Whistleblowers and Their Importance in Organizations (Term Paper Sample)

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Whistleblowers and Their Importance in Organizations
In an organization, many unethical cases take place without the knowledge of other employees or stakeholders and thus are hidden by the offenders. In most cases, the outside world may blame the entire organization for issues perpetuated by few cunning individuals who could easily be pointed out and persecuted. Sometimes other employees fear to point out unethical cases, such as corruption and fraud for fear of victimization by the offenders. As a result, unethical cases are still being experienced in most organizations. Nevertheless, unethical cases can be reduced if the organization has whistleblowers in place (Nickels, McHugh, and McHugh 102).
Whistleblowers are people who expose alleged dishonesty, misconducts, or illegal activities in the organization. The activities exposed may be grouped in a number of ways depending on how they occur and how they have been exposed. They can be categorized as fraud, the public threat, and corruption among others. Whistleblowers expose these activities externally or internally (Nickels, McHugh, and McHugh 103).
Whistleblowers are a threat to potential fraudsters and other people within the organization with the intention of committing unethical activities. As a result, such people threaten whistleblowers’ lives. Organizations, as well as the government, must find ways of protecting whistleblowers. A number of laws have been drafted to protect whistleblowers. These laws protect whistleblowers who believe they have information that is of public interest. These laws have been revised to make them effective, and some companies have gone ahead to draft whistle blowing policy to cushion the process (Nickels, McHugh, and McHugh 110).
The new whistle-blowing laws have a number of effects on the business environment. In the first place, the ethical climate is likely to improve. Potential offenders will be wary of their activities being exposed and thus will be forced to act ethically. The new laws will also ensure fairness in the workplace because whistleblowers will no longer be victimized, as it was the case. Whistle blowing is also likely to increase compliance at the place of work. Given the increased protection cases, companies will be forced to comply with the set laws and regulations for fear of falling victims of whistleblowers’ reports.
There are myriads of whistleblowers who have tried to raise the alarm on some issues in their organizations, and one of them is Betty Dukes. Betty was a cashier at Wal-Mart. In 2001, she discovered that all her efforts to advance to a management position were met with demotion instead. She teamed with other five female employees and filed a suit against Wal-Mart for sexual discrimination (Jamieson par. 2). The lawsuit opened door for investigation into the way in which Wal-Mart was treating women. More than one million women from the current and former list of Wal-Mart employees brought their cases against Wal-Mart. The federal district court decided the case in favor of Duke, but Wal-Mart appealed and prevailed. Wal-Mart, upon realizing that its brand image was being tarnished by the lawsuit, made some efforts to change its system. The company slowly started according women some needed promotion. In addition, the company started according pregnant women some benefits, such as accommodation and guarantying them job security even when on maternity...