The Whistleblower

A Japanese MNC has a whistle blowing policy under which employees can report incidents to prevent the occurrence of any corporate wrongdoing, in accordance with the article 301 of Sarbanes-Oxley Act.

Employees can also prefer to stay anonymous, while reporting any violation or possible violation e.g. wrong accounting or audit practices, fraudulent sales or transactions etc.

An employee can report their concerns directly to the board of corporate auditors in Japan. Since the people sitting in Japan are not aware of exact conditions in the native country they forward such complaints back to the country MD to investigate and appraise them about the facts.

But rather than taking corrective actions on those highlighted violations, the local management targets employees whom they perceive who could have made such complaints.

You have come across a possible violation, would you still report?

What improvements would you suggest to avoid scapegoating?