Central European Business Review 2016, 5(1):45-61 | DOI: 10.18267/j.cebr.144

Attitude of Management Students towards Whistleblowing: Evidence from Croatia

Mario Bogdanovic1, Ladislav Tyll2
1 doc. dr. Mario Bogdanovic, Senior research associate, University of Split, Faculty of Economics, Management Department, Cvite Fiskovica 5, 21.000 Split, Republic Croatia, mbogdan2011@gmail.com
2 Ladislav Tyll, Ph.D., University of Economics, Prague, Faculty of Business Administration, Department of Strategy, nam. W. Churchilla 4, 13067 Prague 3, Czech Republic, ladislav.tyll@vse.cz

This study examines the attitude of management students towards whistleblowing in a sample of 121 master students of business ethics at the Faculty of Economics University in Split, Croatia. The three measurement instruments include whistleblowers' attitudes (3 items), whistleblowing attitudes (2 items) and potential types of whistleblowing reactions (8 items), i.e. external reactions (4 items) and internal reactions (4 items). The results of the study indicated a positive attitude toward whistleblowing and whistleblowers. The authors also found that female students exhibited more confidence in management and were more prone to whistleblowing than male students. Also, students with professional experience considered whistleblowing to be in the public interest more than students with no professional experience. The results may be of practical use to managers who can benefit from whistleblowing while keeping in mind that whistleblowing can't be avoided and that punishing whistleblowers seems to be a bad managerial practice.

Keywords: Whistleblowing; ethical climate; ethical culture; organization and management improvement; business ethics
JEL classification: M1, M5

Received: December 14, 2015; Revised: March 14, 2016; Published: March 30, 2016  Show citation

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Bogdanovic, M., & Tyll, L. (2016). Attitude of Management Students towards Whistleblowing: Evidence from Croatia. Central European Business Review, 5(1), 45-61. doi: 10.18267/j.cebr.144
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