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After the discussion about technology and advanced systems in the warehousing and distribution business, Mr A.R. Ripley of the Boots Company enters the field with the human factor in mind. His paper, which was presented at the Centre for Physical Distribution Management National Conference, 1978, concerns itself with the need for management at all levels specialising in the warehousing and distribution field. He describes in detail the various sources of recruitment and training processes which Boots use for their warehousing and distribution management structure. Mr Ripley emphasises that there is no set recipe for success in introducing a system of training and development and that their own is constantly being reassessed.

In class action antitrust litigation, the standards for acceptable economic analysis at class certification have continued to evolve. The most recent event in this evolution is the United States Supreme Court’s decision in Comcast Corp. v. Behrend, 133 S. Ct. 1435 (2013). The evolution of pre-Comcast law on this topic is presented, the Comcast decision is thoroughly assessed, as are the standards for developing reliable economic analysis. This article explains how economic evidence of both antitrust liability and damages ought to be developed in light of the teachings of Comcast, and how liability evidence can be used by economists to support a finding of common impact for certification purposes. In addition, the article addresses how statistical techniques such as averaging, price-dispersion analysis, and multiple regressions have and should be employed to establish common proof of damages.

The stereotypical image of the profession is poor with accountants appearing in the popular media as either the object of satire or the criminally inclined expert who deceives the public for self-gain. Extant research on the portrayal of the stereotypic accountant is limited in two ways: (1) existing research assumes a unitary concept by inferring a dominant image when the accountant stereotype is multifaceted; and (2) it is unclear from existing research whether the dominant image results from perceived character traits or the duties undertaken by accountants. This paper relies on qualitative methods of data analysis to unpack the elements that underpin stereotypical images in accounting to develop a framework of external perceptions that distinguishes one image from another. The framework is constructed on two broad criteria that comprise accountants (personality traits and physical characteristics) and accounting (task functionality). The interplay of these two criteria creates four subtypes representing positive (Scorekeeper and Guardian) and negative (Beancounter and Entrepreneur) interpretations of the two basic categorizations: bookkeeper and business professional. Further analysis revealed four primary dimensions (Ethics and Sociable, Skill and Service) that underlie the construction of the subtypes. In general, the ‘Scorekeeper’ rates more highly than the ‘Beancounter’ on ‘Ethics and Sociable’ and the ‘Guardian’ rates more highly than the ‘Entrepreneur’ on ‘Ethics’. Accounting researchers and the profession could benefit from understanding how stereotypical perceptions are constructed and managed.

Prior research suggests both formal and informal norms influence employee behavior. While increased training is a typical recommendation to strengthen formal norms by increasing adherence to organizational codes of conduct, and therefore improve ethical behavior, there is little empirical evidence that code training actually strengthens formal norms or improves ethics-related behavior. Conversely, prior observations of unethical behavior serve as strong indicators of informal norms. These observations may be unknown to management and therefore difficult to moderate using other means, including with training on a code.

We test the impact of prior observations of unethical behavior and training for a code of conduct on intentions to report unethical behavior in the future, as well as possible mediators of these relationships. We find some support that training on the code increases intention to report and strong support for the notion that prior observations of unethical behavior decrease intentions to report. Responsibility to report and norms against whistle-blowing both mediate the prior observation-to-reporting intentions relationship, but not the training-to-reporting intentions relationship. An interesting by-product of training seems to be that, by increasing awareness of unethical behavior, and therefore the salience of prior observation, training may have indirectly influenced intentions in the opposite direction intended.

The purpose of this paper is to use survey data to examine the impact of culture on current and future accounting and auditing professionals' intent to be whistle‐blowers in a Chinese cultural society.

The paper examines intent to whistle‐blow and factors influencing whistle‐blowing, using survey data collected by the authors.

It was found that a majority of respondents believe that a general sense of morality was the most important factor to encourage whistle‐blowing, with abiding by the policy of their organization as the second; it was also found that guanxi, fear of retaliation, and fear of media coverage may discourage whistle‐blowing in a Chinese society.

The data are all from Confucian societies, which perhaps limits its usefulness elsewhere.

The paper will help auditors, accountants, and policy makers to design policies that encourage whistle‐blowing.

The paper uses original survey data collected by the authors, and the analysis will enable policy makers and professional accountants to anticipate and predict whistle‐blowing, a key factor in improving financial management and reporting, and possibly undermining auditor independence, audit quality, and the quality of financial reporting.

The purpose of this study is to develop a profile of whistleblowers and to determine whether whistleblowing legislation would encourage those individuals to bring to light some illegal or unethical behaviour that otherwise would remain in the shadows.

Having identified whistleblowing correlation, a survey was carried out in Cyprus of actual whistleblowers and could-have-been whistleblowers.

Males between 46 and55 years of age, regardless of whether they have dependents or hold senior positions in organizations are significantly more likely to blow the whistle. However, could-have-been whistleblowers did not go ahead because they felt that the authorities would not act on their information.

Because of the sensitive nature of the research topic and the fact that only whistleblowers or intended whistleblowers could participate in the study, the sample size is limited as a result. This, in turn, limits both the number of respondents in each category (actual and intended) as well as constrains the statistical analysis that could be carried out on the data.

It remains to be seen whether EU Member States shall implement the European Directive 2019/1937 on the protection of persons who report breaches of Union Law, in its entirety by the due date, namely December 2021.

This study provides a literature review of whistleblowing and reports an original survey against the backdrop of the European Directive.

This paper aims to present directions for future research by linking the academic fields of workplace bullying and whistleblowing together. This article also suggests implications as to how to deal with the health consequences that can develop after such workplace experiences.

The paper describes empirical research on the link between whistleblowing and workplace bullying, and suggests how to deal with the health consequences that develop in relation to workplace bullying after whistleblowing.

Empirical research has documented the link between whistleblowing and workplace bullying and the devastating effects on health that may follow (e.g. depression and symptoms analogous to post traumatic stress). Implications for practice are as follows: first, to provide clear examples of unwanted workplace behavior; and second, to help clinicians to gain a balance between the client's need to re‐tell and the need for psychological treatment.

Future studies on workplace bullying are encouraged to be aware of the link to potential previous whistleblowing, and to study therapeutic interventions for employees exposed to bullying, and who also have reported wrongdoing at work.

The practical implications are to provide clear examples of unwanted workplace behavior, and to balance the need for re‐telling against the need for treatment for possible depression and trauma.

This paper provides valuable information for researchers, practitioners and clinicians in the field of workplace behavior in general and in the field of managerial psychology in particular.

This paper aims to understand an employee’s intention toward whistleblowing by analyzing Ajzen’s (1991) theory of planned behavior (TPB) and Graham’s principled organizational dissent (POD). It also seeks to find the moderating effect of perceived organizational support (POS) on whistleblowing intention (BI).

A total of 220 usable responses, collected from government employees of India, were analyzed using structural equation modeling. For developing a questionnaire, items were adopted from the literature and were measured on a five-point Likert-type rating scale.

Results revealed that attitude, perceived behavioral control (PBC), subjective norm (SN) and perceived responsibility of reporting (PRR) positively influence BI whereas the perceived cost of reporting (PCR) negatively influenced BI. It was further found that POS negated the effect of attitude, PBC, PCR and PRR on BI and strengthens the effect of SN.

The present study adds to the list of academic literature on topics such as corporate governance and whistleblowing and provides new avenues to academicians and researchers for research. It provides a comprehensive understanding of whistleblowing concept, factors that influence BI and reasons to promote whistleblowing culture in organizations.

The findings may help government institutions to understand the factors that hinder whistleblowing practices and to devise strategies to foster a culture of whistleblowing. It may also offer insights to managers to mold human resource practices so that it includes policies of moral behavior.

This study is one of the initial studies in the Indian context to explore the moderating role of perceived organization support on employee’s intention to blow the whistle.

Research on whistle-blowing has focused on the questions of who blows the whistle, who experiences retaliation, and who is effective in stopping wrongdoing. In this article, we review research pertinent to the first of these questions. Since the last known review (Near & Miceli, 1996), there have been important theoretical and, to a lesser extent, empirical developments. In addition, the U.S. law is changing dramatically, which may serve to promote valid whistle-blowing, and international interest in whistle-blowing is widespread and increasing. Unfortunately, evidence strongly suggests that media, popular, and regulatory interest is far outpacing the growth of careful scholarly inquiry into the topic, which is a disturbing trend. Here, we argue that the primary causes of the underdevelopment of the empirical literature are methodological, and that workable solutions are needed but very difficult to implement. By calling attention to these issues, we hope to help encourage more research on whistle-blowing.

This paper aims to generate new research directions at the intersection of accounting, whistleblowing and publicness: defined as the attainment of public goals, interests and values.

A problematising review is used to challenge and rethink the existing accounting and whistleblowing literature by incorporating readings from the public interest and public value literature. The paper draws on the work of Dewey (1927), Bozeman (2007) and Benington (2009) to open up new ways of theorising relations between accounting, whistleblowing and publicness.

Firstly, the paper develops a public interest theoretical framework which shows whistleblowing is a public value activity that moves organisational wrongdoing into the public sphere where it is subject to democratic debate and dialogue required to reconcile the public's interests with what the public values. Secondly, this framework provides one answer to continuing questions in the literature of how to define accountings relationship to the public interest. Finally, the paper suggests this conceptual framework be used to stimulate debate on whether and how one should expand existing accounting and accountability knowledge boundaries to incorporate the broader social, political and moral concerns highlighted by whistleblowers acting in the public interest.

Accounting and whistleblowing research has ignored the theoretical implications of whistleblowing in the public interest. The paper shows how accounting and accountability can respond to the challenges of a shifting and intangible public interest by providing a conceptual framework to guide current and future theoretical questions of how accounting is connected to the public interest.