Abstract
M.Com. (Business Management)
South Africa as a country is struggling with the impact and consequences of fraud and
corruption. This problem is driven by mostly white-collar crime and organisational wrongdoing. One of the largest banks in the country is losing in excess of R200m per annum as a result of internal fraud and corruption. This study aims to investigate the factors that influence whistleblowing as a measure to remediate this problem.
For the sake of this study, whistle-blowing is defined as the reporting of illegal, immoral or illegitimate practices to people or institutions that can correct these wrongdoings. If the employees and the organisation better understand the drivers that promote effective whistleblowing, it could in turn help to expose these wrongdoings and thereby limit the negative impact on the organisational stakeholders and society in general.
The research method used was quantitative, aimed at discovering patterns and/or causal relationships that could shed light on the factors that impact whistle-blowing. This study applied statistical methods to critically test the research results. The statistical analysis highlighted some of the key variables that influence the determinants of whistle-blowing. These findings revealed trust, knowledge, character and situation as the key variables that correlate to whistle-blowing determinants. It rejected motives, prevention, gender, level of education and employment duration as whistle-blowing determinants. The study concludes by providing recommendations to both the organisation and the prospective whistle-blower in this regard.