Hero or “Prince of Darkness”? Locating Peer Jacob Svenkerud in an Attributions-Based Typology of Whistleblowers

Abstract

Did stakeholders consider whistleblower Peer Jacob Svenkerud (PJS) a "hero" or a "prince of darkness"? The answer depends on which stakeholder you ask. Stakeholders include "any group or individual who can affect or is affected by the achievement of the organization's objectives" ( Freeman, 1984 , p. 46). One of their primary functions, then, is to grant (or withdraw) social legitimacy to the focal organization. Because whistleblowers' accusations threaten organizations' legitimacy, they're often met with management retaliation. But if whistleblowers can garner stakeholder support, their chances of ending wrongdoing and preserving their positions are enhanced ( Sawyer, Johnson, & Holub, 2010 ). The PJS account offers us an opportunity to examine, in detail, stakeholder involvement in a high-profile whistleblowing case.The academic literature proves reductionistic in addressing how stakeholders view whistleblowers. Rather than differentiating between them, most scholarship and media accounts cast them as heroes, the proverbial "David" taking on the corrupt "Goliath." This ignores the reality that stakeholders might have very different perceptions of whistleblowers based on the attributions they make about them.This chapter develops a more sophisticated approach to understanding how stakeholders, particularly those outside the organization, might categorize whistleblowers. After a brief literature review addressing motives and attribution theory, I propose a whistleblower typology followed by several theoretical propositions about how select stakeholders might perceive a whistleblower. I then propose PJS's location in the typology before using case details to assess the typology and associated propositions. Whistleblower: Definitions and TypologyWhistleblowers are commonly hailed as "heroes" and "saints" by some groups, namely the media, the general public, and victims of corporate malfeasance, while derided as "snitches," "rats," or "traitors" by the accused and those stakeholders who are dependent upon the focal orga-