 Whistleblowing an athical dilemma

2/5

Miceli and Near note that the observer's sense that he or she can be manipulated is another factor thatreduces the likelihood that the incident will be reported-employees with a sense of powerlessness arenot likely to jeopardize their careers. Inactive observers, those who choose not to blow th e whistle,tend to be low paid, h igh ly educated, supervisory "fast-trackers." Th ey may be more likely thanwhistleblowers to ha ve "lofty executive ambitions." Observers who have impressive evidence ofserious wrongdoing are more likely to blow th e whistle than those who do not. Observers are alsomore likely to blow the whistle if the observed wrongdoing has a direct effect on them personallythan if it does not. Miceli and Near found no support for the hypothesis th at whistleblowers wh o useinternal communications channels for whistleblowing (rather than external channels) are members oforganizations that use more ex tensive m etho ds to comm unica te informa tion about wrongdoing andwh istleblowing th an other organizations. It appears th at employee decisions on wh ether to blow th ewhistle are not affected by their organizations' successful attempts at communication. Th e study didfind, however, that whistleblowers were more knowledgeable of the presence of internalwhistleblowing channels than were inactive observers (Miceli & Near 1985). Barnett found arelationship b etween the existence of forma l disclosure policies or procedures and th e nu mb er ofwhistleblowing actions (Bamett, Cochran, & Tay lor 1993). Observers are more likely to blow th ewhistle if they believe that w histleb low ing in general is ethical (Hauserman 1986).Reactions a ffecting decisions on wh ether to report problems in an organization include fear ofreprisal, loyalty to the company, privacy and personal control, lack of skills in effective disputing,and a belief that it is pointless (Rowe & Baker 1984). Often, whistleblowing is viewed as a threat tohierarchical auth ority. Policym akers may wan t to discourage frivolous wh istleblowing but notlegitimate complaints (Parmerlee, Near, & Jensen 1982). In some organizations interested inexploring legitimate complaints, ombudsman systems have been set up in which a senior executiveoperating outside th e normal chain of command is available to deal with employee grievances andconcerns on a confidential basis (Brody 1986).Th e fear of personal reprisal is a common thread running through th e published reports ofwhistleblowing research. Whistleblowing statutes with th e dual purpose of protecting whistleblowersand encouraging whistleblowing have been passed in many states. They do not appear to be havingthe desired effects; but they m ay b e h aving an una nticipated, positive influen ce on some companiesto change their policies, thereby reducing the incidence of cases brought by whistleblowers whomake retaliation charges against their employers (Dw orkin, Morehead, and Near 1987).Whistleblowing in the Computer EnvironmentIn one of the few research studies of whistleblowing in the computer environment, informationsystems professionals' attitudes toward whistleblowing were found to be similar to those referencedin research on wh istleblowing tha t was not limited to com puter environ me nts. Ninety-six percentapproved of whistleblowing and 92% agreed with the statement that whistleblowing is in the bestinterest of the organization. Other findings indicate that only 58% felt it is possible to protect awhistleblower from reprisal. Thirty-three percent responded that protection is probably or definitelynot possible. Yet the majority of the information systems professionals believed that employeesshould be encouraged to act as whistleblowers (75%) bu t that monetary rewards should not be given(73%) (Pierson and Forcht 1990).Nearly 40% of the information sy stems professionals in the study believe that their organizations donot provide as m uch encou ragem ent for whistleblow ing as is needed; 39% think that the level ofencouragement is adequate; 21% stated that they are not sure whether the level of encouragement isappropriate. The respondents were mu ch more confident of their own knowledge about w hen to blowthe whistle on unethical or illegal computer use than they were of the abilities of other employees intheir organization. Ab out 66% of the respondents felt confident of their own knowledge about wh ento blow the whistle, whereas only 20% felt confident about other employees knowing w hen to blowthe whistle. In addition, approximately 67% believe that their organizations do not disseminateenough inform ation about w he n to blow the wh istle on comp uter misuse (Pierson and Forcht 1990).

ETHICAL STANDARDS OF C O N D U C TOne of the disturbing facts brought out in the study on whistleblowing in the computer environmentis the evidence of lack of organizational policies or procedures outlining ethical and legal use ofcomputers or the lack of awareness of such policies and procedures. On ly 38% of the respondents inSeptember 1993 59

8/7/2019 Whistleblowing an athical dilemma

3/5

8/7/2019 Whistleblowing an athical dilemma

4/5

The three largest information systems professional organizations have ethical codes for theirmembers that provide support for a potential whistleblower. The three organizations are the DataProcessing Mana gem ent Association, the Association for Com puting Mach inery, and the Institute forCertification of Comp uter Professionals. The p ertinent guidelines in the three codes are noted below.

Th e Data Processing Management Association (DPMA) is a worldwideorganization. Its mission is "to advocate effective, responsiblemanagement of information to the benefit of its members, employers, andth e business community." Tw o guidelines in its Code of Ethics andStandards of Conduct are of particular interest. One refers to theobligation of informa tion systems professionals to their employers to"protect employer's interests at all times." A second cites a responsibilityto the professional o rganization or its mem bers to "take action againstothers' unethical conduct."The Association for Com puting Machinery is the largest professionalorganization in the information systems indu stry. The standards of theorganization are set forth in the ACM Code of Ethics and ProfessionalConduct in which is specified an obligation to the professionalorganization to "uphold and promote the Code" and to "agree to takeaction to remedy if the Code is violated."Th e Institute for Certification of Computer Professionals (ICCP) offerscertification for information systems professionals. Th e certificatesoffered are Associate Com pu ter Professional, Certified Com puterProgramm er, C ertified System s Professional, and C ertified in DataProcessing. As an obligation to the profession, the ICCP's Code ofConduct holds m emb ers responsible to "report violations of the Code;testify in ethical proceedings; and serve on panels to judge."

The responsibilities noted in the th ree ethical codes are clear in their intent: unethical and illegalactions should be reported.CONCLUSION

Information systems are of increasing importance to organizations. Protection of these importantassets becomes more difficult as the percentage of employees using information systems increases.In a perfect world, there would be no need for whistleblowers. For now, managers of informationsystems mu st utilize all meth ods available to control risks. W histleblow ing is one method.It is unfortunate that the term "whistleblowing" is the one chosen to describe an action taken in goodfaith by an employee and in accordance with personal and professional codes of proper conduct.However, organizations should be aware of the circumstances in which it is appropriate to reportwrongdoing and the long-term benefits of these actions.Standards of ethical conduct established by professional computer-related societies can helpemployees in decisions of whether or not to blow the whistle on improper conduct Public andprivate organizations should ensure that standards clearly setting forth employee obligations forcomputer usage are adopted and w idely distributed. Not only do such ethical standards renderguidance for determining ethical, moral, and legal behavior, they provide support in casewhistleblowing is the only alternative.

REFERENCESBarker, Richard A . (1993), "An Evalua tion of the Eth ics Program at General D ynamics," Journal of

Business Ethics, Vol 12, No 3, pp 165-177.Bamett, Tim, Cochran, Daniel S., and Taylor, G. Steph en (1993) "The Internal Disclosure Policies ofPrivate Sector Em ployees: An Initial Look at Their Relationship to EmployeeWhistleblowing," Journal of Business Ethics, Vol 12, No 2, pp 127-136.

September 1993 61

8/7/2019 Whistleblowing an athical dilemma

5/5

Bomm er, Michael, Gratto, Clarence, Gravander, Jerry, and Tuttle, Mark (1987) "A Behavior Modelof Ethical and U neth ical Decision M aking," Journal of Business Ethics, Vol 6, pp 265-280.Brody, Michael (1986) "Listen to you r Wh istleblower," Fortune, Vol 114, pp 77-78.Charney, Scott (1992) "The Justice Department Responds to the Grow ing Threat of ComputerCrime," Computer Security Jour nal, Vol VIII, No 2, pp 1-12.Dworkin, Terry Morehead, and Near, Janet P. (1987) "Whistleblowing Statutes: Are They Working,"American Business Law Journal, Vol 25, pp 241-264.Elliston, F. A., (1982) "Civil Disobedience and Whistleblowing: A Com parative Appraisal of TwoForms of Dissent," Journal of B usiness Ethics, Vol 1, pp 167-177.Ewing, D. W. (1983) Do It My Way--0r You're Fired, New Y ork: John Wiley and Sons.Fimbel, Nan cie and Bu rstein, Jerome S. (1990) "D efining the Eth ical Standards of the H igh-Technology Industry,"Journal of Business Ethics, Vol 9, pp 929-948.Gordon, Richard (1992) "The Long Road to Responsible Com puting," Computer Security Journal,

Vol VIII, No l.pp 69-80.Hauserman, John L. (1986) "Whistleblowing: Individual Morality in a Corporate Society," BusinessHorizons, Vol 29, No 4, pp 28-38.Keenan, John P. (1988a) "Communication Climate, Wh istleblow ing, and the First-Level Manager: APreliminary Study," Aca dem y of Managem ent Best Papers Proceedings, pp 247-251.Keenan, John P., (1988b) "Comparing Employee and Managerial W histleblowing: A PreliminaryStudy and Evaluation," Proceedings, An nua l Na tional Co nference of the Council onEmployee Responsibilities and Rights, October, Virginia Beach, Virginia.Malone, David (1993) "The Ethical Issues of A utom ated Information Processing," Journal ofComputer Inform ation Systems, Vol XXXIII, No 3, pp 82-84.

Miceli, M. P. and Near, J. P. (1985) "Characteristics of Organizational Climate and PerceivedW rongdoing Associated with Wh istleblowing Decisions," Personnel Psychology, Vol 38,No 3, pp 525-544.Oz, Effy (1992), "Ethical Standards for Information Sys tems Professionals: A Case for a UnifiedCode," MIS Quarterly, Vol 16, No 4, pp 423-433.

Parmerlee, Marcia A., Near, Janet P., and Jensen, Tamila C. (1982), "Correlates of Whistleblowers'Perceptions of O rganizational Retaliation," Adm inistrative Science Quarterly, Vol 27, pp17-34.

Pierson, J. K., and Forcht, Karen (1990) "Whistleblowing as a Computer Abuse Countermeasure,"Data Security Management,New York: Auerbach Publishers.Rowe, M. P. and Baker, M. (1984) "Are You Hearing En ough Employee C oncerns?" HarvardBusiness Review, Ma y-June, pp 27-35.United States Merit Sy stems Protection Board (1981) W histleblow ing and the FederalEmployee, Wash ington: Gov ernment Printing Office.Vitell, Scott J. and Davis, Donald L. (1990) "E thical Beliefs of MIS Professionals: The Frequency

and Opportunity for Unethical Behavior," Journal of Business Ethics, Vol 9, pp 63-70.Weinstein, D. (1979) Burea ucratic Opp osition,NewYork: Pergamon Press.

62 AJIS