Speak Now or Forever Hold Your Peace? An Essay on Whistleblowing and its Interfaces with the Brazilian Culture

Abstract

Since the last decade corporate scandals have drawn public attention to the importance of whistleblowers, resulting in the creation of policies and statutes which rely heavily on whistleblowing, especially in the United States. A common assumption behind these efforts is that whistleblowing produces benefits to society at large, as it promotes a more ethical work environment. Still, little is known about many aspects of the decision to blow the whistle on a wrongful act. Particularly in Brazil, where the topic remains neglected by researchers, specific cultural elements may hinder whistleblowing behaviors and limit the generalization of findings from previous studies, which have almost always been based on Anglo-Saxon country context. By exploring this gap, this essay discusses some antecedents of internal whistleblowing and proposes a comprehensive framework which integrates organizational, individual and situational influences in order to allow for a further understanding of the phenomenon and its cultural interfaces, as well as to provide practitioners and researchers with new insights and perspectives on the topic.

Keywords

• whistleblowing
• ethics
• culture
• Brazil
• ethical decision-making.