Does job satisfaction, fair treatment, and cooperativeness influence the whistleblowing practice in Malaysian Government linked companies?

Abstract

PurposeWhistleblowing is an important factor in preventing corruption and fraud in organizations. There is a law to promote whistleblowing practices, but the negative subsequent effect of whistleblowing demotivates the reporting of unethical behaviors. Thus, it is important to identify the factors that motivate an employee to exercise whistleblowing in an organization. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to examine whether the personal factor of job satisfaction and organizational factors such as fair treatment as well as cooperativeness contribute to the whistleblowing practice in an organization.Design/methodology/approachThis study collected primary data based on a questionnaire survey from 73 respondents of the seven top most government linked companies (GLCs) in Malaysia. The data are analyzed using descriptive statistics, factor analysis, and cross-sectional regression.FindingsThe findings of the study reveal that only fair treatment is statistically significant and positively related to the whistleblowing practice. The findings imply that if employees perceive that the organization provides fair treatment in terms of career advancement, awards, training, performance appraisal, job assignment, and pay increases, they would tend to report wrongdoing activities to protect the image of the organization.Practical implicationsThe findings of the study will help the policy makers to ensure better working environment and accountability in the public sector of Malaysia and other similar countries.Originality/valueThis is an original study based on primary data to examine the current practices of whistleblowing and its relationship with the practices of job satisfaction, fair treatment, and cooperativeness in the GLCs of Malaysia.