In this article, we attempt to separate myth from reality by reviewing research results pertinent to two questions: are whistle-blowers really crackpots and do most of them suffer retaliation following their actions? Because scholars interested in these questions have come from several different fields, and because integration is lacking among their perspectives, myth is often perpetuated. We try to ameliorate this situation by exploring the phenomenon from a broad interdisciplinary perspective and by reviewing the findings of recent empirical work in the area. Providing a realistic view of the problem is critical at this juncture, as organizations struggle to find mechanisms to deal with whistle-blowers and as legislators attempt to find policies to encourage whistle-blowing, in order to control illegal organizational behavior.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Baucus, M.S. & Near, J.P. (1991). Can illegal corporate behavior be predicted?An event history analysis. Academy of Management Journal, 34: 9-36.
2.
Blackburn, M.S. (1988). Employee dissent: The choice of voice versus silence. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. The University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
3.
Bok, S. (1980). Secrets: On the ethics of concealment and revel&ion. New York: Pantheon Books.
4.
Bowie, N. (1982). Business ethics. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
5.
Braebeck, M.M. (1984). Ethical characteristics of whistle-blowers. Journal of Research in Personality, 18; 41-53.
6.
Brewer, G.A. & Selden, S.C. (1995). Whistleblowers in the federal civil service: New evidence of the public service ethic? Revised version of paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Political Science Association, Chicago, IL.
7.
Brewer, G.A. & U.S. Department of Agriculture (1995). Incidence of whistleblowing in the public and private sectors. Unpublished working paper. Athens, GA: University of Georgia.
8.
Callahan, E.S. & Dworkin, T.M. (1992). Do good and get rich: Financial incentives for whistleblowing and the false claims act. Villanova Law Review, 37: 273-336.
9.
Callahan, E.S. & Dworkin, T.M. (1994). Who blows the whistle to the media, and why: Organizational characteristics of media whistle-blowers. American Business Law Journal, 32: 151-184.
10.
Chambers, A. (1988). Whistleblowing and the internal auditor. Journal of BusinessEthics, 4: 192-198.
11.
Daft, R.L. (1978). A dual-core model of organizational innovation. Academy of Management Journal, 21: 193-210
12.
Dandekar, N. (1990). Contrasting consequences: Bringing charges of sexual harassment compared with other cases of whistleblowing. Journal of Business Ethics, 9: 151-158.
13.
De George, R.T. (1986). Business ethics (2nd ed.). New York: Macmillan.
14.
Dozier, J.B. & Miceli, M.P. (1985). Potential predictors of whistle-blowing: A prosocial behavior perspective. Academy of Management Review, 10: 823-836.
15.
Dworkin, T.M. & Baucus, MS. (1995). Internal vs. external whistleblowers: A comparison of the Whistleblowing process. Paper presented at the Social Issues in Management division of the National Academy of Management meeting, Vancouver, BC.
16.
Dworkin, T.M. & Near, J.P. (1987). Whistle-blowing statutes: Are they working?American Business Law Journal, 2_5(2): 241-264.
17.
Dworkin, T.M., Near, J.P. & Callahan, ES. (1995). Governmental and so&l influences on corporate responsibility. Paper presented to the International Association of Business & Society, Vienna, Austria.
18.
Enz, CA. (1986). Power and shared values in the corporate culture. Ann Arbor, MI: UMI Research Press.
19.
Enz, CA. (1988). The role of value congruity in intraorganizational power. Administrative Science Quarterly, 33: 284-304.
20.
Ewing, D.W. (1983). Do it my way or you ‘re fired! Employee rights and the changing role of management prerogatives. New York: John Wiley.
21.
Farrell, D. & Petersen, J.C. (1982). Patterns of political behavior in organizations. Academy of Management Review, 7: 403-412.
22.
Fritzsche, D.J. (1988). An examination of marketing ethics: Role of the decision maker, consequences on the decision, management position, and sex of the respondent. Journal of Macromarketing, 8(2): 29-39.
23.
Glazer, M.P. & Glazer, P.M. (1989). The whistle-blowers: Exposing corruption in government und industry. New York: Basic Books.
24.
Graham, J.W. (1986). Principled organizational dissent: A theoretical essay. Pp. 1-52 in L.L. Cummings & B.M. Staw (Eds.), Research in organizational behavior. Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.
25.
Graham, J.W. (1989. November). Whistleblowing as organizational citizenship behavior and/or civic duty. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Criminology, Reno, NV.
26.
Greenberger, D.B., Miceli, M.P. & Cohen, D. (1987). Oppositionists and group norms: The reciprocal influence of whistle-blowers and co-workers. Journal of Social Issues, 47: 111-128.
27.
Jensen, J.V. (1987). Ethical tension points in whistle-blowing. Journal of Business Ethics6: 527-542.
28.
Jos, P.H., Tompkins, M.E., & Hays, S.W. (1989). In praise of difficult people: A portrait of the committed whistle-blower. Public Administration Review, (Nov./Dee.): 552-561.
29.
Keenan, J.P. (1988). Communication climate, whistle-blowing, and the first level manager: A preliminary study. Academy of Management Best Paper Proceedings, 40: 247-251.
30.
Keenan, J.P. & McLain, D.L. (1992). Whistleblowing: A conceptualization and model. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Academy of Management, Las Vegas, NV.
31.
Keenan, J.P. & Sims, R.L. (1995). The organizational and intrapersonal influences on whistleblowing. Paper submitted to the Social Issues in Management Division of the Academy of Management.
32.
Larmer, R.A. (1992). Whistleblowing and employee loyalty. Journal of Business Ethics, 11: 125-128.
33.
Mars, G. (1992). Cheats at work: An anthropology of workplace crime. Boston, MA: Allen & Unwin.
34.
Merit Systems Protection Board. (MSPB). (1981). Whistle-blowing and the federal employee. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
35.
Merit Systems Protection Board. (MSPB) (1984). Blowing the whistle in the federal government: A comparative analysis of1980 and 1983 survey findings. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
36.
Merit Systems Protection Board. (MSPB) ((1993). Whistleblowing in the federal government: An update. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
37.
Miceli, M.P. & Near, J.P. (1984). The relationships among beliefs, organizational position, and whistle-blowing status: A discriminant analysis. Academy of Management Journal, 27: 687-705.
38.
Miceli, M.P. & Near, J.P. (1985). Characteristics of organizational climate and perceived wrongdoing associated with whistle-blowing decisions. Personnel Psychology, 38: 525-544.
39.
Miceli, M.P. & Near, J.P. (1988a). Individual and situational correlates of whistle-blowing. Personal Psychology, 41: 267-282.
40.
Miceli, M.P. & Near, J.P. (1988b). Retaliation against role-prescribed whistle-blowers: The case of internal auditors. Paper presented at the 48th annual meeting of the Academy of Management, Anaheim, CA.
41.
Miceli, M.P. & Near, J.P. (1989). The incidence of wrongdoing, whistle-blowing, and retaliation: Results of a natural occurring field experiment. Employee Responsibilities and Rights Journal, 2: 91-108.
42.
Miceli, M.P. & Near, J.P.. ((1992). Blowing the whistle: The organizational and legal implications for companies and their employees. New York: Lexington.
43.
Miceli, M.P. & Near, J.P. (1994a). Listening to your whistle-blowers can be profitable!Academy of Management Executive, 8(3): 65-72.
44.
Miceli, M.P. & Near, J.P. (1994b). Relationships among value congruence, perceived victimization, and retaliation against whistle-blowers: The case of internal auditors. Journal of Management, 20: 773-794.
45.
Miceli, M.P. & Near, J.P. (in press). Whistle-blowing as antisocial behavior. In G. Greenberg & R. Giacalone (Eds.), Antisocial behavior in the workplace. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
46.
Miceli, M.P., Dozier, J.B. & Near, J.P. (1991). Blowing the whistle on data-fudging: A controlled field experiment. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 76: 508-521.
47.
Miceli, M.P., Near, J.P. & Schwenk, C.R. (1991). Who blows the whistle and why?Industrial and Lubor Relations Review, 45: 113-130.
Near, J.P. & Dworkin, T.M. (1994). Corporate response to legislative protection for whistle-blowers: Survey results. Pp. 398-400 in S. Wartick & D. Collins (Eds.), Proceedings of the International Association for Business and Society. Hilton Head Island, SC.
50.
Near, J.P. & Jensen, T.C. (1983). The whistle-blowing process: Retaliation and perceived effectiveness. Work and Occupations, 10: 3-28.
51.
Near, J.P. & Miceli, M.P. (1985). Organizational dissidence: The case of whistle-blowing. Journal of Business Ethics, 4: 4.
52.
Near, J.P. & Miceli, M.P. (1986). Retaliation against whistle-blowers: Predictors and effects. Journal of Applied Psychology, 71: 137-145.
53.
Near, J.P. & Miceli, M.P. (1987). Whistle-blowers in organizations: Dissidents or reformers? Pp. 321-368 in B.M. Staw and L.L. Cummings (Eds.), Research in organizational behavior. Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.
54.
Near, J.P. & Miceli, M.P. ((1988). The internal auditor’s ultimate responsibility: The reporting of sensitive issues. Altamonte Springs, FL: The Institute of Internal Auditors Research Foundation.
55.
Near, J.P., Baucus, M.S. & Miceli, M.P. (1993). The relationship between values and practice: Organizational climates for wrongdoing. Administration & Society, 25: 204-226.
56.
Near, J.P., Dworkin, T.M. & Miceli, M.P. (1993). Explaining the whistle-blowing process: Suggestions from power theory and justice theory. Organization Science, 4: 393-411.
57.
Near, J.P., Ryan, K.C. & Miceli, M.P. (1995). Results of a human resource management ‘experiment’: Whistle-blowing in the federal bureaucracy, 1980-1992. Pp. 369-373 in Proceedings of the Academy ofManagement. Vancouver, Canada.
58.
Pannerlee, M.A., Near, J.P. & Jensen, T.C. (1982). Correlates of whistle-blowers’ perceptions of organizational retaliation. Administrative Science Quarterly, 27: 17-34.
59.
Perrucci, R., Anderson, R.M., Schendel, D.E., & Trachtman, L.E. (1980). Whistleblowing: Professionals’ resistance to organizational authority. Social Problems, 28 (December): 149-164.
60.
Perry, J. (1992). The consequences of speaking out: Processes of hostility and issue resolution involving federal whistleblowers. Proceedings of the Academy of Management.
61.
Perry, J. (1993). Whistleblowing, organizational performance, and organizational control. Pp. 79-99 in H. George Frederickson (Ed.), Ethics and public administration. Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe.
62.
Perry, J.L. & Wise, L.R. (1990). The motivational bases of public service. Public Administration Review, 50: 367-373.
63.
Pfeffer, J. (1981). Power in organizations. Marshfield, MA: Pitman.
64.
Pincus, K.V. (in press). Auditor individual differences and fairness of presentation judgments. Auditing: A journal of practice and theory.
65.
Schwenk, C. (1984). Cognitive simplification processes in strategic decision-making. Strategic Management Journal, 5: 111-128.
66.
Smith, K.M. & Oseth, J.M. (1993). The whistleblowing era: A management perspective. Employee Relations Law Journal, 30: 40-48.
67.
Soeken, K.L. & Soeken, D.R. (1987). A survey of whistleblowers: Their stressors and coping strategies. Pp. 156-166 in Proceedings of the Hearing on H.R. 25. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
68.
Staw, B.M. (1980). Rationality and justification in organizational life. Pp. 45-80 in L.L. Cummings and B.M. Staw (Eds.), Research in organizationalbehavior. Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.
Victor, B., Trevino, L.K., & Shapiro, D.L. (1993). Peer repotting of unethical behavior: The influence of justice evaluations and social context factors, Journal of Business Ethics, 12: 253-263
71.
Vinten, G. (1994). Whistleblowing-fact and fiction. An introductory discussion. Pp. 1-20 in G. Vinten (Ed.), Whistleblowing: Subversion or corporate citizenship. NewYork: St. Martin’s Press.
72.
Weber, M. (1947). The theory of social and economic organization. New York: Free Press.
73.
Weinstein, D. (1979). Bureaucratic opposition. NewYork: Pergamon Press.
74.
Westin, A.F. (1981). Pp. 134-136 in A.F. Westin (Ed.), Whistle-blowing: Loyalty and dissent in the corporation. New York: McGraw-Hill
75.
Yates, R.E. (1995, August 8). ADM fires mole, says he stole $2.5 million. The Chicago Tribune, p. 1.
76.
Zalkind, S.S. & Eisenman, E.J. (1988, July). Dimensions of whistleblowing climate: Individual and organizational correlations. Paper presented at the eleventh annual meeting of the International Society of Political Psychology, Meadowland, NJ.
