To Tell or Not to Tell the Ethical Dilemma of the...

This article was downloaded by: [ ] On: 03 November 2011, At: 06:11 Publisher: Taylor Francis Informa Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registered office: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK Accountability in Research Publication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/gacr20 To Tell or Not to Tell? The Ethical Dilemma of the Would-Be Whistleblower Janet Malek Ph.D. a a Department of Medical Humanities, Brody School of Medicine, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina, USA Available online: 11 May 2010 To cite this article: Janet Malek Ph.D. (2010): To Tell or Not to Tell? The Ethical Dilemma of†¦show more content†¦This definition captures clearly the traditional use of the term in business contexts. In the context of research, however, the concept of whistleblowing seems to be understood a bit more broadly, so that it is not limited to public disclosures brought to an external entity. In what follows, I will use the term to refer to internal as well as external reporting to include situations in which a wrong-doer’s supervisor or department chair is notified of a researcher’s misconduct. This broader understanding may be an appropriate translation of the definition for the academic research context given the organizational and power structure differences between business and academia. The idea that there may be a moral requirement to report research misconduct is not novel. The Committee on Science, Engineering, and Public Policy has taken a position consis tent with the above claim, stating that â€Å"someone who has witnessed misconduct has an unmistakable obligation to act† (COSEPUP, 2009). A similar requirement can be inferred from articles 1 and 10 in the IEEE Code of Ethics, which state that its members agree â€Å"to disclose promptly factors that might endanger the public or the environment† and â€Å"to assist colleagues and co-workers in their professional development and to support them in following this code of ethics† (IEEE, 2006). InShow MoreRelatedThe Darkside of Whistleblowing1021 Words   |  5 PagesBeing a Whistleblower – Advantages and Disadvantages Whistleblowers are strong and brave people, for example employees, who recognize a wrong behavior of someone or their organization and want to do something against it in order to see that this behavior, or the wrong actions taken, are corrected – for them it is a matter of ethical responsibility, and they need to do it to feel comfortable in their skin. An advantage of this behavior is that the Whistleblowers feel a deep satisfaction making aRead More Analysis of the Movie, The Insider Essay1445 Words   |  6 Pages The Insider (1999) is a film rife with ethical dilemmas, suspense and controversy. It is based on a true story related to a 1994 episode of the CBS news show 60 Minutes that never aired. The plot puts Dr. Jeffrey Wigand (Russell Crowe) at odds with Brown Williamson, the third largest tobacco companies in the country. Wigand was fired from his position as Vice President of Research and Development, at which he was instructed to hide information related to the addictive nature of nicotineRead MoreEthical Views, Rules And Theory1551 Words   |  7 PagesEthical Views, Rules and Theory’s In this section I will be briefly discussing one major Ethical view, theory and model and explaining their useful applications and limitations through examples. There are four major ethical topics we have discussed in the course, in this reflection I will examine the three I see most fitting for this reflection. The three are utilitarianism, moral rights and the Theory of Justice. Utilitarianism is a view in which decisions are based on majority. The right decisionRead MoreEthical Decision Making Ethical Decisions Essay1014 Words   |  5 PagesHaving to make an ethical decision regarding unethical circumstances can be challenging for some. â€Å"Ethical decision-making refers to the process of evaluating and choosing among alternatives in a manner consistent with ethical principles. In making ethical decisions, it is necessary to perceive and eliminate unethical options and select the best ethical alternative.The process of making ethical decisions requires: commitment-the desire to do the right thing regardless of the cost; consciousness-theRead MoreBusiness Ethics : A New Employee1905 Words   |  8 PagesBusiness Ethics You come to work and your manager tells you that you are supposed to train a new employee today. This is the third new employee in two months. The previous trainees were all fired from stealing from the company. You feel like there is more to the story, but continue your day and train the new employee. Your manager asks you to show the new employee the cleaning procedure for the bathrooms. As you come back from the bathrooms, you see that your manager is doing something at the registersRead MoreDesperate Air810 Words   |  4 PagesDesperate Air: What would I do? Management is often faced with ethical dilemmas that have no clear cut correct answer. In our case study, (1)Desperate Air, George Nash, Vice President of Real Estate faces a conflict of values similar to the CEO in Seglin’s article, â€Å"How to Make Tough Ethical Calls†. They both want to tell the truth and they want to protect their companies, their investors, their employees, and their own livelihood. Neither Mr. Nash nor the CEO conducted a through examinationRead MoreThe Questions Posed At The End Of The Study1411 Words   |  6 Pagesquestions posed at the end of the study as follows. What kinds of problems are inherent in Jolene’s research project? How would these problems affect the research results? How would you solve these problems? What should Stefanie do? What would the consequences of these actions be for Jolene? For Dr. Lee? For Stefanie This case portrays a study conducted by students in which many ethical issues arise, including the treatment of research participants and the supervision of student research assistants byRead MoreCase Analysis : Enron Corporation891 Words   |  4 Pagesvice president, who is known as the whistleblower, knows the problem that was happing in Enron, but she was in a dilemma in how to minimize the individual damages by blowing the whistle at the right time. The company got to the point where the employees have moral silence, deafness, and blindness. For moral silence, the employees were avoiding any kind of action against unethical behavior. Deafness is that the employees are not willing to listen to any ethical issues. When talking about moral blindnessRead MoreCase: Aircraft Brake Scandal1699 Words   |  7 Pagesflight test, Vandiveer disclosed the misconduct and fraud of Goodrich and turned into a government witness in the litigation. Vandiveer faced dilemmas throughout the case: to follow his personal value and professional responsibility to refuse unethical action or to follow the managers’ order to keep the job; and to keep loyalty to the company or to be a whistleblower to disclose the fraud. In general, Vandiveer behaved by his personal values. However, some actions by Vandiveer are open to question. Visibility:Read MoreThe Problem Of Law Enforcement Agencies Essay1815 Words   |  8 Pagessort of unethical or questionable action and recognized by a member of the department, there is two paths they can take: they ignore the act or take action. The government has legislation to protect those who fall under the â€Å"Whistleblower† title, but unfortunately, the dilemma of whether or not to report questionable or unethical behavior is an extreme one. Many people who are faced with reporting or ignoring what they saw often have their jobs, social, and personal lives to consider, as well as future