Growing Corruption

Abstract

In this age of globalization, where economic motives precede over all virtues and traditions, protection of larger public interest from great corporate scandals has become matter of great concern. Faced with cut-throat competition, fraudulent conduct, illegitimate dealings and corrupt practices have become the norm. The exposes that have surfaced recently in the public and corporate domain have made a serious dent into the country’s image and in Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index, 2012, India ranked 94 out of 176. The issue, then, is one of the biggest challenges facing the country. What can be done? The political class has failed to tackle the issue, the complicity of the bureaucracy is an open secret and the corporate houses seem to be hand in glove with the unscrupulous. The answer has to come from the lesser mortals, the ordinary people who are the real stakeholders. Against this backdrop there is need to understand and strengthen the framework of whistle blowing.

The paper attempts to understand a typical whistle blowing pattern and develop a model based on empirical studies. It also underscores the need to encourage and protect whistle blowers, thereby facilitating the creation of a whistle blower-friendly organizational culture.