failings. The policy also needs to be updated on a continuous basis to take into account the changing environment.
Evaluation involves assessing the policy from various aspects and taking corrective measures wherever required. These functions should be done by an external party who is independent of the policy.
14.0 CONCLUSION
Whether we believe whistle-blowers to be heroes who suffer personal hardship to bring media attention to unethical behavior in organizations, or we take the opposing view that they break the oath of loyalty to their employer, the fact remains that employees are becoming increasingly willing to respond to any kind of unethical behavior in their organization. The choice for an employer is to ignore them and face possible public embarrassment later on and even financial losses, or to create an internal whistle blowing system that allows whistle blowers to be heard and their concerns addressed before the issue escalates to an external whistle blowing case.
To sum the issues discussed in the essay, it would be wise for all employers to put the following mechanism in place:
1. A well-documented process to document how such concerns are handled – a whistle-blower committee, clearly identified procedure to respond to the concerns, assurances of confidentiality, and nonretaliation against the employee.
Above all, employers must have a commitment to follow through on any and all concerns registered with the committee. For a whistle blower mechanism to work, trust must be established between the employees and their employer; – trust that information can be given anonymously and without any fear of retaliation.
15.0 REFERENCES
1. http:// www. forbes. com / 2009 / 01 / 07 / satyam-rajugovernance-oped-cx _ sb _ 0107balachandran. html
2. h t t p: / / w w w. l a w t e a c h e r. n e t / i n d i a n- law / essays / whistle-blower-policy-and-indian. php
3. http:// www. indiaforensic. com / research. htm
4. http:// www. kpmg. com / in / en / issuesandinsights / art iclespublications / pages / kpmgindiafraudsurveyreport 2008. aspx
5. http:// cpi. transparency. org / cpi2012 /
6. http:// www. bloggingstocks. com / 2008 / 04 / 03 / worldc om-whistleblower-cynthia-cooper-tells-all /
7. Business Ethics-a real world approach by Andrew W. Ghillyer
8. http:// www. pwc. in / en _ IN / in / assets / pdfs / services / f o r e n s i c- s e r v i c e s / W h i s t l e b l o w i n g- aneffectivemeanstocombateconomiccrime. pdf
2. Establish clear channels of communication – employee hotline, e-mail system etc.
3. Prompt and thorough investigation of genuine complaints
4. Detailed report of investigations and the actions( if any) taken.
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