Exploring whistle blowing intentions in South Africa : A quantitative analysis
- Authors: Pillay, Soma , Dorasamy, Nirmala , Vranic, Vedran
- Date: 2012
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: African Journal of Business Management Vol. 6, no. 7 (2012), p. 2529-2548
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- Description: The purpose of this paper was to examine the influence of individual and situational level factors on internal whistle-blowing intentions, within a South African context. This is the first quantitative study of whistle-blowing in South Africa. Quantitative survey data, encompassing 250 senior, middle and lower-level management/administration personnel was analysed. Majority of surveyed participants indicated positive intentions toward whistle-blowing. Majority also believes that general sense of morality and professional ethics are the most influential motivations for whistle-blowing. Improved internal organizational systems and external legal systems were surprisingly found to discourage whistle-blowing in our sample. A theoretical basis for future research is extrapolated, with the main findings highlighting the importance of positive organizational values/culture and the perpetuation of business ethics awareness.
Systemic factors moderating effective whistle blowing : An exploratory study into a public service organisation
- Authors: Pillay, Soma , Dorasamy, Nirmala
- Date: 2011
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: African Journal of Business Management Vol. 5, no. 22 (2011), p. 9429-9439
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- Description: A review of research concerning whistle-blowing suggests that it is of benefit to society hence, sophisticated policies have been introduced to encourage whistle blowing. However, research on conditions that lead to whistle-blowers being effective in stopping wrongdoing is still developing in industrialised countries or woefully absent in developing and less developed countries. The purpose of this paper is to use survey data to examine the variables impacting on whistle-blowing using the case of a developing country. It was found that a majority of respondents believe that systemic factors moderates effective whistle-blowing. Based on these findings, we present a model of a culture contingent whistle-blowing process which considers context, content, situational variables, and outcomes. This paper has practical implications for policy makers, managers and public officials in developing democracies, especially in designing policies that consider the cultural aspects of complex open systems and exploring concerns of obvious importance practically as well as theoretically.