U3 - P1

Ethical

Whistleblowing

Whistleblowing (making a disclosure in the public interest) is revealing corruption or wrongdoing within a work place, these kind of wrongdoing include; possible health and safety problems that could endanger others, this could be high visibility warnings on hazards not being displayed; damage to the environment like a nuclear power plant dumping nuclear waste on a national park or in a reservoir of drinking water; criminal offences, for example blackmailing in the workplace; or if the company as a whole is breaking the law by not having the right insurance policy and covering up wrongdoing is among one of the main corruptions in recent times for example the events that took place at the Levisohn enquiry.

Organisational policies

Organisational Policies are a set of rules and regulations which the respected company must follow. They may inhibit or increase the privileges of the company’s employees. Organisational policies are put into place to protect the interests of the company’s customers. These can be both beneficial and disadvantageous to the employees and the customers. For example if an organisational policy for a clothes shop is to allow all customers to try on clothes discreetly, it would be beneficial for the customers because they would be able to see how the clothes look on them before purchasing them. It would be disadvantageous to the employees because some customers may abuse this and steal the clothing. This not only hurts the company’s reputation but also reduces profits.

 Information ownership

Information ownership is when a select body is made responsible for any information they produce, this means that they are to take responsibility for maintaining that data, this includes the accuracy and currency of the information, making sure that any externally sourced data is clearly identified, most companies prevent their information from getting stolen by having the person assigned the ownership of the information sign a NDA (Non-disclosure agreement). This agreement prevents the owner from disclosing information outside of the company and makes them liable to be sued if they break the agreement or possible prosecution if the information is of extreme value.