Buisness Ethics

1. Presented By:
Kanwar Sachit Singh
Kartik Kapoor
Manish Jounwal

2. A whistleblower is defined as someone who exposes
wrongdoing, fraud, corruption or mismanagement.
• A whistleblower is a person who alleges misconduct
• Most whistleblowers are Internal whistleblowers, who report
misconduct to a fellow employee or superior within their company.
• External whistleblowers, however, report misconduct to outside
persons or entities like Media
• Whistle blowing is a strong means to deter corporate wrong doing

3. • Fairway Electric is among the most reputed companies in US
market for building nuclear power plants
• Jim Bower, loyal employee of Fairway Electric, accidentally
comes across an old Fairway report regarding a flaw in the
design of the Radon II reactor
• While it didn’t amount to a safety hazard, the flaw would’ve
resulted in additional costs for customers

4. • Jim brings the issue to the notice of his boss Bob, 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 the media
• This results in a public outcry and damages the reputation
of the company
• Jim’s peers say they don’t wish to work with him
• At the end there is a talk of transfer/firing Jim

5. • Clients were kept in the dark about the structural
flaw even when Fairway became aware of it
• The additional costs resulting from the flaw would
not be borne by the company customers and the rate
payers
• Ken’s reaction to Jim’s discovery was to hush up the
entire matter as soon as possible

6. •
Ken’s priorities seemed to be focused on avoiding
any short term losses and not on company values
•
The identity of the whistle-blower was not kept
confidential and became common knowledge to
everyone in the company
•
No attempt was made to make the situation easier
for Jim, instead Ken directs Bob to transfer Jim to
another division to avoid any problems

7. •
Whistle blowing makes the organisation more responsible
•
Employees following unethical practices are caught and
actions can be taken on them
•
Companies having sound whistle blower policy are fined
much less in case of any stray event happening
•
Employees prefer using internal channel to highlight the
problem than taking it to outside media
•
Increased employee satisfaction as all instances of neglect is
noticed and acted upon
•
Helps strengthen employees as well as the customers trust

8. •
Whistle blowing can often bring to light issues
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 whole society
•
Having a whistleblower policy framework in place
keeps an internal check on the organization

9. •
Establish staff confidence that their issues will 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 to internal complaints
•
Promote organization's code of conduct
•
Switch from an internally operated anonymous tip hotline to one
that is managed by an outside party

10. •
Virtue ethics : Jim Bover
•
Teleological (Utilitarian) approach : Bob & Ken
•
Rationalizations :
o
“Best interest of the company”
o
“Not really illegal (no safety hazard)”
o
It is “safe” and will not be caught

11. ◦ US: Whistleblower Protection Act of 1989, Corporate and
Criminal Fraud Accountability Act
◦ UK: Public Interest Disclosure Act of 1998
◦ India:

Public Interest Disclosure (Protection of Informers) Bill,
2009 was prepared by the department of personnel
and training (DoPT),

Central Agency (per Public Interest Disclosures and
Protection of Informers Resolution, 2004): CVC