Whistleblowing, Communication and Consequences Whistleblowing, Communication and Consequences offers the first in-depth analysis of the most publicized, and morally complex, case of whistleblowing in recent Scandinavian history: the Norwegian national lottery, Norsk Tipping. With contributions from the whistleblower himself, as well as from key voices in the field, this book offers unique perspectives and insights into not only this fascinating case, but also into whistleblowing and wrongdoing in organizations more broadly. An international team of scholars use 14 different theoretical lenses to show the complex and multi-faceted nature of whistleblowing. The book begins with an ethnographic account by the whistleblower story and proceeds into an analysis of the literature and conceptual topics related to that whistleblowing incident to present the lessons that can be learned from this extreme example of institutional failure. This fascinating, complex, and multi-theoretical book will be of great interest to scholars, students, and industry leaders in the areas of public relations, corporate communication, leadership, corporate social responsibility, whistleblowing, and organizational resistance. Peer Jacob Svenkerud, Ph.D., Ohio University, Professor and Dean at the School of Business and Social Sciences, Inland University of Applied Sciences, Norway. Jan-Oddvar Srnes, Ph.D., Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Organizational Communication, Nord University, Business School. Larry Browning, Ph.D., The Ohio State University, Professor Emeritus, William P. Hobby Centennial Professor of Communication, Department of Communication Studies, University of Texas at Austin, Moody College of Communication and Adjunct Professor of Management, Nord University Business School, Bod, Norway. Routledge Studies in Communication, Organization, and Organizing Series Editor: François Cooren The goal of this series is to publish original research in the field of orga- nizational communication, with a particular—but not exclusive—focus on the constitutive or performative aspects of communication. In doing so, this series aims to be an outlet for cutting-edge research monographs, edited books, and handbooks that will redefine, refresh, and redirect scholarship in this field. The volumes published in this series address topics as varied as branding, spiritual organizing, collaboration, employee communication, corporate authority, organizational timing and spacing, organizational change, organizational sense making, organization membership, and disorganization. What unifies this diversity of themes is the authors’ focus on communication, especially in its constitutive and performative dimensions. In other words, authors are encouraged to highlight the key role communication plays in all these processes. Authority and Power in Social Interaction Methods and Analysis Edited by Nicolas Bencherki, Frédérik Matte and François Cooren Organizing Inclusion: Moving Diversity from Demographics to Communication Processes Edited by Marya L. Doerfel and Jennifer L. Gibbs Whistleblowing, Communication and Consequences Lessons from The Norwegian National Lottery Edited by Peer Jacob Svenkerud, Jan-Oddvar Srnes and Larry Browning For more information about this series, please visit: www.routledge.com/ Routledge-Studies-in-Communication-Organization-and-Organizing/ book-series/RSCOO Whistleblowing, Communication and Consequences Lessons from The Norwegian National Lottery Edited by Peer Jacob Svenkerud, Jan-Oddvar Sørnes and Larry Browning First published 2021 by Routledge 52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017 and by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2021 Taylor & Francis The right of Peer Jacob Svenkerud, Jan-Oddvar Sørnes and Larry Browning to be identified as the authors of the editorial material, and of the authors for their individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. The Open Access version of this book, available at www. taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A catalog record for this book has been requested ISBN: 978-0-367-42133-5 (hbk) ISBN: 978-0-367-82203-3 (ebk) Typeset in Sabon by Apex CoVantage, LLC Contents List of Figures viii List of Tables ix List of Contributors x Preface xiii PART I Introduction 1 1 Alone Against the Organization—Peerʼs Whistleblower Story 3 PEER JACOB SVENKERUD 2 Whistleblowing, Voice, and Monomythology: The Prospect for Analysis 15 LARRY BROWNING, JAN-ODDVAR SØRNES, AND PEER JACOB SVENKERUD PART II What Goes Wrong? 29 3 Truth-Telling and Organizational Democracy: The Rhetoric of Whistleblowing as an Act of Parrhesia 31 RONALD WALTER GREENE, DANIEL HORVATH, AND LARRY BROWNING 4 Smothered by Paradoxes and Swamped by Procedures: The Legal Context of the Case 46 ANNE OLINE HAUGEN 5 Whistleblowing, Identity Construction, and Strategic Communication 61 COREY BRUNO AND CHARLES CONRAD vi Contents PART III How Does It Happen? 79 6 Sensemaking and Whistleblowing 81 KARL E. WEICK 7 Ethical Blindness as an Explanation for Non-Reporting of Organizational Wrongdoing 93 EINAR ØVERENGET AND ÅSE STORHAUG HOLE 8 Chronotopic Distinctions in Whistleblowing Events: X-Rays of Power and Sustaining Values 110 SARAH AMIRA DE LA GARZA 9 Whistleblowing: Making a Weak Signal Stronger 122 BJØRN T. BAKKEN AND THORVALD HÆREM PART IV What Makes Whistleblowing a Risky Business? 137 10 Blowing the Whistle Is Laden With Risk 139 JOSEPH McGLYNN 11 Hero or “Prince of Darkness”? Locating Peer Jacob Svenkerud in an Attributions-Based Typology of Whistleblowers 151 BRIAN K. RICHARDSON 12 Norsk Tipping’s Loneliest Stakeholder: Crisis, Issues, and the Stakeholder Voice 164 AUDRA DIERS-LAWSON PART V How to Encourage Employees to Report Wrongdoing 183 13 The Influence of Psychological Contracts on Decision- Making in Whistleblowing Processes 185 ÅSE STORHAUG HOLE AND THERESE E. SVERDRUP 14 Culture Eats Control for Breakfast: The Difficulty of Designing Management Systems for Whistleblowing 201 JUNE BORGE DOORNICH Contents vii 15 Whistleblowing as a Means of (Re)Constituting an Organization 214 WILLIAM ROTHEL SMITH III, JEFFREY W. TREEM, AND JOSHUA B. BARBOUR PART VI Epilogue 229 16 Epilogue: God and Devil, Hero and Villain, and the Long Journey Ahead 231 RITA L. RAHOI-GILCHREST Index 240 Figures 11.1 Typology of Whistleblowers 154 12.1 Examples of Some of Norsk Tipping’s Stakeholders 169 12.2 The Stakeholder Relationship Management Model 171 13.1 The Whistleblowing Process 188 Tables 2.1 Campbell’s Monomyth 22 14.1 Management Control Systems Package 203 Contributors Bjrn T. Bakken, Ph.D., BI Norwegian Business School. Associate Profes- sor of Crisis Management, Inland Norway Business School (Campus Rena), Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences, Elverum, Nor- way. [email protected] Joshua B. Barbour, Ph.D., The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Associate Professor, Department of Communication Studies, Univer- sity of Texas at Austin, Moody College of Communication, barbour- [email protected] Larry Browning, Ph.D., The Ohio State University. Professor Emeritus, William P. Hobby Centennial Professor of Communication, Depart- ment of Communication Studies, University of Texas at Austin, Moody College of Communication and Adjunct Professor of Management, Nord University Business School, Bod, Norway. lbrowning@mail. utexas.edu Corey Bruno, B.A. Communication, Texas A&M University, Operations Manager, Abraham Logistics LLC, [email protected] Charles Conrad, Professor of organizational communication and organi- zational rhetoric in the Department of Communication at Texas A&M University, [email protected] Sarah Amira de la Garza, Ph.D., University of Texas at Austin, Associ- ate Professor, Southwest Borderlands Scholar, Hugh Downs School of Human Communication, Affiliated Faculty in School of Transborder Studies and School of Social Transformation, Arizona State University, Tempe. [email protected] Audra Diers-Lawson, Ph.D., University of Texas at Austin. Senior Lec- turer at Leeds Beckett University, United Kingdom. audra.lawson@ leedsbeckett.ac.uk June Borge Doornich, Ph.D., Associate Professor in Strategy and Control at Nord University Business School, Bod, Norway. June.b.doornich. nord.no Contributors xi Ronald Walter Greene, Ph.D., The University of Illinois at Urbana- Champaign. Professor and Chair, Department of Communication Stud- ies, University of Minnesota (Twin Cities), [email protected]. Thorvald Hærem, Ph.D., Copenhagen Business School, Professor of Organizational Psychology, Norwegian School of Management, thor- [email protected] Anne Oline Haugen, Cand. Jur., Professor of Law, Inland School of Business and Social Sciences, Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences, Department of Law and Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Faculty of Architecture and Design, Department of Design, [email protected] Åse Storhaug Hole, Cand Scient., Norwegian School of Sports. MPA, University of Karlstad. Professor at the Department of Organization, Leadership and Management, Inland Norway School of Business and Social Sciences, Inland Norway University