Effective speak-up arrangements for whistleblowers: A multi-case study on the role of responsiveness, trust and culture

This research project examined the opportunities, challenges and best practices associated with different types of speak-up arrangements, both internal and external, in a variety of organisational settings across different sectors, industries and locations. While recent research on the topic has focused mainly on the experience of those who have ‘blown the whistle’, the approach used here explored arrangements for speaking up (‘speak-up arrangements’) from the viewpoint of those who develop, operate and oversee them, seeking to provide recommendations for an effective framework. Findings from the investigation show that effective speak-up arrangements: • involve a combination of different channels through which employees can voice a concern • contribute to building trust through speak-up practices that evolve over time and are supported by the independence of speak-up operators • rely on robust and consistent response systems that are supported by appropriate recording of speak-up events, coordinated follow-up activities, and willingness to respond at different management levels; there are nevertheless barriers to responsiveness caused by anonymous concerns, legal issues, and lack of a visible response, albeit inadvertent, and • may need to take into account the potentially difficult interactions between organisational and national cultures. These findings give rise to key recommendations for developing, operating and overseeing effective speak-up arrangements. These are further discussed in the ‘Recommendations’ section at the end of this report. 1. Provide a variety of voicing channels and consider the use of an external independent advice channel when introducing a speak-up arrangement. 2. Be prepared to accept that concerns received may not be strictly considered speak-up or whistle-blowing cases but some of them may nonetheless help organisations recognise previously unidentified risks. 3. Design a speak-up ‘back office’ to record concerns and use this data to strengthen risk management and response processes, investigation and intervention, acknowledging the variety of concerns that could be raised. 4. Ensure that responsiveness is well organised, clearly mandated and adequately resourced. Merely encouraging employees to speak up, without putting robust response systems in place, is likely to have negative consequences, for both employees and the organisation. 5. Make responses visible where possible. This may be achieved by exploring whether employees who raised a concern can be included in developing a solution to the problem; this in turn can contribute to developing collective sense-making and increase trust in the effectiveness of the speak-up arrangement. It is also important to emphasise continuously to managers at all levels that responding to concerns is part of their role, and to restrict their discretion about whether/how to respond. 6. Consider participating in the development of a standard for the public reporting of data from speak-up arrangements

Owners' preferences for CEOs characteristics: did the world change after the global financial crisis?

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to study whether and how owners’ preferences for CEO characteristics changed due to the 2008-2009 global financial crisis. The authors identify three fundamental success factors needed for companies to compete in the after-crisis environment, and the authors connect five CEO characteristics to such factors. Design/methodology/approach – The authors rely on a hand-collected database to build a panel data of European CEOs for the 2010-2012 period. Findings – The empirical results indicate that after 2009, CEOs of companies that were more severely hit by the crisis are significantly different compared to those of other companies. More specifically, they have a background in science or engineering; they have international experience; and they are remunerated to a higher extent through stock options. The results of this paper also indicate that only international experience had a positive and significant impact on financial performance. Originality/value – The paper contributes to the stream of literature on CEO characteristics and owners’ identity, tackling the research theme from a dynamic rather than from a static perspective

Back to the future: The broadening accounting trajectory

Copyright © 2001 Academic PressContemporary accounting practice has shown signs of a broadening scope of activities being undertaken both from within and as a service provided to organizations. Based upon a historiographic linking of past and present, this paper examines the past 100 years of broadening professional practice in the discipline as a basis for offering a presentist examination and critique of contemporary accounting education and research opportunities. The scope of what constitutes accounting work is found to have been expanding for over 100 years, becoming increasingly at variance with accountants’ traditional beancounter image. Recent professional accounting association investigations reveal an array of contemporary environmental factors that have accelerated this broadening of the profession’s scope into financial planning, assurance services, strategic, risk, knowledge and change management, and management advisory services. This has called for an expanded accounting skills base which has gained momentum towards the end of the 20th century. The elements of some of these developing areas of professional work and their implications for contemporary and future education and research are examined.http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/622801/description#descriptio