Running head: BUSINESS AND SOCIETY 1

Business and Society

Whistle Blowing and Ethics in the World of Business

Nacelia Hull

International College of the Cayman Islands

BE/SO-425

Melisa Hamilton

Due date: December 12, 2017

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Introduction

It is vital for the businesses, society, and the government in the Cayman Islands and all

over the world to interact with each other for all parties to be successful and to satisfy the

wellbeing of their country. Many reasons might cause them to communicate, the trips that were

taken will demonstrate those reasons. Though whistleblowing was recently implemented in the

Cayman Islands most businesses like Bedside Manor does not use this policy because they deal

with situations that arise at hand, as for ethics, they have the basic policies in place. However,

most of the companies that were visited displayed whistleblowing and ethics within their

organization which gave me a clearer understanding of how they carry out these policies.

Business and Society

Business and society is a board topic, but it is essential for companies and communities to

interact. A business is an organization that is engaged in making products or provide services

with the aim of making a profit. According to Peretti (2016), 100,000 companies are in the

Cayman Islands, and about 20,000 of them are registered there, this shows that there are near

twice as many companies than people. While society refers to human beings and the social

structure they create. But to be more specific society are segments of humankind such as

members of a community, nation, or interest group. Hence, humanity makes up the society, and

they also are employees for businesses, so this is one way you can see how companies and

communities are connected.

The government, businesses, and society are all connected and can not operate without

each her. For example, what if the companies and the communities did not socialize the

businesses will lose money because the society would not be aware of the various product or

services they are offering. Also, if the community does not interact with businesses they might
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miss any vacancies that are available, and they would not have a source of income. For example,

the United Kingdom has implemented a new policy called the White paper; it aims to ensure that

new constitutional arrangements work efficiently and to promote the best interest of their

territories which includes the Cayman Islands. Also, this enables the overseas areas to provide

feedback to the United Kingdom government to inform and establish priorities for the

development of the new law (United Kingdom and Cayman Islands Relationship Review, n.d.).

Hence, with proper interaction will enable the United Kingdom and its territories to work

together efficiently.

However, the relationship between businesses and the government maybe dynamic and

complex but their interaction is essential for managers when developing their strategies and

achieving their goals. In fact, the Cayman Islands have a medium of 49% of interaction between

businesses and the government (Cayman Islands, 2017). Also, businesses and the government

may interact to seek collaborative partnership, work at an arms length and to legitimacy issue

and, a crisis may cause them to join forces as well (Lawerence & Weber, 2014).

I have learned that is important for businesses, society, and the government to come

together as one so the economy can be better. When they all liaise, the country will be more

productive because they all depend on each other in some way to operate. If one party fails, all

the others will fail as well, the domino effect is the best terminology to describe what happens

when one side fails. Reason, being if the society does not support the businesses by buying their

products or using their services they will not generate sufficient profit. If the markets do not

make enough money to continue to operate, they might be forced to close their companies, and

when they do so, the government will not make enough revenue from tax. Then, the government
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will not have enough income to support society. Hence, they must all work together so their

country can be prosperous.

Whistle Blowing

Whistleblowing is a third-party solution that enables an employee- whistleblower to

report on any suspicion of misconduct within an organization but securely, this makes

wrongdoing less likely to occur and follow up on ethical guidelines (New generation

whistleblowing system, n.d.).

Most businesses may not consider whistleblowing to be vital because they see it has

snitching while most may perceive it to be bravery or stemming from the dedication of ethics

in the workplace. But, whistleblowing is essential to businesses because they desire honesty from

and among employees, this will allow complete commitment to the firm mission and success. As

for society whistleblowing enables transparency and clear communication, so external

stakeholders such as customers, suppliers, government, and creditors can have an idea of what is

going on in the business (Astron Solutions, 2016).

However, whistleblowing has its drawbacks. For example, most employees in a firm may

have a negative attitude towards whistleblowing because they see it as being an informant this

may intimidate another employee to speak up. Secondly, employees may take advantage of

whistleblowing. For example, an employee may see signs of misconduct and instead of

whistleblowing they might gather enough information and file lawsuit against the company,

which cause them to lose millions.

According to the Cayman Compass the Whistleblowing Protection Bill that has been

implemented in 2015 which states that any employment agreement forcing an employee not to

report any sign of misconduct makes the contract void; this is applied to public and private
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sectors. This bill is intended to create a safeguard against various forms of retaliation for

employees who report either criminal or unethical administrative behavior in the work

environment. The Freedom of Information Law and the defunct Standards in Public Law is used

to create protection for whistleblowers in the Grand Cayman Islands but is rarely, if ever, used

(Fuller, 2016).

The former Complaints Commissioner reported a case where governments workers were

living in fear, refusing from reporting wrongdoing that they noticed because of a belief that they

would be punished. There were times when some civil servants were only allowed to take their

vacation at the rate of one day per month, as punishment for reporting misconducts (Fuller,

2016).

Ethics in the Business World

On the other hand, ethics generally refers to an individual belief system among

different culture; the term ethics comes from the ancient Greek work ethikos which means the

authority of custom and tradition (Sevensson & Wood, 2003). While ethics in the business world

is the perception of what is acceptable or unacceptable in the workplace. However, time plays a

significant role in ethics because what was considered ethical yesterday might be ethical today,

and what is ethical today might not be ethical tomorrow. Also, what may be ethical within ones

culture maybe not ethical in another, so it is essential for businesses to carefully set their

standards on ethics and ensure everyone in the workplace as a clear understanding of what is

expected. The same goes for the society; the government should alter the laws as time passes by

because each generation as a different perspective on ethics, morals, and standards.

Culture difference plays a significant role in business ethics, the difference of culture will

affect what is acceptable and unacceptable in the business activities and management principles
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within the marketplace and society (Sevensson & Wood, 2003). For example, there are many

different cultures within the Cayman Islands like and they all have different work ethics or view

towards work ethics. It is ethical for employees to report any wrongdoing but a Jamaican may

not feel comfortable doing so because in their culture that is considered snitching and they do

not like anybody who does it, and they do not want to be called an informant either. Hence, this

will be more difficult if they reported another Jamaican because the situation will more than

likely cause big blow up because in their culture they should look out for another no serious

the case may be if not you will be brand as a sell out. So, business has to be aware of these

cultural differences and put measures in place so that everyone will feel comfortable reporting

any signs of misconduct without feeling guilty.

Time plays an essential role in ethics within business and society. In the Cayman Islands

workforce their or many old time Caymanians meaning they have been in the workforce for a

longer time than the younger generation. So, they might have a different perspective on ethics;

they expect the younger ones to greet them every time they see them because they were used that

back in days. But, the younger generation might not see welcoming each other to be essential in

the workplace, they would rather socialize on their phones. Also, the younger generation may not

have such good ethics when it comes on to getting things done, and they are on their phone most

of the time, and the older generation is used getting things done on time and correctly. This may

cause conflict in the workplace because often the older employees have issues with, the younger

employees when it comes on to work being done correctly and on time. Also, the older

generation thinks we as young people spend a lot of time on our phone and it hinders us from

getting work done.

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In fact, it is said that most ethical dilemmas that occur in companies are based on current

values, norms, and beliefs in the society in general and in the marketplace. In many cases, these

situations have caused severe impact on the companys business activities. To reduce, all of the

time, culture, and age barriers to ethics serious policies must be implemented.

Bedside Manor

Beside Manor is a bedding store that is located in Camana Bay. Their initiation mission is

to supply great products to their clients so they could sleep well after a long day of work. They

could not find any products that were 100% cotton, so they wanted to offer that to their clients

which they did. Now that the company has grown in addition to their initiation mission they want

to provide an excellent working environment for their employees. The long-term goal of Bedside

Manor is offering the opportunity for employees to keep bettering themselves. The firm is small,

so the employee does a little of everything but, they have the owner, an assistant manager and

sales associates.

Their policies regarding ethics are very basic like being polite, curious, honestly, and

punctuality. Also, the environment plays a significant role in employees ethical behavior. The

environment upholds a very high standard, so employees may feel they need to maintain that

standard. This cause employee to come into the world place with a mindset to be ethical so the

polices that is implement by Bedside Manor has enhanced their ethical behavior positively.

The store has not faced any major challenges when it comes on to employees being

unethical, but there are few times that employees were not cautious with each other. When this

occurs, employees are with dealt with accordingly whether it is to be written up or warned.

Unfortunate, the company does not have a whistleblowing policy, they do not think it needed

because they deal with any conflict at hand.

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Though, they do not have a whistleblowing policies because the store is so small and they

deal with situations at hand does not mean that an employee will not see any signs of misconduct

and will like to report it; it has not occurred as yet, or there may be no reasons to do so. But, the

company has demonstrated policies on ethics by implementing basic rules and will reprimand

any employee that break any of those rules.

Seminar Experience

Almost, everything that was done on each trip reflects the main topic which is business

and society and a few places also displayed ethics in the business world, but not all places that

we visited had any policies on whistleblowing. But, the Cayman Islands has a Whistleblowing

Protection Bill that has been in effect since 2015, which is used to protect any employee that has

reported any unethical behavior that takes place in the work environment.

On day one of our trips we went to the Department of Environment (DOE) they

displayed a healthy relationship with the business and society by ensuring that their surrounding

is safe of them to carry out their day-to-day activities efficiently. This act is ethical because the

(DOE) provides a secure working area for employees who work outdoors. We then visited the

Chamber of Commerce where they represent businesses and allow the society to use their build

to hold events that display their products or services. They portray ethical behavior by keeping

the company that they represent information confidential unless they are ordered to do otherwise.

However, one of the methods they are used to detect and prevent economic crime is

whistleblowing. In 2006 they encouraged their staffs to disclose information on anyone

suspected who is taking part in economic crimes towards the business or its members. This has

caused a significant increase in the business policy on whistleblowing at 67% so; this is a
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definite increase of the Chamber of Commerce Economic Crime Survey (Chamber of Commerce

Economic Crime Survey 2011, n.d).

For the second trip, we went to Cayman Enterprise City (CEC) where their main aim is to

bring various businesses to the Cayman Islands and provide locates with employment. By

bringing these firms to island it demonstrates diversity which is a significant role in ethics within

the working environment or even to the islands. Afterwards, we went to Dart enterprise, they

have created numerous jobs for the people or the Cayman Islands, so this is how this visit can be

related to business and society. Also, they have a code of conduct that entails many different

standards such as health and safety, harassment, conduct and behavior, dart property and

information systems, confidential information, global trade and money laundering (DART

Business Partner Code of Conduct, n.d.). Thus, all of these standards are ethical within Dart

Enterprise, and it shows their regulators, customers, investors, and others that they have met

specific environmental standards in their operations. The last place we went to on this day was

Tower Marketing they are a communication agency for various companies, and they take part in

the communities by doing fundraisers. Also, they have a lot of information for the businesses

that they work for, so they have to display confidentiality when dealing with their personal

information.

As for Cayman Brac, we went to the District Administration, and their primary purpose is

to implement government policies throughout the sister islands. Most of these policies are

ethical, but they do not have a whistleblowing because in the presentation I asked that question.

The reason for this is because the islands are so small and everyone knows each other, so no one

will be willing to report any miscount because they are afraid they will be identified and being

disliked through the island. This brings us back to ethics because if persons were honest and
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brave enough to speak up about and wrongdoings the District Administration would have

implemented a policy for this or the Whistleblowing Protection Bill would be used to protect

those employees. Also, they contribute to the society by employing persons to repair the roads

within the country.

Learning and Application

This seminar has changed my whole perspective of the working world, businesses,

society and gave more a little insight of whistleblowing and ethics in the world of business.

Reason being, I have never had a real job I only spent two weeks at KPMG working in the audit

department. I did not get any hands experience because my mentor was busy, it was the

companys year-end, and she had to get her statements done. So, this seminar gave me a chance

to have hands information about various organizations within the three islands. Also, I got to see

how each company individually contributed to other business and the society. The places we

visited have contributed to different industries by providing them with products or services. For

example, Tower Marketing operates various companies and individuals social media. They also

give back to the society by fundraisers and charities.

Secondly, I have never been to Little Cayman nor Cayman Barc so I must say this

seminar gave me the opportunity to see how beautiful they were. These trips to the sister islands

showed me a different way of life that I am not familiar with, so I would say that I stepped out of

my comfort zone. I am originally from Jamacia where it has a larger population and is more

developed compared to Grand Cayman, so when I moved here, I had to adjust to the different

way life which is more easy going, smaller and does not have a lot of things to do. So visiting the

sisters which are smaller than the Grand Cayman and Jamaican was a different experience for me

because I was adjusting to how small Grand Cayman is so to go somewhere smaller so amazing.
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Also, I have learned to keep the iguanas in mind based on the information I got from the

researcher in the Little Cayman and that the hybrids are dangerous to the environment. But,

before this trip, I was not aware that the different types of iguanas do not mate and that there was

such a thing as hybrid iguanas.

Although the company I choose did not have any whistleblowing policies before this

course I had no idea what it was so; I had to do my research which gave me a better

understanding of this topic. This led me to find out how the different companies we visited used

this policy and that there was a whistleblowing Protection Bill within the Cayman Islands. As for

ethics, I have learned more about it because I only knew the basic from high school so this

seminar allowed me to go in depth and to conduct an interview on how it is demonstrated within

Bedside Manor and the other firms we visited.

Lastly, I have learned that in the business world it is best to do things the right way

whether it is to report any unethical behaviors or just to doing what is right without anyone

having to tell you to do so or only because you have too.

Summary and Conclusion

Business, society and the government work together because they need each to run

smoothly and they are all connected. Whistleblowing is one method of communication with

external stakeholders though it has its positive and negative effect, it enables them to be aware

what is taking place in the business. Time and culture have a significant impact on ethics because

what is ethical at this time may not be ethical back then and what is ethical in a culture may not

ethical in another. Bedside Manor displays the basic level of ethical policies because they have

minimal concerns about unethical behaviors with employees which would not cause any

whistleblowing. The seminar trips were strongly related to business, society, whistleblowing, and
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ethics in the business world which gave me hands-on information on these topics and how they

demonstrate them in their workplace.

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References

Astron Solutions. (2016, June 14). The Importance of Whistleblowing. Retrieved from

http://www.astronsolutions.net/the-importance-of-whistle-blowing/

Cayman Islands. (2017). Tarce International. Retrieved from

https://www.traceinternational.org/Uploads/MatrixFiles/2017/Reports/Cayman%20Island

s-TRACE%20Matrix%20Individual%20Countries.pdf

Chamber of Commerce Crime Survey 2011. (n.d.). Retrieved from

http://www.caymanchamber.ky/uploads/4/1/2/7/41273473/economiccrimesurvey2011.pdf

DART Business Partner Code of Conduct. (n.d.). Retrieved from

https://dart.ky/images/files/DartBusPartnerCodeF.pdf

Fuller, B. (2016, January 15). Whistleblower bill can nullify contracts. Retrieved from

https://www.caymancompass.com/2015/10/27/whistleblower-bill-can-nullify-contracts/

Lawerence, F. M & Weber, J. (2014). Business and society: stakeholders, ethics, public policy

(14th edition).

Next generation whistleblowing system. (n.d.). Retrieved from

https://whistleb.com/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIoN7R48j51wIVz0oNCh3FyQW5EAAYAS

AAEgJ6XvD_BwE

Peretti, J. (2016, January 18). The Cayman Islands home to 100,000 companies and the 8.50

packet of fish fingers. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/us-

news/2016/jan/18/the-cayman-islands-home-to-100000-companies-and-the-850-packet-

of-fish-fingers

Svensson, G., & Wood, G. The dynamics of business ethics: A function of time and culture
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