Week 4_ Annie Tang A01

Annie Tang

A01

Week 4

The topic of week 4 is obviously about ethics at work. Hard to define exact right or wrong, ethic has been a controversial topic for ages, standing in the grey area. In Amy Block Joy’s Whistleblower, the protagonist is an upright faculty member who bravely reported the embezzlement crime again and again for the justice she believed in. I admire her courage because I would hesitate to do something like this, mainly concerning about my own benefits. However, the protagonist did not give up after several failed attempts that were silenced by her boss. To stop embezzlements in the university, she managed to send letters to everyone who could notice and take actions, even though she knew she may lost her job for doing that. I can hardly imagine how much courage and determination she had made to be a whistleblower at the risk of being alienated by coworkers and fired from the job she had loved and dedicated in for twenty-eight years. A similar ethics dilemma also takes place in Block Joy’s Ethics and “Breaking Bad”: Developing and practicing ethical skills. I hesitated again at the multiple question: whether I would report my co-worker for breaking the rule. Honestly speaking, I will probably choose to pretend nothing happened, no matter the resultant loss would bring to the institution because I need this job, and I’m afraid of revenge, as exactly analyzed in the paper. Nonetheless, I slowly change my mind after reading those stories about people who are making efforts to make a difference in this world. Being a bystander is not the solution of the dilemma but a catalyst of further corruption. So here comes the question: how can we report unethical behaviors without blowing our career? The picture below suggests tips for that. Protecting ourselves before protecting the public good is the solution of creating better working ethics.

Reference

Grenny J. (NA). How to Blow the Whistle without Blowing Your Career? Retrieved from

https://www.vitalsmarts.com/press/2013/10/how-to-blow-the-whistle-without-

blowing-your-career/