IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/jbuset/v188y2023i1d10.1007_s10551-022-05321-9.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Legalistic Organizational Response to Whistleblowers’ Disclosures in a Scandal: Law Without Justice?

Author

Listed:
  • Oussama Ouriemmi

    (Associate Professor ISG Paris)

Abstract

Organizational transgressions cause recurring scandals. Often disclosed by whistleblowers, they generate public outrage and force organizations to respond. Recent studies have tried to answer the question: “What happens after a transgression becomes publicly known?” They highlight organizational responses marked by recognition of the transgression, penance and reintegration of the organization. However, that research only deals with transgressions involving illegal organizational practices. This article broadens the field of study to include legal but unethical organizational practices. It is based on the case study of a recent scandal: LuxLeaks (2010–2018). This scandal concerns tax avoidance practices that were advised by the international audit and consulting firm PwC to hundreds of companies and made public by whistleblowers. The case data result from cross-comparisons of several organizational (PwC) and governmental (Luxembourg) communication documents as well as parliamentary, judicial and press documents. The article’s results highlight a legalistic organizational response that is so far under-explored in the literature. This response is marked by a rhetoric of denial, reformism and self-victimization and by judicial retaliation against the whistleblowers. It reveals the paradoxes of “legalization” in contemporary organizations, and its role in the perpetuation of unethical corporate practices.

Suggested Citation

  • Oussama Ouriemmi, 2023. "The Legalistic Organizational Response to Whistleblowers’ Disclosures in a Scandal: Law Without Justice?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 188(1), pages 17-35, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:188:y:2023:i:1:d:10.1007_s10551-022-05321-9
    DOI: 10.1007/s10551-022-05321-9
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10551-022-05321-9
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10551-022-05321-9?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kate Kenny & Alexis Bushnell, 2020. "How to Whistle-Blow: Dissensus and Demand," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 164(4), pages 643-656, July.
    2. Guénin-Paracini, Henri & Gendron, Yves, 2010. "Auditors as modern pharmakoi: Legitimacy paradoxes and the production of economic order," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 21(2), pages 134-158.
    3. Bertels, Stephanie & Cody, Michael & Pek, Simon, 2014. "A Responsive Approach to Organizational Misconduct: Rehabilitation, Reintegration, and the Reduction of Reoffense," Business Ethics Quarterly, Cambridge University Press, vol. 24(3), pages 343-370, July.
    4. Dinah M. Payne & Cecily A. Raiborn, 2018. "Aggressive Tax Avoidance: A Conundrum for Stakeholders, Governments, and Morality," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 147(3), pages 469-487, February.
    5. Morales, Jérémy & Gendron, Yves & Guénin-Paracini, Henri, 2014. "State privatization and the unrelenting expansion of neoliberalism: The case of the Greek financial crisis," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 25(6), pages 423-445.
    6. Gillespie, Nicole & Dietz, Graham & Lockey, Steve, 2014. "Organizational Reintegration and Trust Repair after an Integrity Violation: A Case Study," Business Ethics Quarterly, Cambridge University Press, vol. 24(3), pages 371-410, July.
    7. Kate Kenny & Marianna Fotaki & Stacey Scriver, 2019. "Mental Heath as a Weapon: Whistleblower Retaliation and Normative Violence," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 160(3), pages 801-815, December.
    8. Marcia Miceli & Janet Near & Terry Dworkin, 2009. "A Word to the Wise: How Managers and Policy-Makers can Encourage Employees to Report Wrongdoing," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 86(3), pages 379-396, May.
    9. Sim B. Sitkin & Robert J. Bies, 1993. "The Legalistic Organization: Definitions, Dimensions, and Dilemmas," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 4(3), pages 345-351, August.
    10. Mitchell, A. & Sikka, P. & Willmott, H., 1998. "Sweeping it under the carpet: The role of accountancy firms in moneylaundering," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 23(5-6), pages 589-607.
    11. Michael T. Rehg & Marcia P. Miceli & Janet P. Near & James R. Van Scotter, 2008. "Antecedents and Outcomes of Retaliation Against Whistleblowers: Gender Differences and Power Relationships," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 19(2), pages 221-240, April.
    12. Sikka, Prem, 2015. "The hand of accounting and accountancy firms in deepening income and wealth inequalities and the economic crisis: Some evidence," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 46-62.
    13. Sikka, Prem & Willmott, Hugh, 2010. "The dark side of transfer pricing: Its role in tax avoidance and wealth retentiveness," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 21(4), pages 342-356.
    14. Hervé Stolowy & Yves Gendron & Jodie Moll & Luc Paugam, 2019. "Building the Legitimacy of Whistleblowers: A Multi‐Case Discourse Analysis," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 36(1), pages 7-49, March.
    15. Hervé Stolowy & Martin Messner & Thomas Jeanjean & C. Richard Baker, 2014. "The Construction of a Trustworthy Investment Opportunity: Insights from the Madoff Fraud," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 31(2), pages 354-397, June.
    16. Andrew West, 2018. "Multinational Tax Avoidance: Virtue Ethics and the Role of Accountants," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 153(4), pages 1143-1156, December.
    17. Sandra Charreire Petit & Julien Cusin, 2013. "Whistleblowing and resilience: Analysis of an individual trajectory [Whistleblowing et résilience : Analyse d'une trajectoire individuelle]," Post-Print hal-04083919, HAL.
    18. Hansrudi Lenz, 2020. "Aggressive Tax Avoidance by Managers of Multinational Companies as a Violation of Their Moral Duty to Obey the Law: A Kantian Rationale," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 165(4), pages 681-697, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Apostol, Oana & Pop, Alina, 2019. "‘Paying taxes is losing money’: A qualitative study on institutional logics in the tax consultancy field in Romania," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 1-23.
    2. Kate Kenny & Marianna Fotaki, 2023. "The Costs and Labour of Whistleblowing: Bodily Vulnerability and Post-disclosure Survival," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 182(2), pages 341-364, January.
    3. Francesco Scarpa & Silvana Signori, 2023. "Understanding corporate tax responsibility: a systematic literature review," Sustainability Accounting, Management and Policy Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 14(7), pages 179-201, June.
    4. De Widt, Dennis & Oats, Lynne, 2024. "Imagining cooperative tax regulation: Common origins, divergent paths," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    5. Hervé Stolowy & Yves Gendron & Jodie Moll & Luc Paugam, 2019. "Building the Legitimacy of Whistleblowers: A Multi‐Case Discourse Analysis," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 36(1), pages 7-49, March.
    6. Sargiacomo, Massimo & Everett, Jeff & Ianni, Luca & D'Andreamatteo, Antonio, 2024. "Auditing for fraud and corruption: A public-interest-based definition and analysis," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 56(2).
    7. Kate Kenny, 2024. "Feminist social movements and whistleblowing disclosures: Ireland's Women of Honour," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(3), pages 961-982, May.
    8. Maximilian J. L. Schormair & Lara M. Gerlach, 2020. "Corporate Remediation of Human Rights Violations: A Restorative Justice Framework," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 167(3), pages 475-493, December.
    9. Spies-Butcher, Ben & Bryant, Gareth, 2024. "The history and future of the tax state: Possibilities for a new fiscal politics beyond neoliberalism," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    10. Ouriemmi, Oussama & Gérard, Benoît, 2023. "Control dynamics in rogue trading: Sovereignty and exception-to-the-rule attitudes in the contemporary financial sphere," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    11. Mechtenberg, Lydia & Muehlheusser, Gerd & Roider, Andreas, 2020. "Whistleblower protection: Theory and experimental evidence," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 126(C).
    12. Abdul-Baki, Zayyad & Uthman, Ahmad B. & Kasum, Abubakar S., 2021. "The role of accounting and accountants in the oil subsidy corruption scandal in Nigeria," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    13. Ben Khaled, Wafa & Gérard, Benoît & Farjaudon, Anne-Laure, 2022. "Analysis of the political and identity dynamics of a dominant mode of control: The case of business ethics control and its legalization," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    14. Sheng-min Liu & Jian-qiao Liao & Hongguo Wei, 2015. "Authentic Leadership and Whistleblowing: Mediating Roles of Psychological Safety and Personal Identification," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 131(1), pages 107-119, September.
    15. Argilés-Bosch, Josep Mª & Ravenda, Diego & Garcia-Blandón, Josep, 2021. "E-commerce and labour tax avoidance," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    16. Lin, Xiaowei & Ding, Zijun & Chen, Aihua & Shi, Huaizhi, 2022. "Internal whistleblowing and stock price crash risk," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    17. Raitasuo, Santtu, 2024. "The conflict of interest in tax scholarship," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    18. Mayer, Maryse & Gendron, Yves, 2024. "The media representation of LuxLeaks: A window onto the normative dynamics of tax avoidance from a socio-legal perspective," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    19. Eva Baarle & Steven Baarle & Guy Widdershoven & Roland Bal & Jan-Willem Weenink, 2024. "Sexual Boundary Violations: Exploring How the Interplay Between Violations, Retributive, and Restorative Responses Affects Teams," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 191(1), pages 131-146, April.
    20. Neu, Dean & Saxton, Greg & Rahaman, Abu & Everett, Jeffery, 2019. "Twitter and social accountability: Reactions to the Panama Papers," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 38-53.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:188:y:2023:i:1:d:10.1007_s10551-022-05321-9. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.