Research Concepts Draft

Track- ADRP

Flexible Design Methods

Critical Analysis of the Whistleblower incentives and protection: Are a way of applying investment banking incentives to control management unethical and illegal practices

Introduction

Whistleblower incentives and protection refers to the monetary reward as well as protection which the United States Government offers to the individuals who exposes certain wrongdoings in the community more especially in government institutions. The Federal law requires the government to reward the whistleblowers a certain percentage of money that is recovered following their tips of exposing the wrongdoing acts. This percentage may go up to 30 percent of the total recovered money. In this paper, I will critically analyze whether Whistleblower Incentives and Protection are ways of applying investment banking incentives to control management unethical and illegal practices. And maybe are the whistleblowers rewarded accordingly in terms of security and money.

Problem Statement

What happened?? This is not anything like what was approved or what was in the white paper. Follow the instructions and make a paragraph out of the bullet outline problem

The Problem statement, which will be addressed in this paper, is that, whistle blowers are not given adequate incentives and protection resulting in the difficulty of reporting wrongdoing, misconduct and unethical behaviors. According to Andon, et al., (2018), Lack of whistle blower incentives and protection makes it difficult for whistle blowers to report wrongdoing, as they feel insecure. “The current whistle blowing system is not effective and therefore does not provide the basis for investigation of corruption cases and any misconduct within a company (Ballan, 2017). In support of Ballan’s views on the whistle blowing system, Keith, Todd & Oliver, (2016) indicated that the managers aren’t empowered to sanction employees involved in unethical behaviors because of lack of whistle blower incentives which are reinforced by the Federal laws.

Specifically, failure of finance department to offer adequate whistleblowers incentives as well as protection within the investment – banking sector in the United States. As per Keith, Todd & Oliver, (2016), in their recent research, they recommended that the finance department in any organization is a very critical area that can determine the overall performance of an organization. Failure to provide whistleblower incentives and protection to finance staff makes it difficult for them to report unethical behaviors.

Research Questions

What happened here? Where is the list of approved RQs Where are the numbers

It’s important to note that integrity and corruption free environment can be enhanced if specifically the involved organizations are audited or watched from another third party which may or may not from within the organization. The third party in this case is the whistle blower. This critical analysis takes into consideration of the general facets of whistle blowing, before analyzing it from within the investment banking sector. More importantly, the main aim of this paper is intended to explore the answers to the following questions;

· What role do whistleblowers play in curbing unethical behavior?

· What are the underlying incentives that instigate whistle blowing?

· Why has the finance department failed to provide these incentives and protection for the whistleblowers?

· How has the finance department failed to provide incentives and protection to the whistleblowers?

· How does the finance department plan to address this issue?

· What are the effects of legislations that encourage or aim to protect whistle blowers

· Should the same legislative incentives operate within the investment-banking sector considering the volatility of stock exchange markets across the world and the impact of psychology on the investment decisions made?

Relationship of the Above Questions to Problem Statement

Research Question 1.

This will help understand the exact role that whistleblowers play in shaping ethics by reporting any kind of wrongdoing, misconduct and unethical behaviors. The research aims to address the problem of whistleblowers not being given enough incentives and protection. To understand this problem, it is necessary to understand what role these whistleblowers play in a company and why it is very important.

Research Question 2.

This question will enable the researcher to understand the kind of incentives and protection that instigate whistleblowers. Protection could be in the form of financial benefits or legal protection.

Research Question 3.

This question will enable the researcher to dig deep into the possible causes of failure by the finance department to provide these incentives and protection. This will enable the researcher to understand to whom the finance department reports and thus understand whether the problem is within the finance department or those to whom the department is answerable. This will enable the researcher to understand exactly how the finance department has failed the whistleblowers. It will also shed more light on the exact grievances of the whistleblowers. This will explain the failure on the part of the finance department in this research. In addition, it will look at the approach the finance department aims at using to address this problem. In addition, this researcher will know if the finance department plans to offer a solution to this issue and how. This research question addresses the failure of the finance department to provide incentives and protection to the whistleblowers. It also aims at providing a solution to the problem.

Research Question 4.

This question aims to enable the researcher to give information concerning whistle blowing in both public and private institutions, with special concentration on investment banking. In addition, the history of whistleblowing, the laws governing it, its benefits to the organization including both its theoretical and conceptual framework. From the research, the reader would be able to know about whistle blowing in corporations including the whistle blower’s incentives and protection.

Methodology

This research study will be conducted with a flexible design using qualitative methods specifically; a single case study design will be used. This will be the best approach for this research since the research addresses why whistleblowers are not given adequate incentives and protection. This study does not only aim at identifying the reasons for not providing these incentives and protection. As part of the recommendations, the researcher hopes to come up with a solution drawn from the findings of the research. The solution should be that of a relief to whistleblowers. The findings of this research may however, change the course of this research and that is why a flexible research design will be used (Walliman, 2017).

Design

The purpose of the research design is usually to assist the researcher use the findings of the study to address the problem stated in their research and the best way possible. It is, therefore, necessary that the researcher think critically about the information they want to get from the research and how they will use it to solve the problem. Failure to this, the findings of the research will be weak and will not be convincing enough (Gaus, 2017).

Why flexible design in this research?

A flexible design is a research design, which allows the researcher to get feedback from his research. This feedback may end up changing the course of the experiment. This research design allows the researcher to analyze their target more closely thus saving on time and resources. This means that the researcher gets answers sooner than when using other designs. However, this design allows the possibility of bias in selection. The main aim of this research is to address the problem of whistleblowers not being given enough incentives and protection. It will also address the failure of the finance department to provide whistleblowers with necessary incentives and protection. At the end of this research, the researcher should be able to give recommendations that will involve a solution to the problem. If the researcher cannot offer a solution to this problem, they would have failed in their research (Gaus, 2017).

Qualitative research methods

Qualitative research methods are those methods that are used to collect non-numeric data. This data is used to interpret the meaning of a concept and understand the concept better. Through studying a given population, this research method uses non-numeric data to determine the relationship of cause between the parties involved. Qualitative research methods help the researcher to obtain answers as to why a certain problem exists. The problem of whistleblowers not being given incentives and protection could involve several parties. The problem could be with the government, that is, the policymakers who dictate how companies work. Alternatively, the problem could be with the finance department as stated in the research problem. The whole management of the company could be the issue or the whistleblowers themselves. Maybe they are demanding more than the companies can offer (Gaus, 2017).

This research is, therefore, requires that non-numeric data be collected from all the parties involved. The researcher has to look at the role of each party involved. This way they will be able to determine the cause of the problem. See if whistleblowers are important in a company if a company can manage without them. Also, look at all the possible causes of the failure to pay the incentives to know where the problem lies. The researcher should be able to approach the problem from all possible angles to come up with accurate findings.

There are several research methods that can be applied in a qualitative research. They may include the methods and tools that will be used in the research. These methods influence the results of the research and once again, the researcher should be careful when selecting the methods to use in their study. In this research, interviewing will be a convenient method since the research will be carried out in one selected company and not many people will be involved (Walliman, 2017).

Interviews

To ensure that reliable information is gathered from the financial department, an interview will be scheduled with the head of finance department in the case study company. The company’s policymakers will also be interviewed to this effect. This is because there are not many people involved here. Interviews will enable the researcher to probe further in case the information given is not satisfactory.

Case study

This is a research method that involves a deep investigation on a single person or group selected for a certain research. It could be either descriptive or explanatory. This research aims at analyzing the failure of the finance department to provide incentives and protection for whistleblowers. This could therefore be best described as an explanatory case study since it aims at answering the question ‘why?’ This research will be carried out in a selected company where the researcher will conduct a deep study on the problem stated. The researcher will collect data on the failure of the finance department in providing incentives and protection for whistleblowers in the selected company. Everything that pertains to the requirements of this research will be collected from the company selected by the researcher for this study (Ridder, 2017). Using one company for the research will enable the researcher to conduct a deep research on the matter without having to move from one company to the other. This will also ensure that the sample selected for this research is not too large. Thus, the researcher will be able to save on time and resources.

Research Framework

In order to arrive at the most effective solution regarding offering of incentives as well as protection to the whistle blowers and how it will enhance the eradication of wrongdoing in the investment banking institutions, a step by step analysis of the most appropriate strategies must be visualized in form of a schematic research framework. This research framework vividly illustrates the structure of the research plan besides helping the researcher in formulating the relevant research question which are in line with our research statement above. All the research concepts as well as the assumed correlations between these concepts are illustrated in the research framework.

Research Framework Concepts

Whistleblower; this is an individual who exposes the activities that are deemed not correct, unethical in both private and public sectors. They may feel insecure or harassed by the superiors since they don’t trust their operations (Andon et al., 2018).

Moral responsibility; this refers to the status of morally eserving punishment, blame, praise or reward for omissions or acts neglected or performed in accordance with the moral obligation of an individual. The whistle blowers are moral agents and they face different problems which counts to moral obligation (Ballan, 2017).

External Whistle blowing; this entails the reporting of unethical actions to outside law enforcing individuals like the police. Any wrong action within the organization is reported by the whistle blowers. It’s important to note that, the Whistle Blowers Protection Act, 2011 was developed to protect whistleblowers from being victimized (Keith, Todd & Oliver, 2016).

Research Framework Theories

Maslow’s Motivational Theory; this theory indicates that, Motivation is a result of an attempt by an individual to fulfill the five main basic needs (Acevedo, 2018). This need can create pressure that can influence the behavior of a person like the provision of psychological, social, esteem as well as safety needs

Transformational Leadership Theory; this theory focuses on how leaders can create positive and valuable change among their followers or those that they lead. It also focuses on increasing compliance by giving benefits and rewards (Banks et al., 2016).

McClelland’s need theory; this theory acknowledges the fact that needs are acquired or learned depending on the events people go through in their culture and environment. Individuals behaves differently depending on their needs. For instance, the need for achievement involves strive to succeed and the drive to excess based on set standards (Jaquays & Thompson, 2018). The need for power focuses on the desire to make impact on people’s lives, urge to influence others and desire to change the way people perceive things. While the need for affiliation involves the urge to develop strong relationships with people and maintain them.

Research Framework Actors

Leaders; leaders can play an important role in shaping the behaviors of their followers towards whistle blowing. They must exhibit legitimate management behavior and moral conduct within an organization. Therefore, the leaders can encourage whistle blowing in an organization by acting as role models. The leaders must also have good interpersonal skills between their followers. The whistle blowers are also considered good ambassadors by the leaders to their businesses.

Followers; followers are expected to whistle blow whenever there is a misconduct or unethical behavior in an organization. They also ensure that there is maximum compliance with organization policies. By them whistle blowing, they prevent catastrophic incidents in the organizations. They can also play a significant role in saving money for an organization and preventing disaster.

Accountants; their role is to ensure there is complete compliance to finance and accounting policies within an organization. They also act as whistle blowers and report any misconduct within their department, hence helping an organization to combat any illegal operations by uncovering corruption cases.

Research Framework Variables

Leadership style; transformational leadership is style is very effective in providing protection and incentives for whistle blowers. The transformational leader’s exhibit idealized influence, intellectual stimulation, individualized consideration and inspirational motivation (Banks et al., 2016). Such leaders are risk takers, critical thinkers, daring, inspiring and visionary as they collaborate as well as support their followers in performing their daily activities.

Intrinsic motivation; one of the main reasons why whistleblowers engage in whistle blowing is that they possess an intrinsic sense of integrity and justice. According to Lee & Turner (2017), Whistleblowers brave the moist frightening situations when their reputation, security and careers are put on the line and they seek to hold people who have been involved in unethical practices accountable for their actions.

Whistle blower demographic; this refers to organizational tenure, age and gender can influence whistle blowing within an organization. Many researches indicates that women are more ethical in behavior and judgment as compared to men. Either senior employees are also more committed and have higher levels of organizational power as new employees do not understand the culture of the organization and may therefore be less concerned in whistle blowing (Gupta & Chaudhary, 2017).

Research Framework Diagram

Put the diagram right after the first paragraph in this section and then refer to it throughout your discuss

Concepts