Speaking truth through power: Conceptualizing internal whistleblowing hotlines with Foucault’s dispositive

Organization ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 135050842098401
Author(s):  
Erik Mygind du Plessis
Keyword(s):  
Management Technique ◽  
Speaking Up ◽  
Critical Practice ◽  
Unethical Practices ◽  
Internal Whistleblowing ◽  
And Function ◽  
Speaking Truth To Power

This article is an examination of the various ambivalences, limitations and dilemmas that are associated with the internal whistleblowing hotline – which is conceptualized as a management technique that strives to contain, codify, constrain, standardize, and neutralize acts of speaking up against illegal or unethical practices. In other words the interest is on what happens when the critical practice of whistleblowing or ‘speaking truth to power’ is sought institutionalized and transformed into a practice of ‘speaking truth through power’ – that is, through the managerial instrument of the whistleblowing hotline. The article argues that the Foucauldian concept of dispositive can help explain how a seemingly expedient and pragmatic technique such as the whistleblowing hotline, is in fact riddled with complexity and contradiction, which in turn creates a series of dilemmas and limitations related to aim and function the hotline. The analysis thus shows how the internal whistleblowing hotline can take different forms depending on the dispositive permeating it. Empirically, the analysis is based on descriptions of the use and function of internal whistleblowing hotlines in a Danish context.

scholarly journals Subcontracting Strategy in Industrial Projects: Evidence from Saudi Arabia

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
A. A. Ganiyu
Keyword(s):  
Saudi Arabia ◽  
Time Schedule ◽  
Value Drivers ◽  
Quality Performance ◽  
Quality Cost ◽  
Construction Productivity ◽  
Unethical Practices ◽  
Industrial Projects ◽  
Negative Impacts ◽  
And Function

Subcontracting is widely employed in the construction industry owing to the variation of methods, materials, magnitude, and function of the infrastructures. However, the rapport between parties in construction are mostly adversarial and plagued with hitches, which negatively impact construction productivity. This research investigates the problems associated with subcontracting strategies of contractors in industrial projects in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia via questionnaire survey. The questionnaire contains a list of thirty-three likely problems affecting subcontracting strategy of contractors organised under the three categories of planning, awarding, and contracting issues. The respondents matched the likely problems with the project value drivers (quality, cost, and time) with which they impact, and rated the magnitude of the problems on project performance. The survey identified incompatibility of the subcontractor/supplier’s time schedule with the project’s time schedule as the topmost problem related to planning issues. Unethical practices is ranked highest among problems related to awarding issues, while incompatibility of subcontracts’ terms and conditions with the main contract’s terms and conditions is rated top among the topmost problems related to contracting issues. The findings revealed that the three problem categories have negative impacts on all the project value drivers in different combinations and are almost equally significant in the view of contractors while making subcontracting decisions. Contractors are therefore advised to critically evaluate the schedule, cost, and quality performance of industrial projects during the planning, awarding, and contracting phase of subcontracting in industrial projects.

Beweren of bewijzen

2014 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 205-228
Author(s):  
Mathijs Sanders
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Literary Criticism ◽  
Rapid Expansion ◽  
Literary Field ◽  
Critical Practice ◽  
Critical Writing ◽  
And Function

Abstract Claiming or Proving. Models in Dutch Literary Criticism around 1917The first two decades of the twentieth century saw a rapid expansion of literary criticism in the Dutch literary field. Models played an important role in contemporary debates about the nature and function of criticism. In search for new modes of critical writing after the Movement of 1880, critics (consciously or not) made use of discursive conventions, textual genres and exemplary predecessors in order to determine their own critical practice. This article develops a model for studying the specific features and functions of models in literary criticism by analyzing a questionnaire in the Dutch weekly magazine De Groene Amsterdammer in 1917.

Associations of form and function of speaking up in anaesthesia: a prospective observational study

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rahel Lemke ◽  
Michael J. Burtscher ◽  
Julia C. Seelandt ◽  
Bastian Grande ◽  
Michaela Kolbe
Keyword(s):  
Observational Study ◽  
Prospective Observational Study ◽  
Speaking Up ◽  
Form And Function ◽  
And Function

The Road to ERP-Has Industry Learned or Revolved Back to the Start?

2011 ◽  
pp. 22-46 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bill O’Gorman
Keyword(s):  
Enterprise Resource Planning ◽  
Industrial Revolution ◽  
Resource Planning ◽  
Management Technique ◽  
Materials Management ◽  
The Road ◽  
Current Thinking ◽  
Abc Analysis ◽  
And Function ◽  
The Cost

Current thinking and usage of materials management is not to view any individual materials management technique singularly as a panacea in itself, but rather to view the merits of using combinations of these techniques in an effective integrated manner: for example use MRPII at the top level MPS planning stage, JIT at the next level and Kanban (which utilises stock replenishment technique) at the operations level, while at the same time using EOQ and ABC analysis to control the cost of expensive component usage. This chapter traces the development of materials management techniques from the time of the industrial revolution to present day ERP systems. It examines the role and function of the more significant materials and inventory control techniques and explains how each has emerged and has been used as the basis for the development of successive improved techniques. This chapter also comments on the stand-alone nature of each of the techniques. The chapter however concludes with the suggestion that it is only by focusing on an enterprise as a complete system, and not as series of independent sub-systems, and to plan accordingly, that will lead organisations to the next higher level of materials management—Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP).

scholarly journals Exploring the utility of internal whistleblowing in healthcare via agent-based models

BMJ Open ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. e021705
Author(s):  
Paul Rauwolf ◽  
Aled Jones
Keyword(s):  
Patient Care ◽  
Computational Models ◽  
Improve Patient Care ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Healthcare Sector ◽  
Complex Nature ◽  
Speaking Up ◽  
Holistic Understanding ◽  
Internal Whistleblowing ◽  
Improve Patient

ObjectiveThe benefits of internal whistleblowing or speaking-up in the healthcare sector are significant. The a priori assumption that employee whistleblowing is always beneficial is, however, rarely examined. While recent research has begun to consider how the complex nature of healthcare institutions impact speaking-up rates, few have investigated the institutional processes and factors that facilitate or retard the benefits of speaking up. Here we consider how the efficacy of formal inquiries within organisations in response to employees’ speaking up about their concerns affects the utility of internal whistleblowing.DesignUsing computational models, we consider how best to improve patient care through internal whistleblowing when resource and practical limitations constrain healthcare operation. We analyse the ramifications of varying organisational responses to employee concerns, given organisational and practical limitations.SettingDrawing on evidence from international research, we test the utility of whistleblowing policies in a variety of organisational settings. This includes institutions where whistleblowing inquiries are handled with varying rates of efficiency and accuracy.ResultsWe find organisational inefficiencies can negatively impact the benefits of speaking up about bad patient care. We find that, given resource limitations and review inefficiencies, it can actually improve patient care if whistleblowing rates are limited. However, we demonstrate that including softer mechanisms for internal adjustment of healthcare practice (eg, peer to peer conversation) alongside whistleblowing policy can overcome these organisational limitations.ConclusionHealthcare organisations internationally have a variable record of responding to employees who speak up about their workplace concerns. Where organisations get this wrong, the consequences can be serious for patient care and staff well-being. The results of this study, therefore, have implications for researchers, policy makers and healthcare organisations internationally. We conclude with a call for further research on a more holistic understanding of the interplay between organisational structure and the benefits of whistleblowing to patient care.

scholarly journals Research ethics courses as a vaccination against a toxic research environment or culture

2020 ◽  
pp. 174701612092668
Author(s):  
Nicole Shu Ling Yeo-Teh ◽  
Bor Luen Tang
Keyword(s):  
Research Ethics ◽  
Role Models ◽  
Scientific Misconduct ◽  
Herd Immunity ◽  
Research Misconduct ◽  
Speaking Up ◽  
Unethical Practices ◽  
Prompt Action ◽  
Ethics Courses ◽  
Young Researchers

Hofmann and Holm’s (2019) recent survey on issues of research misconduct with PhD graduates culminated with a notable conclusion by the authors: ‘ Scientific misconduct seems to be an environmental issue as much as a matter of personal integrity’. Here, we re-emphasise the usefulness of an education-based countermeasure against toxic research environments or cultures that promote unethical practices amongst the younger researchers. We posit that an adequately conducted course in research ethics and integrity, with a good dose of case studies and analyses, can function in a manner that is metaphorically akin to vaccination. The training would cultivate the ability to analyse and build confidence in young researchers in making decisions with sound moral reasoning as well as in speaking up or arguing against pressure and coercions into unacceptable behaviour. A sufficiently large number of young researchers exposed to research ethics trainings would essentially provide a research community some degree of lasting herd immunity at its broadest base. Beyond passive immunity, a crop of research ethics-savvy young researchers could also play active and influential roles as role models for others at their level and perhaps even help correct the wayward attitudes of some senior researchers and initiate prompt action from institutional policy makers in a bottom-up manner.

Conformation of Ribosomes from Escherichia Coli

1974 ◽  
Vol 32 ◽  
pp. 210-211
Author(s):  
M. Boublik ◽  
W. Hellmann ◽  
F. Jenkins
Keyword(s):  
Binding Sites ◽  
Ribosomal Proteins ◽  
Fluorescent Dyes ◽  
Protein Biosynthesis ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Spatial Arrangement ◽  
Dimensional Structure ◽  
Complete Understanding ◽  
And Function

The present knowledge of the three-dimensional structure of ribosomes is far too limited to enable a complete understanding of the various roles which ribosomes play in protein biosynthesis. The spatial arrangement of proteins and ribonuclec acids in ribosomes can be analysed in many ways. Determination of binding sites for individual proteins on ribonuclec acid and locations of the mutual positions of proteins on the ribosome using labeling with fluorescent dyes, cross-linking reagents, neutron-diffraction or antibodies against ribosomal proteins seem to be most successful approaches. Structure and function of ribosomes can be correlated be depleting the complete ribosomes of some proteins to the functionally inactive core and by subsequent partial reconstitution in order to regain active ribosomal particles.

The Effect of Oxidized Cholesterol on the Aorta of Rabbits- Scanning Electron Microscopic Observations

1982 ◽  
Vol 40 ◽  
pp. 340-341
Author(s):  
S. K. Pena ◽  
C. B. Taylor ◽  
J. Hill ◽  
J. Safarik
Keyword(s):  
Cholesterol Biosynthesis ◽  
Cholesterol Content ◽  
Arterial Injury ◽  
Electron Microscopic ◽  
Aortic Smooth Muscle ◽  
Oxidized Cholesterol ◽  
Initial Event ◽  
Membrane Structure And Function ◽  
Scanning Electron Microscopic ◽  
And Function

Introduction: Oxidized cholesterol derivatives have been demonstrated in various cell cultures to be very potent inhibitors of 3-hvdroxy-3- methylglutaryl Coenzyme A reductase which is a principle regulator of cholesterol biosynthesis in the cell. The cholesterol content in the cells exposed to oxidized cholesterol was found to be markedly decreased. In aortic smooth muscle cells, the potency of this effect was closely related to the cytotoxicity of each derivative. Furthermore, due to the similarity of their molecular structure to that of cholesterol, these oxidized cholesterol derivatives might insert themselves into the cell membrane, alter membrane structure and function and eventually cause cell death. Arterial injury has been shown to be the initial event of atherosclerosis.

Ultrastructure of developing visual cortical synapses in the cat superior colliculus

1991 ◽  
Vol 49 ◽  
pp. 156-157
Author(s):  
Caroline A. Miller ◽  
Laura L. Bruce
Keyword(s):  
Superior Colliculus ◽  
Phosphate Buffer ◽  
Receptive Fields ◽  
Visual Cortical Area ◽  
Cortical Synapses ◽  
Visual Cortical ◽  
And Function ◽  
Phosphate Buffered Saline ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Cat Superior Colliculus

The first visual cortical axons arrive in the cat superior colliculus by the time of birth. Adultlike receptive fields develop slowly over several weeks following birth. The developing cortical axons go through a sequence of changes before acquiring their adultlike morphology and function. To determine how these axons interact with neurons in the colliculus, cortico-collicular axons were labeled with biocytin (an anterograde neuronal tracer) and studied with electron microscopy.Deeply anesthetized animals received 200-500 nl injections of biocytin (Sigma; 5% in phosphate buffer) in the lateral suprasylvian visual cortical area. After a 24 hr survival time, the animals were deeply anesthetized and perfused with 0.9% phosphate buffered saline followed by fixation with a solution of 1.25% glutaraldehyde and 1.0% paraformaldehyde in 0.1M phosphate buffer. The brain was sectioned transversely on a vibratome at 50 μm. The tissue was processed immediately to visualize the biocytin.

Structural modifications of intercellular junctions.

1978 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 330-331
Author(s):  
J. Metz ◽  
M. Merlo ◽  
W. G. Forssmann
Keyword(s):  
Gap Junctions ◽  
Intercellular Junctions ◽  
Cell Isolation ◽  
Extrahepatic Cholestasis ◽  
Structural Modifications ◽  
Pancreatic Duct Ligation ◽  
Pancreatic Cells ◽  
Duct Ligation ◽  
Thin Sectioning ◽  
And Function

Structure and function of intercellular junctions were studied under the electronmicroscope using conventional thin sectioning and freeze-etch replicas. Alterations of tight and gap junctions were analyzed 1. of exocrine pancreatic cells under cell isolation conditions and pancreatic duct ligation and 2. of hepatocytes during extrahepatic cholestasis.During the different steps of cell isolation of exocrine pancreatic cells, gradual changes of tight and gap junctions were observed. Tight junctions, which formed belt-like structures around the apex of control acinar cells in situ, subsequently diminished, became interrupted and were concentrated into macular areas (Fig. 1). Aggregations of membrane associated particles, which looked similar to gap junctions, were intermixed within tight junctional areas (Fig. 1). These structures continously disappeared in the last stages of the isolation procedure. The intercellular junctions were finally separated without destroying the integrity of the cell membrane, which was confirmed with porcion yellow, lanthanum chloride and horse radish peroxidase.

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