CSC 379 SUM2008:Week 5, Group 1
Examine the ways an organization can help employees resolve concerns internally, and thereby avoid the need for external whistleblowing. How do these practices, such as anonymous reporting hotlines, apply to the work environment of a software engineer?
Due to ineffective or nonexistent feedback processes within an organization, many important concerns never reach anyone who is willing or able to take action. Employees may forgo making complaints due to processes that are hard to use, or because the company culture has no way to report anything, except to one’s immediate superior.
What can be done to reduce the need for external whistleblowing? Are there proven cultural fixes? Technological fixes? If someone has a less serious concern, which (s)he considers too insignificant to take the risk of external whistleblowing, how could this be actively addressed before problems arise? Is there an ethical obligation on the part of organizations to adopt practices that encourage effective internal whistleblowing? Please explain your answers.