45: Fate of Whistleblowers - C. Fred Alford (Part 3)

Conclusion of our conversation with Prof Marianna Fotaki on the Fate of Whistleblowers in organizations. In this last part we offer some practical reflection and Ralph shares a personal story of how he was faced with a choice to either blow a whistle or not.

Fred Alford wrote the book Whistleblowers: Broken Lives and Organizational Power in 2001 to understand and make sense of these experiences. Rather than a detailed telling of the whistleblowers’ stories, the book expands upon them to develop an alternative theory of organizations and their use of power. By alternating between the individuals’ and organizations’ perspective, Alford’s book challenged conventional wisdom about the nature and character of power and politics, ethics and morality, and the individual’s motivations for standing up.