Effective ethics management and culture: examination of internal reporting and whistleblowing within a Nafta member context

Abstract

Sampling 1,187 business professionals, this research effort examines the potential relation of Hofstede culture dimensions to the propensity for, and potential effectiveness of, both internal reporting and whistle blowing as ethics management tools within a NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) context. Samples from a total often regions in the U.S., Canada and Mexico were taken to help increase the accuracy and meaningfulness of the findings by recognizing diversity within culturally complex nations. Of the cultural Hofstede dimensions examined, uncertainty avoidance and power distance had the most consistent and significant relations to whistle blowing and internal reporting, while collectivism was not found to have a significant impact. Managers who better understand the specific cultural links to identified areas of ethics management, like internal reporting and whistle blowing, stand an increased probability of crafting the most effective organizational strategies in this area. Researchers can gain from increased insight, allowing departure from assumptions of how cultural dimensions might influence ethics management to an empirically based position.