Internal Audit and Ethics: Whistleblowing Issues

Author:Associate Prof. PhD. Ovidiu Constantin BUNGET

JEL:

DOI:

Keywords:company, ethics, internal audit, whistleblowing

Abstract:
It is undisputed that the companies` performances are now more than ever, in the concerns caused by global competition and financial crisis. In this context, one of the interveners in the direction of performance is having an ethical and responsible behavior\r\nregarding the public. An ethical behavior is related first of all to the idea of morality, above respecting the law. "Ethics aims to the heart of the corporate`s reputation and in the end that is all you have if you hope to be successful and prosperous in the business world (Harold Tinkler-director of ethics department of Deloitte & Touche).\r\nDeveloping a system of ethical values within an organization depends not only on the framework provided by the law, but also by creating a participatory framework in order to eliminate waste, or other forms of fraud. Whistleblowing ("who blows the whistle") which can be translated by "giving signals" means that employees can be a part of the internal structures of companies with duties of discovering non-ethical practices.\r\nWhistleblowing policy is the result of implementation by U.S. firms which are present in other states, of the U.S. Sarbanes-Oxley Act. What these companies do not realize is that the implementation of whistleblowing schemes in Romania can be interpreted as a violation of the rights of data subjects to personal data protection.\r\nBeing an anglo-saxon practice type, the question is to what extent the European type company will be able to fald with and also how it can be controlled? It is believed that controlling the activity of whistleblowing can be performed by a specialized team of internal audit department. So, internal auditors should carry out also missions regarding the research of those tort facts reported by employees. Whistleblowing is designed as a just and effective mean in order to improve the individual and collective behavior of a company.\r\n

---