Whistle-blowing and Education Management

Abstract

Contemporary management studies usually concern positive and desir- able solutions that increase the organizational effectiveness and perfor- mance. That is why graduates of higher business schools, equipped with idealistic views on business environment, need to face the dark side of business practice without the appropriate preparation. Their unawareness of the risk associated with management misconduct results in corrupt scandals, erosion of public trust to their organizations, or even the collapse of profitable corporations. Underestimation of unethical behaviors may lead to severe consequences. The last decade, in fact, has been abundant in numerous examples of corruption scandals in modern organizations and instances of management misconduct that have eroded public faith (such as Enron, WorldCom, Tyco, Adelphia, Arthur Andersen, and Parmalat). These repeated misconducts have led scholars to pay more attention to the so-called “dark side” of organizations. In the current book and journal publications, the “dark side” is pursuit as abnormal, dysfunctional, or pathological aspects of business and education. Indeed, we should say that the “dark side” is not excep- tional: it is a part of the normal community of everyday organizational activities. There are three main reasons for this book. First, since there is a highly active dark side to the organizations, which is quite unknown in management studies, this book attempts to shed the light on the practical challenges for business practice and for higher education management that come from misconduct occurring in various aspects of business and educational environment. Second, research on the “dark side” is a new, emerging source of research in the area of business and higher education management. Finally, it is virtually impossible to carry all the works and research on the development of positive, bright sides of business and higher education without a thorough knowledge and understanding of the destructive, dark sides of organizations that have led and still lead to the collapse of many organizations and a decline in public confidence in the corporations and their leaders.