IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/jbuset/v70y2007i4p341-361.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Ethical Climate Theory, Whistle-blowing, and the Code of Silence in Police Agencies in the State of Georgia

Author

Listed:
  • Gary Rothwell
  • J. Baldwin

Abstract

This article reports the findings from a study that investigates the relationship between ethical climates and police whistle-blowing on five forms of misconduct in the State of Georgia. The results indicate that a friendship or team climate generally explains willingness to blow the whistle, but not the actual frequency of blowing the whistle. Instead, supervisory status, a control variable investigated in previous studies, is the most consistent predictor of both willingness to blow the whistle and frequency of blowing the whistle. Contrary to popular belief, the results also generally indicate that police are more inclined than civilian employees to blow the whistle in Georgia – in other words, they are less inclined to maintain a code of silence. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media, Inc. 2007

Suggested Citation

  • Gary Rothwell & J. Baldwin, 2007. "Ethical Climate Theory, Whistle-blowing, and the Code of Silence in Police Agencies in the State of Georgia," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 70(4), pages 341-361, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:70:y:2007:i:4:p:341-361
    DOI: 10.1007/s10551-006-9114-5
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1007/s10551-006-9114-5
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10551-006-9114-5?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. Near, Janet P. & Rehg, Michael T. & Van Scotter, James R. & Miceli, Marcia P., 2004. "Does Type of Wrongdoing Affect the Whistle-Blowing Process?," Business Ethics Quarterly, Cambridge University Press, vol. 14(2), pages 219-242, April.
    2. Ross, William T. & Robertson, Diana C., 2000. "Lying: The Impact of Decision Context," Business Ethics Quarterly, Cambridge University Press, vol. 10(2), pages 409-440, April.
    3. Lynn K. Bartels & Edward Harrick & Kathryn Martell & Donald Strickland, 1998. "The Relationship between Ethical Climate and Ethical Problems within Human Resource Management," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 17(7), pages 799-804, May.
    4. Mary M. Crossan, 1998. "Improvisation in Action," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 9(5), pages 593-599, October.
    5. Neil S. Wenger & Stanley G. Korenman & Richard Berk & Honghu Liu, 1999. "Reporting Unethical Research Behavior," Evaluation Review, , vol. 23(5), pages 553-570, October.
    6. Donahue, Michael E. & Felts, Arthur A., 1993. "Police ethics: A critical perspective," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 21(4), pages 339-352.
    7. Kelley, Scott W. & Skinner, Steven J. & Ferrell, O. C., 1989. "Opportunistic behavior in marketing research organizations," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 18(4), pages 327-340, June.
    8. Paoline, Eugene A., 2003. "Taking stock: Toward a richer understanding of police culture," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 31(3), pages 199-214.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Taylor, Olivia Elizabeth Vere & Philpot, Richard & Fitton, Oliver & Walkington, Zoë & Levine, Mark, 2024. "Police whistleblowing: A systematic review of the likelihood (and the barriers and facilitators) of the willingness of police officers to report the misconduct of fellow officers," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    2. Verschuuren, Pim, 2020. "Whistleblowing determinants and the effectiveness of reporting channels in the international sports sector," Sport Management Review, Elsevier, vol. 23(1), pages 142-154.
    3. Michael Knoll & Rolf Dick, 2013. "Do I Hear the Whistle…? A First Attempt to Measure Four Forms of Employee Silence and Their Correlates," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 113(2), pages 349-362, March.
    4. Trevor M. Spoelma & Nitya Chawla & Aleksander P. J. Ellis, 2021. "If You Can’t Join ‘Em, Report ‘Em: A Model of Ostracism and Whistleblowing in Teams," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 173(2), pages 345-363, October.
    5. Yuyan Zheng & Les Graham & Jiing-Lih Farh & Xu Huang, 2021. "The Impact of Authoritarian Leadership on Ethical Voice: A Moderated Mediation Model of Felt Uncertainty and Leader Benevolence," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 170(1), pages 133-146, April.
    6. Lu-Ming Tseng, 2019. "How Implicit Ethics Institutionalization Affects Ethical Selling Intention: The Case of Taiwan’s Life Insurance Salespeople," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 158(3), pages 727-742, September.
    7. Said, Jamaliah & Alam, Md. Mahmudul & Mohamed, Dar Irna Bt & Rafidi, Marhamah, 2019. "Does Job Satisfaction, Fair Treatment, and Cooperativeness Influence the Whistleblowing Practice in Malaysian Government Linked Companies?," SocArXiv vd2eh, Center for Open Science.
    8. Syahrul Ahmar Ahmad Author_Email: syahrul.ahmar@johor.uitm.edu.my & Malcolm Smith & Zubaidah Ismail & Rahimah Mohamed Yunos, 2011. "Internal Whistleblowing Intentions: Influence Of Internal Auditors’ Demographic And Individual Factors," Annual Summit on Business and Entrepreneurial Studies (ASBES 2011) Proceeding 2011-051-155, Conference Master Resources.
    9. Ulfert Gronewold & Anna Gold & Steven Salterio, 2013. "Reporting Self-Made Errors: The Impact of Organizational Error-Management Climate and Error Type," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 117(1), pages 189-208, September.
    10. Assad Tavakoli & Tanya Gibbs & Meysam Manesh, 2024. "The interplay of ethical decision making and legal frameworks for whistleblowing: the UAE example," International Journal of Disclosure and Governance, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 21(3), pages 447-461, September.
    11. Olayinka Erin & Omololu Adex Bamigboye, 2020. "Does whistleblowing framework influence earnings management? An empirical investigation," International Journal of Disclosure and Governance, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 17(2), pages 111-122, September.
    12. Hildreth, John Angus D. & Gino, Francesca & Bazerman, Max, 2016. "Blind loyalty? When group loyalty makes us see evil or engage in it," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 16-36.
    13. Kaptein, S.P., 2009. "From Inaction to External Whistleblowing: The Influence of the Ethical Culture of Organizations on Employee Responses to Observed Wrongdoing," ERIM Report Series Research in Management ERS-2009-047-ORG, Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM), ERIM is the joint research institute of the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University and the Erasmus School of Economics (ESE) at Erasmus University Rotterdam.
    14. Eugene D. Jaffe & Nonna Kushnirovich & Alexandr Tsimerman, 2018. "The Impact of Acculturation on Immigrants’ Business Ethics Attitudes," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 147(4), pages 821-834, February.
    15. P. Cassematis & R. Wortley, 2013. "Prediction of Whistleblowing or Non-reporting Observation: The Role of Personal and Situational Factors," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 117(3), pages 615-634, October.
    16. Chu-Mei Liu & Chou-Kang Chiu, 2020. "Modeling turnover intention and job performance: the moderation of perceived benevolent climate," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 14(3), pages 611-631, June.
    17. Muhammad Hariz Hamid & Zaleha Othman, 2015. "Whistleblowing and Voicing Dissent in Organizations," International Journal of Management Sciences, Research Academy of Social Sciences, vol. 6(1), pages 8-15.
    18. Elka Johansson & Peter Carey, 2016. "Detecting Fraud: The Role of the Anonymous Reporting Channel," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 139(2), pages 391-409, December.
    19. Yan Liu & Shuming Zhao & Rui Li & Lulu Zhou & Feng Tian, 2018. "The relationship between organizational identification and internal whistle-blowing: the joint moderating effects of perceived ethical climate and proactive personality," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 12(1), pages 113-134, January.

    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. Rizwan Raheem Ahmed & Jolita Vveinhardt & Dalia Streimikiene, 2017. "Exploring Multidimensional View of Intellectual Capital and Business Ethics on Organizational Performance by Using Bootstrapping Method: Evidence from Pakistani Pharmaceutical Industry," Montenegrin Journal of Economics, Economic Laboratory for Transition Research (ELIT), vol. 13(1), pages 7-33.
    2. Richard Arend, 2013. "Ethics-focused dynamic capabilities: a small business perspective," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 41(1), pages 1-24, June.
    3. Hengky Latan & Charbel Jose Chiappetta Jabbour & Ana Beatriz Lopes de Sousa Jabbour, 2021. "To Blow or Not to Blow the Whistle: The Role of Rationalization in the Perceived Seriousness of Threats and Wrongdoing," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 169(3), pages 517-535, March.
    4. Verena Komander & Andreas König, 2024. "Organizations on stage: organizational research and the performing arts," Management Review Quarterly, Springer, vol. 74(1), pages 303-352, February.
    5. Dusya Vera & Mary Crossan, 2005. "Improvisation and Innovative Performance in Teams," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 16(3), pages 203-224, June.
    6. Dvora Yanow & Haridimos Tsoukas, 2009. "What is Reflection‐In‐Action? A Phenomenological Account," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(8), pages 1339-1364, December.
    7. Henry Adobor, 2006. "Exploring the Role Performance of Corporate Ethics Officers," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 69(1), pages 57-75, November.
    8. Roland Kidwell & Franz Kellermanns & Kimberly Eddleston, 2012. "Harmony, Justice, Confusion, and Conflict in Family Firms: Implications for Ethical Climate and the “Fredo Effect”," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 106(4), pages 503-517, April.
    9. William Minozzi & Jonathan Woon, 2013. "Lying aversion, lobbying, and context in a strategic communication experiment," Journal of Theoretical Politics, , vol. 25(3), pages 309-337, July.
    10. Koen, Marthinus C. & Newell, Bryce Clayton & Roberts, Melinda R., 2021. "Body-worn cameras: Technological frames and project abandonment," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    11. repec:mje:mjejnl:v:12:y:2017:i:1:p:7-33 is not listed on IDEAS
    12. Rode, Julian, 2007. "Truth and Trust in Communication: An Experimental Study of Behavior under Asymmetric Information," Ratio Working Papers 111, The Ratio Institute.
    13. Joao Vieira da Cunha & Stewart R. Clegg & Miguel Pina e Cunha, 2008. "Structuring for glocalization: the minimal network," Nova SBE Working Paper Series wp536, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Nova School of Business and Economics.
    14. Baker, Ted & Miner, Anne S. & Eesley, Dale T., 2003. "Improvising firms: bricolage, account giving and improvisational competencies in the founding process," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 32(2), pages 255-276, February.
    15. Rebecca Guidice & G. Alder & Steven Phelan, 2009. "Competitive Bluffing: An Examination of a Common Practice and its Relationship with Performance," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 87(4), pages 535-553, July.
    16. Sebastian Krügel & Matthias Uhl, 2023. "Internal whistleblowing systems without proper sanctions may backfire," Journal of Business Economics, Springer, vol. 93(8), pages 1355-1383, October.
    17. Lee, Gladys & Xiao, Xinning, 2018. "Whistleblowing on accounting-related misconduct: A synthesis of the literature," Journal of Accounting Literature, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 22-46.
    18. Lucia Peek & Maria Roxas & George Peek & Yves Robichaud & Blanca Covarrubias Salazar & Jose Barragan Codina, 2007. "NAFTA Students’ Whistle-Blowing Perceptions: A Case of Sexual Harassment," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 74(3), pages 219-231, September.
    19. Seung-Yeop Paek & Mahesh K. Nalla & Yong-Tae Chun & Julak Lee, 2021. "The Perceived Importance of Cybercrime Control among Police Officers: Implications for Combatting Industrial Espionage," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(8), pages 1-10, April.
    20. William E. Shafer & Richard S. Simmons, 2008. "Social responsibility, Machiavellianism and tax avoidance," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 21(5), pages 695-720, June.
    21. Joel Steckel & Russell Winer & Randolph Bucklin & Benedict Dellaert & Xavier Drèze & Gerald Häubl & Sandy Jap & John Little & Tom Meyvis & Alan Montgomery & Arvind Rangaswamy, 2005. "Choice in Interactive Environments," Marketing Letters, Springer, vol. 16(3), pages 309-320, December.

    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:70:y:2007:i:4:p:341-361. 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.