Factors influencing internal whistleblowing. A systematic review of the literature

Abstract

Abstract Aim/purpose – Internal whistleblowing is the most desirable form of reporting about wrongdoings for all kinds of organizations. The aim of this paper is to identify factors influencing the occurrence of internal whistleblowing and to provide recommendations for practitioners on how to encourage employees to report wrongdoings to an organization. Design/methodology/approach – The fundamental article database has been constructed with the use of ProQuest, EBSCO and Taylor & Francis databases. The timespan for the research was from 1990 to 2022. The papers for the fundamental database were found within the utilization of two words “whistleblowing” in titles and “internal” in abstracts. Next, the database was broadened by snowball review. Findings – Identified factors important for the occurrence of internal whistleblowing in an organization were assigned to one of the following areas: ethics, leadership, policies and procedures, retaliations and safeguards, social climate, organizational justice, education and training, reporting channels, communication, additional motivation, organization’s size and structure, audit committee. Research implications/limitations – For researchers – the paper provides a picture of research on internal whistleblowing: identified factors influencing internal whistleblowing, popularity of exploring problems, and utilizing research methods. For practitioners – the paper provides practical implications (based on current knowledge) important for implementing and managing organizational whistleblowing systems in the organization of private and public sectors. Originality/value/contribution – The main contribution of this work states the framework of factors affecting internal whistleblowing, which was constructed on the basis of a systematic review of the scientific literature. Moreover, the paper provides guidelines for practitioners.