Whistleblowing and ubuntu: The influence of national cultures on whistleblowing intentions

A number of studies have highlighted the importance of considering the impact of national and cultural differences on their employees’ perceptions of and responses to wrongdoing. Most of these studies employed the four distinctions developed by Hofstede (1991) in his theory of international cultures. These are

(i) Power-distance: The extent to which employees would feel comfortable to approach and/or contradict their superiors. In a large power-distance culture, power is centralized with subordinates being expected to comply with instructions without questioning and contact initiated by management.
(ii) Uncertainty avoidance: A culture with high uncertainty avoidance fears ambiguity and is likely to emphasize rules and procedures for all situations in order to achieve predictability.
(iii) Collectivism/Individualism: In this type of culture people stress the importance of being a member of the group and group achievements. The benefits of the in-group are prioritized even at the expense of the individual.
(iv) Femininity/Masculinity: A feminine culture values relationships, cooperation and security rather than financial success and advancement.

Each of these distinctions is related to the individual and organizational tendencies to blow the whistle; the expression of perceptions of wrongdoing; fear of retaliation for whistleblowing and the expressed likelihood of blowing the whistle. This paper analyses the extent to which it could be argued that national cultures influence whistleblowing intentions and perceptions in a multicultural South Africa, especially with regard to the adherence to ubuntu.