“See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil”—Leaders Must Respond to Employee Concerns About Wrongdoing

• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8594.00144
• Published date: 01 December 2002
• Date: 01 December 2002

ÔÔSee No Evil, Hear No Evil, Speak

No EvilÕÕ—Leaders Must Respond to

Employee Concerns About

Wrongdoing

BOB GANDOSSY AND ROSABETH MOSS KANTER

It wasn’t the f‌irst time he discovered fraud committed by his

boss—also the owner of the company. A year after he joined the

f‌irm, as the head of accounting, he came across several loans

that were f‌inanced, not once, but two and three times. The owner

claimed the loans were obtained ÔÔinadvertentlyÕÕ and, further, ÔÔit

was no big deal and won’t happen again.ÕÕ A year later, the ac-

countant discovered it did happen again. This time his boss said,

ÔÔdon’t worryÕÕ and promised, ÔÔI’ll take care of it.ÕÕ Over the next few

years, more signs of trouble surfaced: serious cash f‌low diff‌iculties,

off‌icersÕloan accounts exceeding net worth, doctored f‌inancial

statements, incomplete documentation on multimillion-dollar

transactions, and extravagant spending by the principals. Then,

some seven years after he f‌irst came to the company, the f‌irm

pleaded guilty to check kiting and received the maximum penalty

under the law.

Why would the accountant stay under these circumstances?

Clearly, the company was in deep f‌inancial trouble and a principal

Bob Gandossy is a Global Leader for the Hewitt Associates Talent and Organization Consulting

Practice, with expertise in improving organizational effectiveness, human resource strategy and

increasing growth through innovation. Bob has written a variety of articles and books on related

topics, and has been a speaker at Harvard Business School, Human Resources Planning Society

and Tom Peters Group, to name a few. Bob holds a B.S. degree from Harpur College and a Ph.D.

degree from Yale University where he specialized in the study of organizational behavior.

Rosabeth Moss Kanter is the Ernest L. Arbuckle Professor at Harvard Business School,

adviser to businesses and governments worldwide, and the best-selling author of 15 books,

including her more recent, Evolve!: Succeeding in the Digital Culture of Tomorrow.

Business and Society Review 107:4 415–422

2002 Center for Business Ethics at Bentley College, Published by Blackwell Publishing, Inc.

350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148, USA, and 108 Cowley Road, Oxford OX4 1JF, UK.