The awards season is nearly upon us and with it the thrill and promise of those deserving, or otherwise, being recognised for outstanding contributions and $600k dresses. Never to be ones to miss out on a good party, we at Expolink have compiled our own whistleblowing awards.
While by no means an exhaustible list we have gone some way to honouring (and dishonouring) some of the folks who make the world of whistleblowing a more interesting place.
At 15, Enron was just a teenager when, as US’s seventh largest company, it employed 21,000 staff in 40 countries. This success, it transpired, was based on a premise of false accounting and fraud. Sherron Watkins, VP of Corporate Development at Enron was the first on the scene, alerting CEO Kenneth Lay to other whistleblowers and the seismic holes in the company reports. Critics say that Watkins’ actions don’t necessarily constitute whistleblowing as she simply gave her boss a nifty escape route from the impending meltdown – either way, she went on to become one of Times People of the Year, 2002, alongside two other whistleblowers Cynthia Cooper of WorldCom and Coleen Rowley of the FBI.
Among Enron’s dubious accolades of largest audit failure and bankruptcy re-organisation in US history at that time, the play by Lucy Prebble, based on the scandal won a plethora of international awards – so, worked out well for some.
Manning was arrested in May 2010 and charged two months later for supplying an estimated 250,000 diplomatic cables to Wikileaks which were duly republished by several left-leaning papers and on the Wikileaks website. An acquaintance, Adrian Lano, subsequently blew the whistle on Manning, proving that one good turn deserves another. It is unclear whether Manning had any kind of personal relationship with Wikileaks high priest Julian Assange, but his organisation has been vocal in support of Manning’s actions saying he has “single-handedly changed hundreds of thousands of people’s lives for the better.” Conversely, the White House branded his actions as “terrorism”. Assange for his part is embroiled in a legal battle of his own for alleged sexual assault -
Manning’s trial continues…
It seems a little unfair to award one of these prized trinkets to an established actor, but back in July 2011 we were thrilled to discover that Grant had enjoyed a chance encounter with News of the World reporter Paul McMullan and secretly taped admissions of wide-spread phone hacking at the paper. Grant went on to charm all at the Levenson Enquiry and despite being branded as a “screechy, sanctimonious little (bleep)” by the not-at-all screechy Piers Morgan, seems to be enjoying some nice, credible PR and perhaps a little more peace from the press.
Jeffrey Wigand’s whistleblowing endeavours were immortalised in the Russell Crowe vehicle, The Insider. Whilst working at a large tobacco manufacturer Wigand discovered his bosses were manipulating their product blend to increase its addictive capacity. Wigand told all on the US TV show, 60 Minutes, and his employers responded with a law suit to prevent him testifying in open court. The company and others of its ilk were left fuming (ahem) when various states began their own litigations to recoup losses to public health initiatives caused by tobacco-related illness.
See also: Linda Tripp of Clinton/Lewinsky fame. More of a sticky beak than a whistleblower, but makes this list for inciting a hugely divisive argument regarding her motivations for revealing details about the affair. The movie deal it is claimed she was anticipating for her part in the scandal is yet to materialise…
Mark Felt, the whistleblower and former FBI agent was the infamous informant of Washington Post journalists Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward, whom together brought down the Nixon administration. Bernstein and Woodward published a series of articles on the Watergate scandal revealing corrupt activity in the Nixon stable, later a book and inevitably a film, All The President’s Men. Felt’s disclosures lead to Nixon’s resignation and jail sentences for a number of senior White House employees. Felt went by the codename ‘Deep Throat’ and enjoyed anonymity until 2005 when he confessed all in an interview with Vanity Fair, 31 years after Nixon’s resignation.
It is not always the high profile cases that have, or should have, the most enduring legacy. ‘Though Leslie Chapman was well known throughout Britain in the ‘70s, regrettably he is little remembered to this day. As a government employee he took the exceptional step of breaking Civil Service convention, if not the Official Secrets Act, and speaking out through a series of books about waste and extravagance in the British Civil Service. He then broadened his area of concern to local government and nationalised industry and, despite undoubtedly, putting a few noses out of joint along the way, he was deliberately placed on the board of London Transport as a result of his first book of revelation, tasked with rooting out abuses there. The recent raft of MP expenses scandals shows that such activities are still rife, making it all the more unfortunate that Chapman’s legacy is not secured in our national and political psyche and that decent governance systems have not always prevailed.
How has the culture of ethical business changed in the last 25 years?
I am not sure it has actually changed. Companies have simply recognised the need to be more explicit about doing business ethically.
Major developments have been that companies now, in the main, provide guidance to staff about expected behaviours, ways of handling certain situations and so forth, usually in the form of a code of ethics/business practice. This has happened because the ‘job for life’ syndrome where one would learn alongside another employee about how the company worked no longer is the case. People switch careers or companies more frequently and have more diverse backgrounds than 25 years ago, so they need to understand more quickly how the company operates.
What has been the toughest challenge of your career?
The toughest challenge has been to do the right thing even if it meant I went out on a limb! It is rewarding though when doing so is recognised subsequently as having been the right thing to do.
What do you consider your career high points and/or your greatest achievements?
Finding myself at the Institute of Business Ethics which combines my interest in business, seeing it run successfully with education and encouraging people to share best practice – all within a charitable not-for-profit organisation.
If you could set one piece of global legislation to make businesses work more ethically what would it be?
I think if companies had to state in their memorandum and articles of association when they set themselves up how they are going to conduct their business (not just what the company is going to do), a benchmark would be set to measure that company’s performance.
What are the main factors that attract people to working with the IBE?
We are a small, friendly team who work closely with our subscriber base and others who share an interest and passion for the subject. Every day is different so there is no time to get stale!
In terms of ethics, what are your greatest fears for the UK business community?
I fear that cynics will never acknowledge the good that business does and the way, in the majority of cases, that businesses behave. Businesses and companies are human societies in themselves, with well and poorer behaved individuals making up the whole. Sadly, there are some rotten apples but to judge all by the few is unfair.
And your greatest hopes?
My hope is to prove the cynics wrong through businesses providing goods and services and conducting themselves in an open and fair manner that earns the respect and trust of the wider community.
How has the IBE utilised new technologies to progress its work and message?
We have Twitter and Facebook pages and regularly update and review our website; always looking for new ways to improve communication with our subscribers and others interested in the subject. During 2012 we will be introducing webinar events to reach out to those unable to attend our events in person.
The response to the Bribery Act from the business world has been well documented; but from your own point of view, what have been the most significant contentions and concerns with adhering to the legislation?
The legislation, for the most part, is common sense if you wish to stamp out bribery and corruption, which the business world needs to do as it is so corrosive. The most difficult element is how to say ‘no’ to a facilitation payment when you are at the front line and a lot hinges on whether you pay or not. This can be made worse if the payment made actually equates to the official’s salary as the local government knows they can get away with such practice.
Do you think the communications regarding the Bribery Act from the MoJ et al have been adequate?
In general, yes, though clearer practical guidance regarding facilitation payments would have been helpful. The SFO has now issued further guidance on this.
What do you see as the IBE’s main responsibilities when it comes to the Bribery Act?
Ensuring that experiences and practical solutions that companies have, relating to the Act, are shared for the benefit of all.
IBE has always fostered strong academic partnerships – how do you hope this will evolve in the future?
We will continue our annual student essay award, which for the last three years has had an Olympics theme of Ethics, Business and Sport, co-sponsored by the Pierre de Coubertin Committee.
We are also doing research into the Teaching of Business Ethics, an initiative co-led with the Institute of Global Ethics, to encourage the standard setters to include a larger element of teaching business ethics in their criteria for evaluation.
Thirdly, we are encouraging higher education institutions to establish codes of ethics, following up from a publication we did with the Council for Industry and Higher Education a while back. This was picked up on again by Lord Woolf in his recent report on the LSE where he concluded that such institutions should have a code of ethics.
For further info about the IBE visit www.ibe.org.uk
View our interview with David Harris, Head of Business Conduct at BAE Systems.
The ‘Broken Windows’ theory championed by former Mayor of New York, Rudolph Giuliani, promotes an ideology where communities will report or fix a broken window, rectifying even the smallest incidents of wrongdoing, thereby instilling similar responsibilities in others and creating a better environment for all. Advocating whistleblowing within organisations follows a similar premise. By fostering a culture of self-regulation and accountability, management can help ensure their staff and business operations are protected.
Whistleblowing is a valuable tool in any organisation’s corporate governance strategy as it empowers employees to act on incidences of misconduct and help maintain a safe workplace, while protecting profits and reputation.
But is whistleblowing ethical? Such conversations provide great scope for dizzying philosophies – but let’s keep it simple for the moment – surely at base level, altruistically reporting wrongdoing must be ethical? The act of whistleblowing can cause a conflict of interest between the personal, organisational and societal spheres. Much of this conflict stems from the context that one views a whistleblower – as someone sharing knowledge of misconduct for the benefit of others or someone who is a ‘grass’ and acting ‘disloyal’ to their organisation.
Public perception of ethics and whistleblowing
Whistleblowing can be a divisive topic and, while most would agree with the value of reporting wrongdoing and condone good organisational governance, external contexts can colour acceptance and perception. There are elements of chicken and egg as attitudes that are encouraged in the work place extend to the street – if businesses promote good corporate governance for all, whistleblowing needn’t be viewed negatively or as solely the preserve of business or community leaders.
In 2007, a survey commissioned by the US Democracy Corps of 1014 “likely voters” revealed that 70% supported whistleblower protections and 40% stated that they would be much more likely to vote for a congress that enacts such legislation. When we vote, use services or entrust our money with banks we want to know that they are secure and working in our best interests (although the latter example might stick in your throat somewhat!). If an engineer at a water sanitation plant in your area uncovered safety issues we would hope they had ample opportunity to report this without fear of reprisal; avoiding danger and incident and allowing for the company in question to assess and improve their practices.
Personal perception of ethics and whistleblowing
The whistleblower is ultimately torn between loyalty to their employer (or the subject of their revelation) and their moral commitment to the law and society at large. Many feel they have the most to lose, at least in the first instance. It could be argued that it is incongruous with human nature to display loyalty to a bureaucratic organisation because it is composed of so many different people. This dehumanising environment could distort the whistleblower’s perception of their relevance within a company or their ability to influence change, thus degrading their sense of responsibility and motivation to report.
As long as the whistleblower is sure that their motivations are sound and that they are confident in the system they should not hesitate to relay such information and be pleased that they are helping to create a safer working environment for their colleagues.
Whistleblowers and the media have enjoyed a somewhat symbiotic relationship. ‘Though agendas and motivations may vary, they share the ambition of exposing wrongdoing and encouraging changes in systems that aren’t working in the interests of those they are supposed to protect. Recent high profile cases, such as the care homes scandal, are excellent examples of individuals reporting for altruistic reasons – but if a whistleblower appears to be seeking a soapbox for public attention or engineering an act of retaliation, it is of paramount importance that the investigative body in question ensures that the case is conducted in the correct way and that a message of intolerance is clear. If an individual feels disenfranchised by their position in the process, to transfer it to the public sphere might seem their best or only option. It’s up to business and community leaders to ensure this does not happen.
Corporate perception of ethics and whistleblowing
Even if an organisation has a whistleblowing hotline in place they should not be complacent when it comes to its usage and communication. If a company doesn’t receive many whistleblowing reports they shouldn’t assume that no news is good news. Read more about communicating your whistleblowing hotline service.In addition, if companies don’t use the data collected from their reports in a progressive manner (analysing trends, investigation and resolution etc) it negates the benefits of the service considerably. Businesses have a responsibility to the public to act on whistleblowing intelligence or risk adverse consequences. They are additionally accountable to the governing bodies of their sector such as the FSA, HSE and of course the Ministry of Justice. Where there are environmental concerns arising from a whistleblowing report, these too must be addressed with the correct authorities.
There are isolated instances where whistleblowing could be considered the wrong course of action in an ethical context; the Republicans branded Bradley Manning, the Wikileaks informant, a terrorist and whipped the media and public into a frenzy regarding breaches of national security. This of course is an extreme case and it is unlikely that whistleblowing cases made in a corporate context will ever mirror this level of drama. But, no matter what size or sector, businesses cannot afford to allow a culture of misconduct and corruption to infiltrate operations.
It might seem obvious as an employee of a market-leading hotline provider to believe in the ethics of whistleblowing – but personal politics aside, it is true to say that individual ethics are born of a culture of ethics and no matter what your personal take on whistleblowing in this realm, that assertion, at least, is undeniable.
To find out how Expolink’s marketing-leading, confidential whistleblowing hotline can help your business click here.
In the next in our series on international whistleblowing and corruption we focus on the fascinating Republic of Cuba. From Batista through the revolutions of Raúl and Fidel Castro to more recent crackdowns on white collar or guaybera crime, Cuba has been, and will undoubtedly remain, a compelling study in politics and political change.
