Owing to rapid development of the economy which succeeded in satisfying people's demands through adequate supply, we are living lives so extravagant that it would have been almost unimaginable 100 years ago. Still, prioritizing economy comes with a price of environmental issues and other problems. Everyone surely has heard news about companies which in pursuit of profit would not even stop from committing a fraud – and through studying such news or selected real cases of moral problems Professor Saneyuki Yamatsuta teaches his pupils business ethics. Today they learned about whistleblowing.
What is whistleblowing? It is an act of exposing secretive information or activity that is deemed illegal, unethical, or not correct within a private or public organization, to an external supervising authority or media.
Today's cases
CASE 1
One of your coworkers in a factory has been caught idling on the job a few times lately, and twice you even smelled alcohol from him. His conduct certainly affects the morale of the other employees and negatively affects their productivity, but it is possible that he is suffering and needs help, not a rebuke. Should you blow the whistle, inform your boss about the problem and probably see him fire your coworker or leave it be?
CASE 2
You are a young employee in your twenties, working in an archive in an old building. where the ceiling was found to contain asbestos and the entire room was contaminated with it. The management hired external company to clean the room, but no further measures to protect your health were implemented. You and your coworkers are handed a letter from a higher-up, saying that you should work in the room as if nothing happened. Still, you know that asbestos is highly dangerous and may cause lung cancer. What would you do in such a situation?
There is no right answer
Many students were eager to raise their hands and share their opinions – first, when asked “what would YOU do in such a situation?”, then during a discussion on real cases of whistleblowing in Japanese companies. Today they caught a glimpse of difficult decisions you have to make once you have become a fully-fledged member of the society, when there is no correct or incorrect answer and you have to rely on your ethics in order to make the best decision possible for all people concerned.