Understanding the social impacts of enforcement activities on illegal wildlife trade in China

Illegal wildlife trade enforcement is a cornerstone conservation strategy worldwide, yet we have a limited understanding on its social impacts. Using Chinese online wildlife seizure news (2003–2018), we evaluated the interactions among enforcement operations, news frequency, and social engagement (i.e., whistle-blowing) frequency. Our results showed that intensive enforcement operations, which commenced after 2012, have social impacts by increasing the frequency of all seizure news significantly by 28% [95% Confidence Interval (CI): 5%, 51%] and those via whistle-blowing by 24% [95% CI: 2%, 45%], when compared to counterfactual models where possible confounding factors were accounted for. Furthermore, we revealed the potential interaction between enforcement seizure news with and without social engagement, and the consequential social feedback process. Of the species identified from ‘whistle-blowing’ news, up to 28% are considered as high conservation priorities. Overall, we expanded our understanding of the enforcement impacts to social dimensions, which could contribute to improving the cost-effectiveness of such conservation efforts.

Blow the whistle or dance to a tune! An ethical dilemma

Study level/applicability BBA. Case overview Mr Qazi was sitting in his office in the Multan branch, reviewing his past month’s key performance indicators when he got a call from his Town Operations Supervisor, Mr Ahmed, based in Bahawalpur. Ahmed was recently promoted and transferred to Bahawalpur, from Multan branch. He informed Qazi about the huge inventory variances, which were not earlier reported by the previous Town Operations Supervisor, Mr Sagheer. Qazi was informed that differences were around 2.37% of total sales vs the allowable company limit of Zero inventory variance. Qazi was worried about whether to report these differences to higher management or not. He was very well aware that reporting might even cost him his job, and that of Sagheer too. He could not see any solution to the recovery of the inventory or cash against the same. Should Qazi take a risk and let go of Sagheer? Should he report the differences? Expected learning outcome 1. Demonstrate the fraud and integrity-related issues. Why and how happened? 2. Analyzed the role of organizational policies in the decision of blow the whistle. 3. Identify the behaviors that helped a whistle-blower. 4. Assess the ethical dilemmas in which professional duties may conflict with personal ethics. 5. Propose organizational policies to encourage whistle-blowing and to discourage the fraud or integrity-related issues. Supplementary materials Teaching Notes are available for educators only. Subject code CSS 9: Operations and logistics.

THE WHISTLEBLOWING AS A CATALYST TO SUSTAINABLE ECONOMIC GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA: A CONCEPTUAL REVIEW

Whistle-blowing activities around the world have generated huge interests from concerned parties such as the financial and public service, as the aftermath of its neglect often has dilapidating effects on the sustainability of economic growth and development of the nation. This is often seen in the 3rd world nations, such as Nigeria. This study aimed to examine the existing phenomenon between whistle-blowing, economic sustainability, growth and development of Nigeria. This study adopted the Theory of Planned Behavior. However, this was a literature review study that basically draws inferences from studies in this field from different continents (i.e. Europe, America, Asia and Africa). Consequently, the objective of this study was to conceptually investigate the whistle-blowing activities in Nigeria as to how it has assisted in curbing corruption in the public space in turn and improving the economic growth and development. In furtherance, this study reviewed events in African countries with close indexation with Nigeria. Therefore, this study concludes that whistle-blowing has a direct impact on sustainable economic growth and development of Nigeria. This is evident in the Transparency International index report. Lastly, this study recommends that whistleblowing policy should be properly implemented in public institutions to achieve minimum involvement of corruption in the country and that whistleblowers should be protected to encourage disclosure of corrupt acts in the public sector. This in turn will assist in the attainment of sustainable economic growth and development. Keyword: Whistleblowing, sustainable economic growth, theory of planned behaviour

THE PROTECTION OF WHISTLE-BLOWERS IN THE FIGHT AGAINST FRAUD AND CORRUPTION: A SOUTH AFRICAN PERSPECTIVE

Criminal and irregular conduct can endanger the economic stability in South Africa. It also has the potential of causing social damage. Employees as whistle-blowers play an important role in the promotion of corporate governance in organizations and are protected from occupational detriments by the Protected Disclosures Act 26 of 2000. The Companies Act 71 of 2008 also contains provisions regarding whistle-blowing but extends the protection to other categories such as shareholders and directors. This article investigates the protection granted by both these pieces of legislation and if synergy exists between these two Acts. It also explores whether the Protected Disclosures Act really protects employees and the remedies they are entitled to.

The content and determinants of CSR anti-corruption disclosure: the case of public-listed companies in Indonesia

Purpose This study aims to investigate the content and determinants of the corporate social responsibility (CSR) anti-corruption disclosures (ACDs) of public-listed Indonesian companies using institutional and legitimacy theories. Design/methodology/approach A content analysis method is used to extract the anti-corruption information in the annual reports. This study uses 40 checklist items developed and used by prior studies to measure the extent of CSR ACD. Univariate and multivariate analyses are applied to examine the determinants of ACD. Findings The results show that the disclosure level of anti-corruption is considerably satisfactory at 44.9%. The whistle-blowing theme is the most frequently reported. Size of firm and industry type have significant effects on ACD. Surprisingly, the findings show that government ownership has a negative effect on ACD. Research limitations/implications The study is limited to one year of observation and is therefore unable to capture changes in the level of disclosure due to policy changes. The results of this study help anti-corruption decision-makers by taking into account the company’s legitimacy and isomorphic factors when formulating ACD policies and efforts that could be made to promote greater disclosure of anti-corruption information. Originality/value This study contributes to the discourse of CSR by providing a more comprehensive extent and more determinants of ACD practice in an emerging country from the lens of legitimacy and institutional theories.