A talk of interest to COR community…

REPORTING WRONGDOING IN THE WORKPLACE: THE ROLE OF SOCIAL CONTEXT

Professor Patrick Bergemann

Assistant Professor of Organizations and Strategy
University of Chicago, Booth School of Business

DATE: Friday, November 22, 2019
TIME: 10:30 am – 12:00 pm
WHERE: SB1 5200, Lyman Porter Colloquia Room and Executive Terrace

ABSTRACT:
The proper functioning of an organization requires that misconduct be detected and reported to the relevant authorities. Managers seek to know when employees are not behaving appropriately, yet individuals may face social pressures not to report knowledge of wrongdoing. In this paper, we present a theoretical framework for the social conditions under which individuals report (and do not report) the misconduct of their peers. We argue that responses to wrongdoing observed within a workgroup versus outside of a workgroup represent distinct processes, and that cohesion can promote or suppress the reporting of wrongdoing depending on where the wrongdoing takes place. Using unique data from 42,020 organizational members that span 24 government agencies, we provide support for this theory, showing how competing explanations of whistleblowing can be integrated by situating them within particular social contexts. Together, this helps to reveal trade-offs in the detection of misconduct and explains why wrongdoing in organizations may be so difficult to eradicate.