Vol. 8 No. 18 (2019)
Articles

Whistleblowing behaviour at work: a study among non-executive public servants in Malaysia

Siti Nur’ Ain Binti Dalan
Asia Pacific University of Technology and Innovation
Bio
Dr Jugindar Singh Kartar Singh
Asia Pacific University of Technology and Innovation
Bio
Dr Mahiswaran Selvanathan
Asia Pacific University of Technology and Innovation
Bio
Jasminder Kaur Harbindar Jeet Singh
Asia Pacific University of Technology and Innovation
Bio

Published 2019-02-27

Keywords

  • Whistleblowing behavior, environment concern, availability of producer, attitude.

How to Cite

Binti Dalan, S. N. A., Kartar Singh, D. J. S., Selvanathan, D. M., & Harbindar Jeet Singh, J. K. (2019). Whistleblowing behaviour at work: a study among non-executive public servants in Malaysia. Amazonia Investiga, 8(18), 337–350. Retrieved from https://amazoniainvestiga.info/index.php/amazonia/article/view/316

Abstract

This paper will explore some of the key antecedents that drive non-executive public servants whistleblowing intention in Kuala Lumpur. Malaysia was ranked 62 among 180 countries in the Transparency International's (TI) Corruption Perception Index (CPI) 2017. Whistleblowers can be considered as valuable resource for organizations and can be beneficial for deterring corporate wrongdoing and questionable acts. However, past literature on whistle-blowing is mostly focused on answering factors relating to why whistle-blowing occurs, the consequences and characteristics of the whistleblowers and there is a dearth of research on the perception of public sector employees towards whistleblowing behaviors. The present study attempts to fill the research gap by focusing on lower-level non-executive employees as potential whistle-blowers in the public sector. This was a quantitative research and using a survey method, data was collected from a sample of 100 public servants in Kuala Lumpur. The AMOS software developed for analyzing the Structure Equation Modeling (SEM) and SPSS were used. Based on the standardized path coefficients of the structural model, the findings revealed that only attitude and subjective norms have a significant impact towards whistleblowing behavior. However, the results show no direct relationship exists between perceived behavioral control and whistleblowing behavior. The findings supported the results from some earlier studies and also bring out several new ideas such as the importance of attitude towards whistleblowing in Kuala Lumpur. The findings will also provide theoretical and practical implications for policymakers, organizations and institutions to facilitate and support whistle-blowing with the intention of improving accountability and good governance. Employers should take measures to implement internal policies to provide sufficient protections and incentives to potential whistle blowers to encourage internal whistle-blowing.

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