Why Should My Conscience Bother Me
Whistleblowers: A whistleblower is a person within a company who speaks out about any organizational deviance that is occurring. There are three main types of whistle blowers, which are, unbending resisters, implicated protesters, and reluctant collaborators. Implicated Protesters speak out within organization than comply with the deviance. They choose to go along with their superiors, because they may have believed that resisting would be worse for them than complying. Eventually, fear of legal liability forces them to expose the deviance. In the case, “Why Should My Conscience Bother Me?,” B.F. Goodrich Co., created a faulty aircraft break. The people within the company knew that the break would fail if it was used, but they continued to forge tests
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and fake results.
The whole company was well-aware that the breaks were hazardous. Kermit Vandivier was hired by Goodrich to issue a formal qualification report, which was an accumulation of data and test results to prove the break had met all military requirements. In the beginning, Vandivier became known of the faulty break and mentioned it to multiple superiors. When he found out that everyone was told to report the false data, he eventually decided to look the other way and cooperate. Eventually, Vandivier decided to blow the whistle on the Goodrich deviance and reported to the FBI. Because of Vandivier’s actions, the military became aware of the faulty break and demanded to see raw tests and B.F. Goodrich was forced to get rid of the faulty break. Vandivier handed in his resignation after blowing the whistle on the corporate deviance. At first he may have gone along with the deviance because he was too afraid of not having a job or being able to support his family, but the fear of illegal liability forced him to come forward
(Vandivier, 2002).
Punishments: There are two categories in regards to punishment, punishment of the individual and punishment of the organization. In punishments of the individual, organizations usually do not blame an individual for the deviance that has occurred, it makes the organization look very bad. Even though these cases are rare, when they to convict an individual, it is usually a minor. When dealing with punishments of the organization, organizations can only be punished so much, but when they are, the penalties are basically insignificant because of how much power the organization has. There are multiple different punishments, which include: incarceration, self-regulation, fines, civil suites and penalties, deterrence and probation. Specifically discussing fines, they can be to forfeit assets, give up illegal earnings, and required compensation to victims of the deviance (Mitchell, 2012). In the case, “The Heavy Electrical Equipment Antitrust Crisis,” two companies, General Electric Corporation and Westinghouse Electric Corporation, were found guilty of price fixing and anti-trust violations. The corporations were fined $1,924,500 and individual defendants were had fines amounting to $137,000. In the chapter it states, “The original ones were, of course, negligible: For General Electric, a half-million dollar loss was no more unsettling than a $3 parking fine would be to a man with an income of $175,000 a year” (Geis, 2002, p. 115). This goes to show that although companies may be fined as punishment for their deviant behavior. These fines mean very little to them, and are barely a financial burden, on both the individuals within the company and the company as a whole.
Conclusion: This paper briefly discussed the process of organizational deviance. It is clearly shown throughout the stages of deviant organization, begin and end with the power elite. The people who make up this group of elitists, are the ones who initiate the deviance in the first place. Not only are they the reason that deviance is present within the organization. The elites are rarely punished, and if they are, the punishment is very minimal like paying a fine. Power elites are one of the reason why society is so blind to corporate deviance. They not only are extremely wealthy, but they also possess an absurd amount of power. They control what is printed or broadcasted within the media, which is how society can become aware of the deviance. It is important to learn about organizational deviance, because it is a form of crime that is not broadcasted to the public. Since it is not as publicized as violent crimes, people don’t address ‘white-collar crimes’ with criminal behavior. The result of society being neglected from this type of information, will assure that corporate deviance will continue and power elites will continue to get away with committing deviant behavior.
and fake results.
The whole company was well-aware that the breaks were hazardous. Kermit Vandivier was hired by Goodrich to issue a formal qualification report, which was an accumulation of data and test results to prove the break had met all military requirements. In the beginning, Vandivier became known of the faulty break and mentioned it to multiple superiors. When he found out that everyone was told to report the false data, he eventually decided to look the other way and cooperate. Eventually, Vandivier decided to blow the whistle on the Goodrich deviance and reported to the FBI. Because of Vandivier’s actions, the military became aware of the faulty break and demanded to see raw tests and B.F. Goodrich was forced to get rid of the faulty break. Vandivier handed in his resignation after blowing the whistle on the corporate deviance. At first he may have gone along with the deviance because he was too afraid of not having a job or being able to support his family, but the fear of illegal liability forced him to come forward
(Vandivier, 2002).
Punishments: There are two categories in regards to punishment, punishment of the individual and punishment of the organization. In punishments of the individual, organizations usually do not blame an individual for the deviance that has occurred, it makes the organization look very bad. Even though these cases are rare, when they to convict an individual, it is usually a minor. When dealing with punishments of the organization, organizations can only be punished so much, but when they are, the penalties are basically insignificant because of how much power the organization has. There are multiple different punishments, which include: incarceration, self-regulation, fines, civil suites and penalties, deterrence and probation. Specifically discussing fines, they can be to forfeit assets, give up illegal earnings, and required compensation to victims of the deviance (Mitchell, 2012). In the case, “The Heavy Electrical Equipment Antitrust Crisis,” two companies, General Electric Corporation and Westinghouse Electric Corporation, were found guilty of price fixing and anti-trust violations. The corporations were fined $1,924,500 and individual defendants were had fines amounting to $137,000. In the chapter it states, “The original ones were, of course, negligible: For General Electric, a half-million dollar loss was no more unsettling than a $3 parking fine would be to a man with an income of $175,000 a year” (Geis, 2002, p. 115). This goes to show that although companies may be fined as punishment for their deviant behavior. These fines mean very little to them, and are barely a financial burden, on both the individuals within the company and the company as a whole.
Conclusion: This paper briefly discussed the process of organizational deviance. It is clearly shown throughout the stages of deviant organization, begin and end with the power elite. The people who make up this group of elitists, are the ones who initiate the deviance in the first place. Not only are they the reason that deviance is present within the organization. The elites are rarely punished, and if they are, the punishment is very minimal like paying a fine. Power elites are one of the reason why society is so blind to corporate deviance. They not only are extremely wealthy, but they also possess an absurd amount of power. They control what is printed or broadcasted within the media, which is how society can become aware of the deviance. It is important to learn about organizational deviance, because it is a form of crime that is not broadcasted to the public. Since it is not as publicized as violent crimes, people don’t address ‘white-collar crimes’ with criminal behavior. The result of society being neglected from this type of information, will assure that corporate deviance will continue and power elites will continue to get away with committing deviant behavior.